Latoya Newman
The Playhouse New Stages Season 2016 opened at the weekend with The Cenotaph of Dan wa Moriri.
Theatre maker and actor, Tony Miyambo, wrote the play partly as an ode to his late father, Daniel Rasenga Miyambo, who died in 2007.
Struggling to come to terms with his dad’s death, Miyambo penned this piece which first performed at the So Solo Festival.
Miyambo’s father was a hairstylist who lived a normal life. And – as Miyambo said in a previous interview – there is one “big overarching narrative” in his story, but it is certainly one that we can all relate to.
Delivering his piece with some drama that tugs at the heartstrings, nostalgia and great storytelling, Miyambo touches on universal issues of love, relationships, loss and grief.
Miyambo takes “ordinary” subject matter and transforms it into extraordinary lessons on life and how we often take for granted the people in our lives and only stock of their value after they’re gone.
Written by Miyambo and Gerard Bester, in collaboration with William Harding, the play is directed by Gerard Bester and produced by Gita Pather.
The team have done a good job of balancing the heaviness that such matters can bring with loads of light moments. They also transformed a personal story into one that we can all relate to.
Prepare to cry. Prepare to laugh. But most of all, prepare to be moved.
New Stages continues this week with a highly anticipated collaboration between Bovim Ballet and The Playhouse Dance Residency.
Renowned choreographer, Sean Bovim, brings the two companies together to perform his production, Romeo’s Kiss.
Inspired by Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, the dance production sees characters from opposite ends of the social scale come together. Set in a modern society, Romeo is a banker from an upper class family and Juliet, an innocent from “new money”.
Bovim uses cover songs of the music of The Beatles to tell the story.
Describing the style of the production as “MTV-culture meets So You Think You Can Dance”, you can expect to enjoy contemporary music, with dance which has been described as “having a contemporary rock edge” to it, featuring a touch of classism, hip hop and jazz thrown into the mix.
Romeo will be danced by Devon Marshbank from Bovim Ballet and Juliet will be danced by Leagan Peffer from The Playhouse Dance Residency.
The production plays in the Playhouse Drama Theatre, Thurs to Sun. Book for public shows (Thurs, Sat: 7.30pm, Sun: 2.30pm), at Computicket. Tickets: R120. Block bookings for 50 or more: Dawn at 031 369 9407. Pensioners, students get a 10% discount.