#nadine minnaar

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Learned friends; true rotters

"Learned friends; true rotters", a review of 'Witness for the Prosecution', directed by Alan Swerdlow, until 30 June in Johannesburg, and 4 July - 10 August in Cape Town.

VERDICT under consideration, with (from left) Sir Wilfred Robarts QC (Graham Hopkins), Mr John Mayhew (Craig Jackson), defence solicitor Mr Myers QC (Mike Huff) and Inspector Hearne (Micah Stojakovic) with Mr Justice Wainwright (Peter Terry) residing. Photograph by Keaton Ditchfield. THE COURT DRAMA in the wake of a murder of passion is arguably the most enthralling context for a thrilling story…

[artsvark]

Unravelling The Mystery of Irma Vep

The Mystery of Irma Vep starring Jonathan Roxmouth and Weslee Swain Lauder.

Jonathan Roxmouth and Weslee Swain Lauder play eight quick-change characters in a decadent Victorian-style whodunnit at Montecasino from July 5.

VR Theatrical by special arrangement with Samuel French Inc present The Mystery of Irma Vep starring Jonathan Roxmouth and Weslee Swain Lauder – Pieter Toerien’s Montecasino Theatre from 5 July 2017.

Jonathan Roxmouth (Sweeney Todd, Phantom of the Opera, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat), one of the biggest names in South African theatre, stars with the inimitable Weslee Swain Lauder (Sweeney Todd, Janice Honeyman’s Peter Pan, Starlight Express) in The Mystery of Irma Vep as they have never been seen before! The acclaimed play is conceived and written by Charles Ludlum, directed by Elizma Badenhorst (Hedwig and the Angry Inch, I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change) with an original score by Wessel Odendaal.

The Mystery of Irma Vep starring Jonathan Roxmouth and Weslee Swain Lauder.

On a remote manor called Mandacrest, something is amiss. Between the horrors of a marauding beast terrorizing the estate and the looming presence of the recently deceased former mistress Irma Vep, matters become awkward in the extreme for Lord Edgar and his new wife, Lady Enid. In this side-splitting comedy, you’ll be taken from the moors of England to the tombs of Egypt and back again, encountering along the way a host of vampires, werewolves, mummies and all manner of things that go bump in the night.

The Mystery of Irma Vep is a satire of several theatrical, literary and film genres, including Victorian melodrama, farce, the penny dreadful, Wuthering Heights and the Alfred Hitchcock film, Rebecca. The cast of eight characters in this deliciously decadent ‘whodunnit?’ – lunatics, beasts, ghouls and gentlefolk – are played by only two actors who swop character and costumes faster than you can say ‘vampire!’. The intricate wardrobe design is by Pierre du Plessis, scenic design is by Nadine and Louis Minnaar and lighting design is by Oliver Hauser.

The production will be on the boards at Pieter Toerien’s Theatre at Montecasino from 5 to 30 July and at Theatre on The Bay in Cape Town from 2 to 19 August.

Unravelling The Mystery of Irma Vep was originally published on Artsvark

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Ode to the Patron Saint of Mediocrity

TAKE that! Antonio Salieri (Alan Committie) above, in a fit of jealousy with Mozart (Mark Elderkin). Photography courtesy of Montecasino Theatre. WHEN YOU THINK of Amadeus, Peter Shaffer’s perfectly wonderful play of 1979 that cast mischievous light into the mysterious nooks and untold crannies of the life of 18th century Vienna composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the first thing that comes to…