The Hex Team would sincerely like to thank you for your support during 2013. It has been a year filled with a wonderful variety of shows, some well–supported, some less so. We will continue to strive to bring you the best in theatre across all genres, and make 2014 a great year.

We wish you and yours a peaceful and joyous festive season and look forward to seeing you here again next year.

With warmest regards,

Peter, Sandra, Marcus, Marita and Tanya.

The Nutcracker – a Puppet Show.

With the Pietermaritzburg City Orchestra

Hexagon Theatre

Sat 7^th December at 9am and 11am

Sunday 8^th December at 11am

Tickets R65

Bookings at Computicket: http://online.computicket.com/web/event/the_nutcracker_puppet_show/784082684/referer:highlights-index-0-7_18_204386424-0-grid

Or phone 0861 915 8000 and tickets can be collected at the theatre.

Or buy them at your nearest Checkers store.

Based on the famous ballet by Tchaikovsky, The Nutcracker tells the story of a little girl, Clara, whose uncle gives her a toy nutcracker for Christmas. In the middle of the night, she creeps down to the living room, where she discovers that all the toys have miraculously come to life, and that her Nutcracker Prince is in fact the leader of the toy army, who all have to defeat the evil Mouse King. After the battle, the Nutcracker Prince takes Clara to the land of the Sugar-Plum Fairy where they have more delightful adventures.

The same team that brought you the hugely popular production of The Snowman last year, now presents The Nutcracker. The story is brought to life with puppets and sets by Creative Madness, designed by Peter Court, and narrated by Louise Buchler. The timeless music underscore, featuring Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite, is performed by the Pietermaritzburg City Orchestra, under the baton of David Plank.

The Nutcracker promises to delight audiences both young and old, and is a treat for the whole family. Make sure to book early to avoid disappointment.

 The Great American Songbook 

Hexagon Dive, UKZN.

Fri 29^th, Sat 30^th November, Thurs 5^th, Fri 6^th, Sat 7^th December

7.00 for 7.30pm

Tickets R75pp (or R70pp for a table of ten)

Picnic evenings (bring food, but not drinks – there is a cash bar)

Bookings: hexagon@ukzn.ac.za or tel 033 260 5537

START YOUR FESTIVE SEASON OFF WITH AN EVENING OF GREAT SINGING AND MEMORABLE MUSIC.

They’re back by popular demand – after a sold out season in July, The Great American Songbook  is back for the many people who missed out, and those that wanted to see it for a second and third time!

The Great American Songbook refers to songs from the golden era of musicals, both Broadway and Hollywood, which have become classic standards many years after they were written. Songs made famous by people such as Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole and The Platters, and taken up in this century by the likes of Michael Buble, Robbie Williams, Rod Stewart, Norah Jones and Queen Latifah. Each generation has its popular singers who continually update and reinterpret these songs for a new audience. From jazz to swing, ballads to anthems, riveting solos to choral harmonies ,The Great American Songbook presents the best that American music has to offer.

Peter Mitchell and Helen Vermaak, directors of many musicals, have brought together the top local talent to take a new look at some oldies but goldies. The amazing voice of well known songstress Erin Fourie joins the melodious sounds of Ryan Calder, Sandra Styles, Tammy Calder, Brandon Bosch, Jon Branch and Vermaak herself. Each singer has something special to offer, as, accompanied by the inimitable Jeff Judge, they bring us new versions of such hits as Fly Me to the Moon, Misty, I Got Rhythm, That Old Black Magic, Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, Summertime, When I Fall in Love, The Way You Look Tonight and Let's Do It, amongst many other old favourites.

If good music, sung by great performers, is your thing, then The Great American Songbook is the place to find it!

‘Crossing Borders, Driving North’

– 25 years down the road with NIBS -

- album launch –

At the Hexagon DIVE Pietermaritzburg (1 show only!)

Thursday 14 November,

Time: 7.00 for 7.30pm (bring picnic baskets and own food, but no drinks. Cash bar available.)

