GRINDROD BANK THEATRE

75 MINS
SAT 2030

SUN 1500

R 140

A world premiere

Faced with a sea of troubles, it's harder to stay dry on dry land than it is to drink them all away.

Cooped up on a cruise ship with an unchanging cast of waifs, strays and eccentrics as her only company for months at a time, the ship's on-board lounge singer counts down the days until she docks. Between cabaret sets in the Starlight Bar, the oblivion of too much booze and observing the absurd antics of passengers and crew, she does everything she can to distract herself from the painful dilemma she faces: whether or not to be reunited with her estranged daughter.

Should she stay at sea or put a tentative foot on the earth? The problem is, the closer she gets to land and her daughter, the closer she gets to facing herself too. Coming home is not as easy as running away.

Sailing Somewhere, a one-woman play by Matthew Hurt with songs by Conor Mitchell, stars the legendary Fiona Ramsay and is a sometimes funny, sometimes haunting portrait of a mother's guilt. It is directed by Vanessa Cooke and also features Tony Bentel on piano, with sets by Andrew Botha.

For many, the easiest way to react to a problem is to run away from it. The bigger the problem, the more elaborate the escape can be. You can remove yourself physically, like running away from a house fire. But sometimes the mind takes flight too. To run away from whatever it is that scares us is the reaction of the weak, flawed creatures that we are. It’s also our instinct for self-preservation. Isn’t that weakness just typically human? And isn’t the impulse for self-preservation human too? These contradictory, ambiguous notions of being human and these journeys into self-delusion interest me.

Putting a character like this on a cruise ship, so that her feet never have to touch the ground, creates something more metaphorical. In some sense, we are all at sea, refusing or unable to deal with what we find most painful. Characters who wash up on forsaken corners of the earth are intriguing. What have they run from? Why? And will they ever have the strength to turn around and return to look the monster in the eyes?

We suffer, we escape, then, maybe, we get a little stronger. And then what? We stay at sea or we put a tentative foot on land. Returning is not as easy as running away. Who ever has the courage to see their terrified face in the reflection?

FIONA RAMSAY

Fiona graduated from the University of Cape Town, before founding the TROUPE THEATRE COMPANY whose productions include EAST, TOTAL ECLIPSE, METAMORPHOSIS and THREEPENNY OPERA, LIFE X 3, DECADENCE & TALKING HEADS.

Fiona is one of South Africa’s leading actresses, working locally and overseas, building an impressive body of work. While in England - highlights were playing Lady Croom and Hannah for the Royal National Theatre’s ARCADIA by Tom Stoppard, Lady Macbeth in MACBETH, leading roles in Alan Ayckbourne’s SMALL FAMILY BUSINESS and COMMUNICATING DOORS and Terry Johnson’s DEAD FUNNY. She also appeared on television in the UK playing the villain in Lynda La Plante’s SUPPLY AND DEMAND, a teacher in ELEMENT OF DOUBT and as the tough magistrate in THE BILL.

Fiona has been nominated for and won many awards for her performances, notably roles as Lil in FINGS AIN’T WOT THEY USED T’BE, as Martha in WHOSE AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? and the dazzlingly funny Mrs Meers in the hit musical THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE. She has won awards for her sizzling roles in DECADENCE, Alan Bennett’s TALKING HEADS, Tom Stoppard’s THE REAL THING and for Eva Braun in SUMMIT CONFERENCE, AGNES OF GOD, BORN IN THE RSA, INDISCRETIONS, SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION, BENEFACTORS, THE BOOK CLUB, LADIES & GENTLEMEN SHAKESPEARE, LIFE X 3, SLEEPING BEAUTY, HONOUR and GOING TO ST IVES

Well known to television audiences as the feisty hard bitten news editor Dorothy Wilcox from the series HARD COPY, and will be seen on our television screens later this human rights lawyer Kate Hansen in JUSTICE FOR ALL 4. And her roles in ARENDE and STOLEN LIVES .

Fiona founded the SPEAKEASY VOCAL ACADEMY, and does vocal empowerment training in all sectors – business, corporate and of course the arts. Recently Fiona coached Jennifer Hudson and Terence Howard in the film WINNIE, Ray Winstone in the UK, Tim Robbins and Derek Luke in the US. She has appeared in several international films BORDERLINE, INMY COUNTRY and many BBC television series shot in SA.

Fiona is a much sought after dialogue and dialect coach and has worked with international actors on films shot in South Africa – most recently NO 1 LADIES DETECTIVE AGENCY (Jill Scott, Annika Anose) SKIN (Alice Krige, Sophie Okenedo, Sam Neill), CATCH A FIRE (Tim Robbins, Derek Luke), HOTEL RWANDA (Don Cheadle, Sophie Okenedo, Nick Nolte), STANDER (Thomas Jane, Dexter Fletcher), CRITICAL ASSIGNMENT AND BEAT THE DRUM. #

Fiona works extensively on musical and plays as vocal coach – most recently worked on THE LION KING, HAIRSPRAY, THE KING & I, HAIR and is currently training actors for SATURDY NIGHT FEVER, CHICAGO and CHESS.

