Like the T-shirt says, Elzabé Zietsman is a songstress, actress and chefstress. And soon she will be adding even more tags to her long list of titles.
On Friday, she opens as the vampish character Knol in Karla en die Kersknol and early in the new year she starts on her first directing project Snoopy, which is being produced by Elzabé and her partner Theresa du Preez's company Kookoo! Productions.
The duo are also presenting their annual farce Is Die Muis Baas, which follows on this year's As Die Kat Weg Is, which is having its final run at Carnival City.
That's exhausting enough but Elzabé also finished a month-long solo season of Kaalgestroop this past weekend at her home restaurant Zietsies, where she serves a full meal and then performs.
It's a brilliant concept and works magnificently with the barefoot diva hands-on as she entertains the dinner guests with her lively descriptions of the food before she starts with the show.
This is fine dining, the Elzabé way. She has always had a passion for food. On our night, she starts with a Bloody Mary, rocket and gorgonzola salad, a trademark shooter (which features more pineapple and buttermilk than alcohol), and a serious main meal of leg of lamb with dainty veggies and potatoes.
Then she sends us into chocolate heaven with a decadent fudge brownie. And to top that, she serves coffee with biscotti, if you are able to eat another crumb.
The restaurant is charmingly decorated, the food beautifully presented and it tastes as good as it looks. Add to that the Zietsman oomph and without a show, the night is already made.
It is the performance, though, that adds that something extraordinary. It's kind of kitchen cabaret, with Elzabé accompanied on grand piano by keyboard queen Janine Neethling, and so intimate is the venue, that she performs without a mic. That's quite daring but it works and with a show titled Kaalgestroop (Stripped), the vulnerability is almost raw.
She talks about being tattered and torn, but we witness a star as she gets up close and personal in both her stories and songs. Her next season, called Pinch and Grind, will be presented in March.
Unless someone else pays me, my solo shows will all be presented at home, says Elzabé, and it's the smart option. It's truly a night to remember.
The restaurant is open for Sunday lunches as well but bookings are important. The menu is a set one but changes from week to week, with Elzabé's herb and vegetable garden and her instincts dictating the cuisine.
With her solo season behind her for now, Elzabé's stepping into the elaborate shoes of the deliciously bitchy Kersknol in the family show Karla en die Kersknol, which runs from Friday to December 18 at the Vodaworld Theatre at Vodadome Midrand.
It's fun, feisty and for young and old who understand Afrikaans. Liz Meiring directs and many other famous faces also included in the line-up.
Once that's done, there's time for a short break before Elzabé steps into her novice directorial shoes to start rehearsals for Snoopy. I'm very excited but also scared, she says.
She and Theresa have talked about this musical for a long time but they weren't sure who would direct. Theresa suggested that I direct and initially I was just so surprised. It had never been part of my dream, she says, but having performed in cabaret, plays and musicals all her life, why not?
I do know my limitations, she says, and that is what she believes will pull her through.
She knows Snoopy the musical - and the whole Peanuts gang - well enough to know what she wants and what she doesn't want. Her choice of people to help her with the creative process is an indication of the kind of support she will have.
The brilliant Jacques van der Watt from Black Coffee will do the designs, Heidi Edeling is the musical director and Christopher Kindo does the choreography.
The cast is just as exciting, with Justin Strydom as Charlie Brown, Byron Olivato as Snoopy, Michelle Botha as Lucy and Earl Gregory as Linus.
Snoopy run from January 30 to February 25 at Joburg's new venue, the University of Johannesburg Theatre, which is within walking distance of Elzabé's home - but then they will be venturing further as they tour from Cape Town to Durban to Bloemfontein.
If you think she has her hands full, think again. In February, Kookoo! Productions also presents Is Die Muis Baas, directed by Pierre van Pletzen.
Starring James Borthwick and Rika Sennet, Isadora Verwey and David Clatworthy, they will also be testing a new theatre, the West End in the Pretoria show grounds.
The venue is accessible, has been upgraded and the parking is safe, says Elzabé, whose organising skills have grown in leaps and bounds with all these new ventures piling on, one after the other.
At home, she has her own family with, at top of the list, Nicolas Luwezo Qiqimana, whom she describes as my grootmaak kind (adopted child) and her white pit bull terrier named Ntsu, which with typical Zietsman logic means black. There's also the restaurant staff who are all part of her extended family.
And once you sit down to a meal, she spreads those arms wide open and includes you in her ever-growing circle.
- Bookings and enquiries for the restaurant and shows can be made by calling 011-880-1027.