Tickets: R70pp

Bookings: hexagon@ukzn.ac.za

Directions:  The entrance is off Golf Road directly opposite Hutchinson Road; look out for the University of KwaZulu-Natal Golf Road Campus sign. The theatre has free, safe off street parking for its patrons.

“This excellent career overview shows a voice full of wonder and humility of the songs it sings.” Rolling Stone **** (August 2013)

“Each and every song on this collection is remarkable testament to what a truly original and consummate talent Nibs is and one of the best representations of truly original South African music.”

“The mark of any half decent guitarist is the ability to become one with the instrument. Nibs is that kind of guitar player where he becomes the guitar.”-Music Review SA

“Nibs is probably one of South Africa’s most underrated musicians. Hopefully this anthology can help change that, showcasing the broad range of this extraordinarily talented musician.” AVSA (South Africa’s leading audio visual magazine)

THE SELFISH GIANT

2 November at 10am and 2pm

Gracepointe Ballet Studio brings you Oscar Wilde`s famous story of THE SELFISH GIANT that lives in a house with the most beautiful garden you can imagine, with striking fruit trees and fragrant flowers. The children loved playing in the lovely garden and would spend all their time there while the giant was away. When the giant returned after a long time away he chased them all away and built a huge wall around his garden. With the children gone, a perpetual winter set in the giants garden.

Join us to experience the magic of how the giant sees the error in his ways when the children manage to sneak back in through a hole in the wall bringing Spring back with them. See the beauty of the giant`s kindness come out when he befriends one little child who becomes his favourite and what secrets and untold promises this little child has for the giant in his old age.
This is definitely a story for young and old alike and the emotive ballet, set to an original score of music by Dan Goeller, will give you goose-bumps every time you see it.

 The Rise of The Insanity League

Hexagon Theatre, UKZN, Pmb

16th - 19th October at 7.30pm

Tickets R120 (students and seniors R90)

Book at Computicket

Please note that, for your convenience, you have the option of

booking your seats online or by telephoning 0861 915 8000 and

collecting them at the door.

Tickets at the Theatre:

Subject to availability, tickets are available at the door 45 minutes

before each performance.

Review of The Rise of the Insanity League by Gisele Turner of http://www.goingplacessa.co.za

If two heads are better than one, then three heads are best! The combined force of three celebrity industry players has spawned an enfant terrible, a multi-headed creature with brains and guts and balls. The Insanity League, namely Aaron McIlroy, Ben Voss and John van der Ruit, echo the insane behaviour that is part and parcel of being human, with particular attention paid to being South African in the here and now.  

Some of The Insanity League material is fluff and nonsense, creative playfulness that is given weightiness by a combination of hype and professionalism. Some of the material is deliberately offensive with intention to shock; this is great for keeping an audience alive and reacting. Some of it is raunchy and base, even scatological; not only does it appeal to audiences that expect this kind of below-belt entertainment; it gives the players the chance to indulge in some quasi-sensual shenanigans and boost their masculine pride.  Some of it is deadly and incisive readings of social, political and cultural situations that have long lost any vestige of sanity and which are reflected back in a mirror that does not lie.

I was equally entertained by all the members of The Insanity League and found myself warming to their earnest ridiculousness. Aaron has cut-throat wit and a range of competencies well honed over the years  he has had audiences fall about the aisles with his outrageously one-man multiple personality shows: many wigs and many accents, not to mention fantastic dance skills and an enviable musical vocal range and control. Ben the beefcake gets to show off his shrewdness and capacity to transform at will; he tackles any number of over-the-top characters and nails them with spot on accuracy. His skill at total transformation and believability is put to excellent use in this production and he certainly gets his fair share of the limelight, with and without his shirt on.

John, who has been sorely missed on stage since he took time out to become a famous writer, offered lots of delightful surprises, not the least being that he has a credible singing voice and that he can look so good in a designer coiffed blonde wig. He is suave, spiteful, charming and acerbic at the turn. Together the members of The Insanity League have created a series of skits that flow easily into one another; most of them taken at a galloping pace that doesn’t allow the energy or the laughter to flag. 

