Now in its 26th year, the annual Business and Arts South Africa (BASA) Awards are a testament to the power of forging connections between the seemingly disparate domains of business and the arts. For the first time since Covid-19, a live announcement of the 48
Pieter-Dirk Uys brings his new show Sell-by Date to Johannesburg, featuring the renowned Tannie Evita Bezuidenhout and a host of South Africa’s favourite characters. The show will run at the Pieter Toerien Montecasino Main Theatre theatre from 24 August to 10 September. As expected from
July in Johannesburg is still stubbornly committed to winter and so, weaning myself off the performance high that was the National Arts Festival in June, I spend most of the month seeking refuge in the city’s galleries, theatres, make-shift museums, and malls-turned-art-fairs. *** The city
After a sold-out run in Joburg last year, South African singing sensation Belinda Davids returns to the stage with The Greatest Love of All, an acclaimed tribute to the legendary Whitney Houston. In 2023, Davids’ tour is in full swing with return tours and debut
The post-Festival blues are still with me. This year’s National Arts Festival was one for the books, and a gorgeous reminder of the enduring ability of the arts to tell stories, to heal, to highlight and hold. This was my 10th year covering the Festival.
From 21 to 30 July 2023, Cape Town Opera (CTO) will present Tosca, Puccini’s powerful opera, to Johannesburg audiences at the Nelson Mandela Theatre in Braamfontein before moving to the Artscape Opera House in Cape Town from 12 to 17 September 2023. The highly anticipated grand-scale production will be directed by CTO’s
In many ways, the Fringe programme is the beating heart of the National Arts Festival (NAF). It’s where works are debuted, ideas are tested, reviews are garnered, and awards are won. It’s where some of South Africa’s best-known theatre-makers have started out, and where they
“It really is fine art,” enthuses the gentleman talking my friend and I through a series of artworks exhibited in Samsung Art Frame TVs. I’m not sure why he’s telling us this. We didn’t suggest that the digital portraits and landscapes squirming around in their
So, you’re making the trip down to Makhanda for the National Arts Festival. You’re ready to brave the cold, the potholes and the donkeys for the unique experience of stepping into a university theatre or an otherwise ordinary venue in an otherwise ordinary town, that’s
With the 2023 National Arts Festival kicking off in less than a month, you should have already started browsing through the extensive offering of theatre, visual art, dance, jazz, performance art, live music and more. But if it’s all a bit overwhelming, allow the below
It’s that time of the year again! The National Arts Festival (NAF) has announced its 2023 programme, which is now live and open for online bookings. Makhanda’s annual celebration of the arts will be taking place from 22 June to 2 July 2023 where artists,
The stage production of Damon Galgut’s Booker Prize-winning novel, The Promise, will have its world premiere in Cape Town this September. The production is directed by internationally acclaimed, multiple award-winning director Sylvaine Strike, and will be presented from 14 September to 6 October at The
Cities are often described as having a particular character, atmosphere, or identity of their own. In this way, they become the perfect sites for performance, play, and storytelling. The site-specific performance Breaths of Joburg, which took place outside of The Windybrow Art Centre recently, is
Public holidays aside, the month of April felt as if it blew by in the space of one very busy week. But it was not without its highlights. On a Tuesday evening in early April, Strauss & Co’s Johannesburg offices in Houghton play host to
“In between these fixed encampments of desire and paranoia lie ambiguous and ill-defined public spaces whose very fluidity and a-territoriality is providing opportunity for other practices to emerge… Individuals or groups are trying out or inventing new social or economic roles for themselves, to make
Breaths of Joburg took to the streets of Johannesburg last week in the form of a theatre work performed for young audiences, produced by UJ Arts & Culture and the Johannesburg Institute for Advanced Study (JIAS). Created by the acclaimed Jade Bowers (director), Lebo Mashile
The cultural and creative industry in South Africa has seen substantial growth over the last 10 years, with more people participating across the various activities of the value chain. The creative industry does not only offer benefits from an economic point of view but can
This May, Cape Town Opera (CTO) will present George Bizet’s masterful French opera The Pearl Fishers at Artscape, with an all-star cast led by Bel canto tenor Levy Sekgapane in his debut as Nadir. Sekgapane is one of South African opera’s great success stories. Together with Pretty Yende,
Last week, the iconic English play Cruise, written by Jack Holden, took to the stage in Cape Town for its second South African run starring Daniel Geddes. After a short stint at The Linden in Joburg last year, the one-man play returns to South African
The winners of the 58th Fleur du Cap Theatre Awards were announced at the Oude Libertas Amphitheatre in Stellenbosch on Sunday 26 March. The event was one of many celebrating World Theatre Day, globally, on 27 March. The most decorated production of the night was
The My Body My Space Public Arts Festival (MBMS) is one of South Africa’s artistic gems. The annual festival, which takes place from 22 to 25 March this year, consistently brings some of the best in local and international artistic talent to the Emakhazeni community,
“What’s happening here tonight?” asked the Uber driver as I climbed into his car, escaping the howling wind and chatter outside the Cape Town Convention Centre.It was shortly after 21:00 and the 10th annual Investec Cape Town Art Fair (ICTAF) had just wrapped up its
It was in Manila, The Philippines, in October 2022, that the newest iteration of We Will Rock You began. The brand-new production and major world tour of Queen and Ben Elton’s multi-award-winning rock musical features an all-South African cast, crew and band. After touring Asia, this hit
Multi-winning puppet creator, designer and director Janni Younge welcomes her new interpretation of William Shakespeare’s classic play, Hamlet, back to the South African stage. After standing ovations and rapturous applause from audiences at the Chicago International Puppet Festival, Hamlet makes its way to the Pam
On the 100th anniversary of Maria Callas’ birth, multi-award-winning South African actor Sandra Prinsloo will be taking on the role of the iconic singer in Cape Town Opera’s Master Class. From 20 February to 11 March 2023, Pieter Toerien in association with Cape Town Opera (CTO) will present Master Class at
Love, yearning, migration, adversity and an inextricable link with one’s home country are the key themes animating the compelling story at the heart of Calling Us Home. Written and composed by South African musician Alice Gillham, the musical is directed by American director, writer, and