Williams puts it all on the line in ‘The Fully Morty’

Published Aug 4, 2015

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If you don’t know who Mortimer Williams (pictured) is or haven’t seen him on stage, this is your chance. He’s excited about a solo show he will be staging from tonight until August 23 at the Joburg Theatre Fringe with the sassy The Full Morty.

And to help him, his partner in crime (manager and cast member of Mixed Tape), Kristy Suttner is on board in a directing capacity. She states that she wants women to know that this show has been audited by “a girl and is better for it!” That’s a smart move.

Williams came through the David Kramer/ Taliep Petersen school of performance where the basics taught and the stripes earned are as good as any drama degree.

If the name sounds familiar, Williams was part of the Dreamgirls and Peter Pan team, played one half of a gay couple in SABC2’s popular Erfsondes and is featured in Skeem Saam. But he is probably most keen on his singing voice. “I want to show them I’ve got a good set of lungs,” he says of the current production which he describes as a combo of comedy and cabaret.

He’s familiar with stand-up, but wants a bit more. He’s more a performer than a comedy guy even though the funny side of life is where he seems most at ease. “Much of what I have done has some of that involved,” he says.

Four years ago he started playing with the idea of The Full Morty. He thought he could talk about his experiences as a South African male coming with a very specific perspective, but then also add the music which he believes is one of his strengths.

“I’ve become comfortable performing solo as I often MC and do corporate work,” he says.

In fact, he’s almost slightly rattled that he doesn’t become nervous. “That’s my comfort zone,” he says about the stage.

In his background he has amassed many tools to help along the way as if this path was destined. Apart from constantly working on his craft, he skilled himself in sound and lighting. “I knew I didn’t just want to be a one- track horse,” he says and that has always been the positive-negative of the South African industry. Performers have to have even more than what is known as the triple threat: singing dancing and acting. They have to have it all if they want to survive and then they have to shape their own careers – not wait for others to do it.

“I’m a family man and have to provide,” says Williams about his proactive stance. Fortunately for him, his wife Alethea, a former dancer with the State Theatre dance company, knows this world and has kept close to the edges as an events manager.

“I’m so proud of her,” says Williams. They also have an 8-year old daughter and he says, if his family is his pillar, his daughter is the mucus.

“She’s something,” he adds.

That is the kind of background he brings to the stage. “I hope young artists can learn from my journey.” If you have daddy issues, he tells about his experience which might push buttons about yours. But it’s funny. “I have a message”, and hopefully that stays when the laughter subsides, is what he hopes for.

The show has been tried and tested, first in front of a group of mates who voted with their hearts but also by a much harsher audience in Grahamstown where he did well in both numbers as well as reviews. That’s rare for a festival first-timer and Williams is hugely humbled.

But he is as cocky as he is charming.

“I know I can hold a crowd,” he says and he shows proof of that. He has been doing something reflecting his show at an Emmarentia venue for a while on Friday and Saturday nights. That has given him confidence as well as bringing joy.

“I love putting a smile on people’s faces,” he says.

Getting out there on his own (with the help of his manager/director he’s quick to add) is his salvation.

“You don’t want to be the one running after work, it should come for you.

• The Full Morty stages at The Fringe at the Joburg Theatre until August 23.

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