Astute strategy in the arts is required to sustain a decent income; celebrity status and identity are essential to commercial success. The three men involved in The Insanity League have all proved their ability to crack the market; they are all highly sought after in the corporate world. This venture, coming as it does on the shoulders of their well-earned previous achievements, is bound for unequivocal success.

BOOKINGS NOW OPEN

KickstArt presents Lisa Bobbert as Shirley Valentine!

Hexagon Theatre

3 – 5 October

Thursday to Saturday at 7.30pm

Saturday matinee at 2.30pm

Tickets R120 (R100 for students and seniors)

Booking at Computicket (http://online.computicket.com/web/event/shirley_valentine/707497191/0/56451354 or tel 0861 915 8000 or visit your nearest Checkers Store)

No one thought she had the courage. The nerve. Or the lingerie.

Shirley Valentine is a middle-aged Liverpool housewife, who finds herself talking to the wall while she prepares her husband`s chip `n egg, wondering what happened to her life. But when her best friend wins an all-expenses-paid vacation to Greece for two, Shirley begins to see the world, and herself, in a different light.

Shirley Valentine has been both a 1986 Willy Russell one hander play, and a subsequent charming romantic comedy film with Russell writing the screenplay, staring Pauline Collins in a career defining role, supported by Tom Conti and Julie McKenzie. Shirley Valentine followed the similar-themed film, Educating Rita.

KickstArt invites you to come on a liberating adventure with Shirley Valentine, everybody’s favourite housewife. Lisa Bobbert reprises her 2008 role as the bored housewife who flees the nest.

Directed by Steven Stead, designed by Greg King, with lighting design by Tina le Roux.

The Shadow of Brel

Hexagon Dive, UKZN

27, 28 September at 7.00 for 7.30pm (doors open at 6.50pm)

Picnic evenings – bring your food, but no drinks, there is a cash bar.

Tables seat 10

Tickets are R90pp

Bookings hexagon@ukzn.ac.za or tel 033 260 5537

The Shadow of Brel is Godfrey Johnson’s homage to the music of legend Jacques Brel, who took his audiences on a journey of pain and joy. His genius was capturing the fullness of life, whether tender or savage, through his evocative sound and lyrics. The show features classics such as Carousel, and If We Only Have Love, all performed with Johnson’s captivating arrangements and signature vocal style. The Shadow of Brel has been described as ‘goosebumps within two bars’ (bizcommunity.com) and “without pretence… without fault… a gem” (Argus).



       (Pic by Rob Kirsner)

 
Johnson is responsible for all the musical arrangements in the show and the direction is by Sanjin Muftic.

Andre the Hilarious Hypnotist

Hexagon Theatre

27 – 31^st August at 7.30pm

Tues R60 (Unreserved)

Wed R70

Thur , Fri & Sat R80

Book at Computicket.com or tel 0861 915 8000 or visit your nearest Checkers Store. 

Andre returns to the Hexagon Theatre after his sold out season in 2012, and with this he brings more of his dry wit, strange humour and a heap of new routines.

Andre has selected some of the best material he could find in order to ensure that his audience is provided with two hours of side splitting fun, laughter and stress reducing entertainment. With no two shows ever being the same not even Andre knows what to expect. 

If you have not seen Andre's show before where have you been? Andre became a household name in the 1990's when his show became a instant hit across the country. Since then Andre has performed in every theatre, city hall, town hall, school hall and places he prefers not to mention filling venues to capacity. 

Andre's popularity soon led to his own television special, followed by a television series and now Andre's very first book (only available at shows). 

His show has taken him up Africa , across Australia and into countries few would venture - Zimbabwe comes to  mind (Technically hypnotising someone in Zimbabwe is a crime).

