…..SoSuterBill…..

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BY BILLY SUTER

IT MAY have started a week late due to having undergone script rewrites at the eleventh hour following the loss of a cast member, but for all that, and with only four performers, Durban’s 22nd annual naughty panto for adults manages to pull through very well indeed.

In fact, while somewhat short at about an hour, Twice Upon a Mattress – The Story of The Princess and the P is probably the best mini panto staged to date at the cosy OnStage@Altitude, in Silver Avenue, Stamford Hill, the home for the pantos since they stopped being staged at Suncoast Casino a few years ago when renovations began there.

Good news is that SoSuterBill has eight tickets to give away to the show’s 7.30pm performance on Christmas Eve, Monday, December 24. Full details on how to enter for the grand prize appear at the end of this story.

Written and directed by Thomie Holtzhausen, Twice Upon a Mattress – The Story of The Princess and the P has a very loose theme indeed, but there are sufficient good jokes and funny lines, as well as a varied song selection and some exuberant performances, to ensure the pile of nonsense makes for a highly enjoyable night out.

The cherry on the top is newcomer Philisiwe Ntintili, a second-year drama student at Durban University of Technology (DUT), who is easy on the eye, makes for an ebullient stage presence, has a good voice and is an actress to watch.

Her fellow cast members are popular old pro Holtzhausen, performing in his 11th panto as the safari-suited king, head of the Briated household, as well as his tottering, tipsy wife, Queen Annie Briated. Holtzhausen also makes a cameo appearance as a comical old Indian woman, a character that has become a staple in recent naughty pantos.

Completing the cast are lanky and animated Mpilo ‘Straw’ Nzimande, also a panto regular in recent years, who plays the wife-seeking Prince Ample, and Jaziel Vaugh’hann, in drag once again and probably the best he’s been in recent years, as shady dames who wish to woo the prince.

On a small, simple but effectively bright set, the quartet present a fun romp that includes slapstick, sarcasm, some bawdy humour, and jabs at everyone from Felicia Mabuza Suttle to Malusi Gigaba and Jacob Zuma.

There is also a lot of song, the chosen numbers offering everything from the regular panto linesong to an Afrikaans ditty, Papa Pata, How Will I Know?, Nobody Does It Like Me, Let Me Entertain You, Somebody to Love and a rousing finale of Clap Your Hands and Stamp Your Feet, a hit in the early 1970s for local artist Maria.

Scheduled to run until January 12, Twice Upon A Mattress – the Story of The Princess and The P accommodates only 10 tables of eight, all of which are cleared away after the entertainment to allow for partying the night away on the dancefloor.

The panto is to be staged from 7.30pm to 9.30pm every Wednesday to Saturday. Patrons are encouraged to take along their own picnic baskets or snacks, but drinks must be bought at the venue’s small pub.

Tickets cost R150 each but lower-priced performances have been scheduled for the Mondays December 3, 10 and 24, when tickets cost R100 each. Additionally, there is one Tuesday performance on December 18, for which tickets cost R150 each.

For any further information, or to book as a group, contact Thomie of It’sTaboo Production at 064 476 9533. Online bookings can be done via Quicket.

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WIN EIGHT TICKETS TO DURBAN’S LATEST NAUGHTY PANTO

To put yourself in line to win EIGHT TICKETS to the 7.30pm December 24 performance of Twice Upon A Mattress – the Story of The Princessat OnStage@Altitude, in Silver Avenue, Stamford Hill – you simply have to be a follower of my site.  At no cost.

If you are not already a follower, simply leave your email address in the space provided towards the end of the cover page of this site, sosuterbill.com

You will then be a follower, and receive email notification whenever I file a new story.

Once you have subscribed (there is no cost), send your NAME and PHONE NUMBER via email (NOT THIS SITE’S CONTACT FORM) to sosuterbill@gmail.com and place the words ‘NAUGHTY PANTO’ in the subject field. 

The winner of the EIGHT TICKETS will be chosen and notified after 6pm on Saturday, December 8. Good luck!

NOTE: PLEASE READ ENTRY DETAILS CAREFULLY AS SOME PEOPLE ARE ENTERING COMPETITIONS INCORRECTLY.

ALSO NOTE THAT ONLY ONE ENTRY PER SUBSCRIBER WILL BE CONSIDERED.

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