…..SoSuterBill…..

……BY BILLY SUTER……

DURBAN’S KickstArt theatre company is set for another busy year – plans include a brand-new production of The Rocky Horror Show in Durban and, following successful pantomime tours to Johannesburg, taking a panto (the delightful Jack and the Beanstalk) to Cape Town for the first time.

Other exciting news from the company is that a special treat is scheduled for this year’s Hilton Art Festival in Hilton – an acclaimed British play starring former Durban theatre darling and KickstArt stalwart, Janna Ramos-Violante, who now lives with her husband and children in Austria.

And this year’s Durban festive season panto from KickstArt, boys and girls, will be a revival of the swashbuckling spectacle that is Sinbad the Sailor, starring Rory Booth in the title role.

Before all that, however, My Fair Lady, directed by KickstArt’s Steven Stead and designed by KickstArt’s Greg King, will be presented at Durban’s Playhouse Opera theatre, from March 8 to 16, following sell-out success in Cape Town and Joburg. This widely acclaimed production, almost sold out for the Durban season, is presented by Pieter Toerien Productions and Cape Town Opera. Both Stead and King were recently nominated for Cape Town’s Fleur du Cap Awards for their work on the show.

But back to The Rocky Horror Show… I see you shiver with….anticipation!

KickstArt is thrilled to be presenting its brand-new production of Richard O’Brien’s cult classic from September 18 to October 12, at Durban’s Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre. The high-camp musical from the 1970s, which became a cult film teaming O’Brien, Tim Curry and Susan Sarandon, will be directed by Stead. It will boast set designs by King and costume designs by now-Monaco-based, former Durban designer, Terrence Bray.

Evan Roberts will be the show’s musical director, leading an on-stage band playing a score which features classics such as Time Warp, Sweet Transvestite, Science Fiction, Over at the Frankenstein Place, Touch-a-Touch Me, Whatever Happened to Saturday Night and Dammit, Janet. Choreography will be by Simone Mann.

Heading the impressive cast will be Johannesburg actor Tshepo Ncokoane (Kinky Boots, The Magic Box, Priscilla Queen of the Desert) as the camp, cross-dressing, mad scientist, Frank N Furter. Durban audiences will have seen Tshepo in KickstArt’s 2018 production of Camelot, as Sir Dinidan, and in the 2021 Cabaret and Beyond Festival Showcase for the Centre of Creative Arts.

Others lined up for The Rocky Horror Show cast are Bryan Hiles as Brad, Keryn Lynn Scott as Janet, Schoeman Smit as Riff Raff, Belinda Henwood as Magenta, Kaylee McIlroy as Columbia, William Young as Rocky, Lyle Buxton as Dr Scott/Eddie and Michael Gritten as The Narrator. The show also features Blessing Xaba (perhaps best known as Fatty in the Spud movies), Roshanda Lewis, Amahle Tembe and Carl Oosthuizen.

The Rocky Horror Show will have performances at 7.30pm every Tuesday to Saturday, at 2.30pm on Saturdays, and 6pm on Sundays. Booking is at Webtickets.

Stead says that in collaboration with the Baxter Theatre, KickstArt is thrilled to be taking its first pantomime to Cape Town from July 3 to 27. Jack and the Beanstalk, written and directed by Stead and designed by King, will star Waterfront Theatre School graduate William Young as the hero, Jack, with Roshanda Lewis as his love-interest, Princess Jill. Blessing Xaba steps into the dame’s high heels to play Jack’s long-suffering mother, Flora Flatbroke. Others in the cast will include Bryan Hiles, Brent Palmer, Liesl Coppin, Lyle Buxton and Samantha Landers.

Performances of Jack and the Beanstalk will be at 2pm Tuesdays to Fridays, 11am and 3.30pm on Saturdays and 2pm on Sundays. There are also several early evening performances scheduled. Booking is now open at Webtickets.

Sinbad the Sailor will be at Durban’s Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre from December 4 to January 11. With colourful sets and costumes that evoke the exotic mystery and magic of the Arabian Nights, and exciting music and dance inspired by Bollywood, this is a unique pantomime experience for the entire family.

The panto is written and directed by Stead, designed by King and choreographed by Evashnee Pillay. Also in the cast are Bryan Hiles as Sinbad’s mother, Dame Donna Kebab; Lyle Buxton as his nemesis, Long John Slither; Belinda Henwood as the scheming sorceress Morgiana the Magnificent; and Roshanda Lewis as Sinbad’s love interest, Marina. The show also features Marion Loudon, Blessing Xaba and Mthokozisi Zulu.

Sinbad the Sailor performances are scheduled for 2.30pm Tuesdays to Fridays, 11am and 3.30pm on Saturdays, and 2.30pm on Sundays. There will be no performances on Christmas Day, Boxing Day or New Year’s Day. Book at Webtickets.

Girls and Boys, directed by Stead and starring Janna-Ramos Violante, is headed for the Hilton Arts Festival for only two performances between August 8 and 10. It is described as a powerful, funny and moving play by British playwright Denis Kelly. Starring Carey Mulligan, it had a highly acclaimed West End run in 2018.

The 90-minute piece is labelled as a compelling and entertaining monologue, told from the perspective of an unnamed woman who tells of meeting the man of her dreams in an Easyjet queue, and of their subsequent marriage and developing relationship.

Ramos-Violante, star of such KickstArt successes as Venus in Fur and Oleanna, among others, first created Girls and Boys with Stead for the Salzburg Landestheater in Austria, in May 2024. Both are happy to be bringing it to South Africa, in a co-production between KickstArt, The Salzburg Landestheater and the Hilton Arts Festival.