Billy Suter's KZN Showbiz Spotlight

THEATRE

Green Man Flashing

The most exciting thing on the local theatre scene this week will necessitate a trip to Pietermaritzburg. It’s the pacy political thriller Green Man Flashing, a play by Mike van Graan, headed for the Hexagon Theatre on the UKZN campus. Scheduled for performances at 7pm nightly from Monday to Thursday (February 13 to 16), the play takes the audience back more than a decade into the terrain of South Africa’s political history, and yet asks much the same questions persistent in present-day conversation.

Moira Filmer, Sabelo Cele, Sibusiso Nzama, Louise Buchler and Francis Menningke star in a production that gently seduces us into courting the complicated psyche of transforming South Africa. Tickets cost R80 (R50 for students and seniors). To book, please email [email protected].

And That’s When the Trouble Started 

If you appreciate their popular blend of corny comedy and commercial tunes, consider checking out the latest show by seasoned Durban cabaret trio, the Gee Jays, a vocal trio that first performed together 32 years ago. Gary McKenzie, John Didlick and Grant Bell will present a new production, And That’s Where the Trouble Started, at the Rhumbelow Theatre’s Umkomaas branch, at the Aliwal Theatre, at 8pm on Saturday (February 11). Tickets cost R150 and booking is by calling 083 778 1469.

The show will also be staged in Pietermaritzburg on February 26 and, the two weekend after that, in Umbilo, Durban. Catch their new show at Umkomaas’s Aliwal Theatre at 8pm on Saturday (February 11). They will also be at the Point Yacht Club, with Marion Loudon, on Sunday (February 12).

Pictured below: From left are Grant Bell, Gary McKenzie and John Didlick of the Gee Jays.

Let There Be Love 

The Gee Jays (see above) will also present a show titled Let There Be Love, with Marion Loudon as a guest vocalist, This will be at The Venue, at Durban’s Point Yacht Club, on Sunday afternoon (February 12). Expect songs from the 1950s through to today, as well as comedy sketches. Tickets cost R130, and snack platters and meal options are available. The festivities run from 1pm to 4pm. More info from Neeta at 031 941 4010. 

Wouldn’t It Be Luvverly

Singer-pianist Cat Simoni and her director and manager, Paul Spence, are teaming talents for a repeat of their Wouldn’t It Be Luvverly, a tribute to songs from the musical My Fair Lady, recently staged in Durban. Catch the show at 2pm on Sunday (February 12) at the Rhumbelow Theatre’s Pietermaritzburg branch at the Allan Wilson shellhole. Tickets cost R150 and more info is available at 082 499 8636. 

MUSIC

Tanga Zoo 

Swiss drummer Andy Brugger, a jazz-funk specialist who has twice toured to South Africa, has united a few “wild specimens” from Europe for Tanga Zoo, a band entertaining from 6pm on Wednesday (February 15) at the Centre for Jazz and Popular Music on the Durban UKZN campus.

A teacher at the Zürich College for Music, Brugger will team with Jean-Pierre Schaller (bass), André Kunz (guitar), Marc Jufer (reeds) and Kriz Flueler (trumpet/electronics) to serve what he describes as “spicy funk, illicit grooves, and hybrid sound sculptures”. Sounds cool! Doors open at 5.30pm and tickets, available at the door, cost R70 (R45 for pensioners, R20 for students).

 Pictured below: Tanga Zoo, the band entertaining from 6pm on Wednesday (February 15) at the Centre for Jazz and Popular Music on the Durban UKZN campus.

Tennis & Tunes: The Game of Love

The regular Monday music spot at Durban’s Windsor Tennis Club, opposite Glenwood Boys’ High School, will be filled on February 13 by seasoned and versatile jazz pianist Melvin Peters and lovely Haylea Hounsom-Heyns, who had the title role in the recent Durban panto, Sleeping Beauty.

The show, title The Game of Love, offers a mixed bag of love songs, Monday being the day before Valentine’s Day. If you wish, play some friendly tennis from 4pm to 6pm, then grab a drink and wors roll or toasted sandwich from the club pub. The music flows from 6pm to 9pm and the cost for the tennis and the tunes is R50 a head.

COMEDY

My Funny Valentine

Durban comedian Masood Boomgard will be among the cast of a new show, My Funny Valentine, a celebration of romance in song and comedy, at 8pm today and tomorrow, and 3pm on Sunday (February 10 to 12) at Sibaya Casino’s iZulu Theatre. Visit Computicket for booking details.

MOVIES

Denial

My pick of the film’s opening locally today is Denial, starring Rachel Weisz, Tom Wikinson and Timothy Spall under the direction of Mick Jackson. Based on the book, Denial: Holocaust History on Trial, the movie recounts Deborah Lipstadt’s legal battle for historical truth against David Irvin, who accused her of libel when she declared him a Holocaust denier. In the English legal system, in cases of libel, the burden of proof is on the defendant, therefore it was up to Lipstadt and her legal team, led by Richard Rampton, to prove the essential truth that the Holocaust occurred.

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