Fiona is also an accomplished director and productions include TOTAL ECLIPSE, LAUGHING WILD, HALLELUJAH! THE PEN and most recently GUGA MZIMBA – THE SPIRIT OF GERARD SEKOTO a musical on the life of SA artist .

Most recently Fiona has been attending SPEECH THERAPY lectures and classes and is a member of the team on the DONNY GORDON VOCAL CLINIC – where she is the Vocal Specialist working alongside ENT Doctors, Anaethestists and Speech Therapists.

Fiona is a vegetarian and enjoys treating folk to her culinary concoctions and relishes a good evening with friends. Interests include: her new dog Blanche, sailing, walking, reading, travelling and exploring new places.

MATTHEW HURT

Originally from South Africa, Matthew moved to the UK to study at the Drama Centre, London, and later joined the Soho Theatre’s Young Writers’ group. Since then his work includes Bear Mountain and Back (BBC 1) and Singing! Dancing! Acting!, which has been produced at the Soho Theatre, London, and in Paris and Athens. Mortal Ladies Possessed was the first show he wrote for solo performer Linda Marlowe. It has been seen across the UK as well as in Milan and New York as part of 59E59 Theater’s ‘Brits Off-Broadway’ season.

The award-winning musical, Have A Nice Life, for which Matthew wrote the book, premiered at the New York Musical Theatre Festival and marked his first collaboration with composer Conor Mitchell. The show has since been performed in Philadelphia and Edinburgh and is published by Weinberger’s. His second collaboration with Conor, Pesach, was commissioned by YMT:UK and opened in Belfast.

Believe, originally written for Linda Marlowe, started its run at the Traverse, Edinburgh, and has been featured on BBC Radio 4’s Women’s Hour. It has since been performed at London’s New End theatre (No. 1 in The Times’ weekly list of shows to see) and at the Adelaide Fringe Festival, Australia. It has also been translated into French, German and Swedish. The Swedish production is currently touring.

Matthew’s radio play, Phumzile, was broadcast on BBC Radio 4. Other work includes a commission from Shakespeare’s Globe to write the prologue for their International Artists Fellowship’s public showing and The Lightning Conductor, starring Simon Callow as Serge Diaghilev, which premiered at the Embassy Theatre, London, in September 2010.

Matthew has been awarded two bursaries by the Peggy Ramsay Foundation.

CONOR MITCHELL

Conor Mitchell is a musical dramatist. He trained with David Blake and Nicola LeFanu. He has written 13 music-plays including THE DUMMY TREE (Cottesloe Theatre), GEPETTO IN SPRING (Gotenberg, Sweden), DIARY OF A MADMAN (LAMDA, Drury Lane), THE MUSICIAN - a children's opera (Cahoots NI), THE ROSEN STREET PROTEST (NT Studio), MERRY CHRISTMAS BETTY FORD (Lyric Theatre), GOBLIN MARKET (NYMT), PESACH (Waterfront Hall) and others. He has written for the Ulster Youth Orchestra, twice been writer on attachment to the National Theatre, music adviser to YMT:UK and writer in residence at LAMDA. Awards include the Arts Foundation Fellowship Award for composition and Best Score at the New York Musical Theatre Festival. His cycle of contemporary popular song, TEN PLAGUES was performed at the Royal Court Theatre in 2010 by the singer Marc Almond and will premiere at the Traverse Theatre in August. He is working on the opera cycle THE HEADLESS SOLDIER with the playwright Mark Ravenhill - the first part of which premiered in London in August - as well as an Olympic Opera for the 2012 Cultural Olympiad. His dance piece THE INCREDIBLE BOOK EATING BOY will premiere at the new MAC theatre in December 2012 and he is currently working on THE DOUGHBOYS - a musical, SONGS FOR JEAN McCONVILLE -  a requiem mass and the songbook for Matthew Hurt's new play SAILING SOMEWHERE. He is 33 and lives in Northern Ireland.

Antony John Bentel a.k.a. TONY BENTEL

Born Hillbrow, 1952, at an early age

Pianist since age 4. Commenced performing publicly age 14.

Commenced dance training (while playing WITS rugby) in 1975 – Modern Dance. About two years later, commenced classical ballet training.

Completed Cecchetti Teacher’s diploma 1985.Teaches freelance.

Has appeared extensively as a singer/dancer/actor/musician for musicals, cabaret, drag, fashion, television and contemporary productions. Notorious stripper.

Presently training in the Vaganova method.This a classical ballet method, and has nothing to do with breastfeeding.

Has performed with, inter alia, (which doesn’t mean what you think it does) and has performed architectural services for Robert Whitehead, Vanessa Cooke, Joanna Wienberg, Sean Taylor, Rory Rootenburg, Jana Cilliers, Tobie Cronje, Ian Roberts, Kevin Smith and more.

Last seen on T.V. in the Outsurance Commercial ( henpecked husband ) . And on stage in “Doobie-Boobies” at the Johannesburg Theatre . ( filthy drag show, not a Frank Sinatra tribute).

Passionate about music – is working on opera transcriptions with cello and flute in lieu of voice.

Musician, architect, father, husband and friend, currently entertaining at Old Age Homes.