If you have heard about Andre's show, seen the show or even wondered if this show is real then you are in luck. Andre will be at the Hexagon Theatre in Pietermaritzburg from 27 - 31 August 2013. 

Andre would like to remind Theatre goers that he will not drag, pull or in any way coheres you to take part in the show. If a evening of good old family fun is all you want Andre will let you enjoy the show without the risk of becoming the star. 

Andre's show can however assist when it comes to getting rid of your mother in law, wife or husband. A mere snap of the fingers leaves you single……

Tickets  can be purchased at your closest Computicket outlet or by visiting Computicket online.

The Nutcracker Revolution

Friday 23^rd August at 6pm
Saturday 24^th August at 2pm and 6pm

Booking at Computicket (www.computicket.com or call 0861 915 8000 or visit your nearest Checkers)

Royal Academy of Dance

 17^th Aug 2013 8.30am – 6.30pm, with 2 separate performances – 8.30am – 1pm & 2pm – 6.30pm.

R30.00  -  Booking at Computicket (www.computicket.com or call 0861 915 8000 or visit your nearest Checkers)

The Royal Academy of Dance Graded- and Vocational Graded Bursary Awards Competitions are multi-level and open to RAD students who are studying with an RAD Registered teacher. Candidates will participate in a Preliminary Classical Unset Ballet Class followed by a set Exam Dance from level working on in 2013.   

 DOUBLE BILL –

Postgrad Season 4

Thursday 1^st Aug - 6.30pm
Friday 2^nd Aug - 6.30pm
Saturday 3^rd Aug - 2.00pm and 6.30pm

Ticket prices are R50.00 each.

Booking at Computicket (www.computicket.com or call 0861 915 8000 or visit your nearest Checkers)

Pietermaritzburg based dance studio, Studio 1, presents a fun filled family dance show "Passport to Dance", incorporating ballet, modern, hip hop and contemporary dance performed by dancers of all ages (3years to adults). If you're looking for a dance show with a difference, come aboard to travel around the world with us and experience dance entertainment at its best!! 

The Great American Songbook 

Hexagon Dive, UKZN.

Thurs 25^th and Fri 26^th July (Sat 27^th sold as a fundraiser, but a few tables left if you’re desperate! Ask us for contact details.)

Tickets R75pp (or R70pp for a table of ten)

Picnic evenings (bring food, but not drinks – there is a cash bar)

Bookings: hexagon@ukzn.ac.za or tel 033 260 5537

 

They’re back – the group that brought you so many great musical revues including Lipstick and Lovesongs, Oh What a Night!, The Sound of Movies and Paint the Town, among many more!

 

The Great American Songbook refers to songs from the golden era of musicals, both Broadway and Hollywood, which have become classic standards many years after they were written. Songs made famous by people such as Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole and The Platters, and taken up in this century by the likes of Michael Buble, Robbie Williams, Rod Stewart, Norah Jones and Queen Latifah. Each generation has its popular singers who continually update and reinterpret these songs for a new audience. From jazz to swing, ballads to anthems, riveting solos to choral harmonies ,The Great American Songbook takes in the best that American music has to offer.

Peter Mitchell and Helen Vermaak, directors of many musicals, have brought together popular local singers to take a new look at some oldies but goldies. The amazing voice of well known songstress Erin Fourie joins the melodious sounds of Ryan Calder, Sandra Styles, Tammy Calder, Brandon Bosch, Jon Branch and Vermaak herself. Each singer has something special to offer, as, accompanied by the inimitable Jeff Judge, they bring us new versions of such hits as Fly Me to the Moon, Misty, I Got Rhythm, That Old Black Magic, Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, Summertime, When I Fall in Love, The Way You Look Tonight and Let's Do It, amongst many other old favourites.

If good music, sung by great performers, is your thing, then The Great American Songbook is the place to find it!

