CIRCLE Productions, a new semi-professional theatre company headed by three passionate theatre makers – Celia Musikanth, Lynda Jennings and Coleen van Staden – will launch their first full length play, Yasmina Reza’s riotous black comedy God of Carnage, on Wednesday at 8pm in The Masque Theatre, Muizenberg.
Musikanth, as an actress until recently and director since the 1980s and Van Staden as a performer, writer of musicals and director, have been involved for more than 30 years in community theatre. Now they look forward to working with performers drawn from the cream of amateur and professional theatre and bringing both worlds together.
“We chose Reza’s play because we want to start off with a bang,” said Musikanth. God of Carnage was a huge success when premiered in 2006 in its original French Le Dieu du carnage. When translated by Christopher Hampton into English and staged in London and New York it first received the Olivier Award for Best New Play of the year and on Broadway it turned out to be their third-longest running play of the 2000s – after The 39 Steps and August: Osage County.
“Everybody, particularly those with children, can identify with the plot. It’s about two married couples who meet to have a civil discussion about the scuffle between their 11-year-old sons – Benjamin has knocked out Henry’s front teeth with a stick because he wouldn’t allow him to join his gang. During the course of the evening the parents degenerate into badly-behaved children themselves….”
Van Staden will direct the cast featuring Brian Notcutt and Ceridwen Jess Morris as the parents of the victim Henry and Kirsty Cunnington and Patrick Jordi are the Mum and Dad of the feisty aggressor Benjamin.
Circle Productions had its origins over a cup of coffee last year when Van Staden and Musikanth, discussed the possibility of working together as their creative juices needed more fulfilment.
“I’ve co-directed and acted with Coleen and she has directed me. We react and think so similarly that we’ve come to regard ourselves as two sides of a coin – a circle. That’s how we arrived at our name, although we haven’t yet worked out who’s heads and who’s tails. No doubt that will come… We asked Lynda Jennings to come on board for her excellent organisational skills and her outstanding photography particular of theatrical productions.
“Money? What’s that? We will continue working with community theatre players and when involving professionals, it will be on a profit-share arrangement. We will have to choose our productions wisely and well.”
So far so good. Under the banner of Circle Productions Coleen van Staden directed a reading of Under Milkwood by Dylan Thomas to full houses at The Rosebank Theatre and Gaslight Cafe, Muizenberg.
Other productions in the pipeline include Musikanth’s adaptation of Bruce Clark’s book Love Sex Fleas God, featuring well-known actor David Muller in August at The Rosebank Theatre, as well as an adaptation of Jam every other day by Emmalien Kriel with Erika Marais.
l The show is at The Masque Theatre, Wednesday to Friday at 8pm, and on Saturday at 2.30pm and 6.30pm. Book: 021 788 1898