 

 

 

Hexagon Theatre

University of KwaZulu-Natal

Pietermaritzburg

Tel 033 260 5537

www.hexagon.ukzn.ac.za

hexagon@ukzn.ac.za

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One Lonely Light

Hexagon Theatre
Wednesday 24th July at 6pm
Thursday 25th and Friday 26th at 12.30pm
Tickets: R25.00 at the door

Returning from a successful season at Grahamstown Festival is One Lonely Light, a piece devised by the students of the Drama and Performance Studies programme, under the direction of Sasha Roopen. It tells a mythical story written in the stars. 

The piece uses the visual techniques of shadow movement and physical theatre to create on stage an engaging and dynamic form of storytelling. The protagonist’s journey of self-discovery is presented in bursts of creativity, colour and light. 
One Lonely Light reflects on the wonders of light, the emptiness we feel when it is taken away and allows the audience to contemplate the significance of light in their own journeys.

Beatrix Potter and some old Favourites

Presented by

Heather Proctor School of Dancing

This is a beautiful ballet, beginning with some of Beatrix Potters adorable little creatures taken from her famous stories, to intrigue the young audience and bring back fond memories for older ones.

The show continues with an array of surprises danced by pupils ranging from 3 years to 20 years of age. The production ends with a choice selection of dances that have delighted many audiences in the past.

Hexagon Theatre

Fri 21^st June @ 2.30pm and 6pm

Sat 22^nd June @ 2.30pm & 6pm

Tickets are R50.00

Booking at Computicket (www.computicket.com or call 0861 915 8000 or visit your nearest Checkers)

Domaine's School of Dance in association with Karate by Don and Sylvia Gold presents

"Just Imagine"

A spectacular fusion of dance and karate

The Hexagon Theatre, UKZN
14th and 15th June at 19.00.

Tickets R50.00
Booking at Computicket (www.computicket.com or call 0861 915 8000 or visit your nearest Checkers)

DOUBLE BILL OF POSTGRADUATE WORKS

Hexagon Studio Theatre

Thurs 6^th & Fri 7^th  at 6pm

Tickets R30 at the door only.

In the continuing season of plays directed by Post Graduates at the Hexagon Theatre the next two shows are Rituale Romanum and The Bald Prima Donna.

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In The Bald Prima Donna director Brenda-Lee Cele has given it a twist by masterfully adaptating it to a more local setting.This delightful absurdist play mirrors the ridiculousness of human interactions, as two couples, from different cultures, let us observe their relationships.The Bald Prima Donna, Ionesco's masterpiece and one of the first absurdist plays, is a brief and sharp-witted one-act anti-play. Its main characteristic is the utter breakdown of every form of communication, leaving the characters on a stage that becomes the empty reflection of their own vapidness.

Rituale Romanum

The famous story documenting the horrific experiences of Anneliese Michel that has inspired many Hollywood features including The Exorcist and The Exorcism of Emily Rose, is resented here in a theatrical retelling directed by Stallone Santino (Dream Boy, How Soon is Now, The Crucible). Shortly after, the play will participate at The Grahamstown National Arts Festival.

Anneliese’s saga began with mere convulsions in her school, which developed into demonic hallucinations. She started hearing voices telling her that she was damned. When the medical and psychiatric professions failed her, Anneliese’s parents were convinced that exorcism was the only route to healing her. The play explores the horrific encounters and exorcisms performed on her along with a hard-hitting and emotionally moving court case that grapples with the arguments of science and religion. Audiences can look forward to a  show that strays from the conventional theatre experience and ignites what Artaud and Kane called a “shocking theatre experience"

A THOUSAND CRANES

by Kathryn Schultz Miller

A drama for children

Wed 29th to Fri 31^st May at 6pm and Sat 1^st June at 10am and 2pm.

Tickets R40

Booking at Computicket (www.computicket.com or call 0861 915 8000 or visit your nearest Checkers)

There is a Japanese legend that if someone makes a thousand origami cranes, the gods will smile upon them and grant them their wish.

A Thousand Cranes is based on the true story of Sadako Sasaki, a girl living in Hiroshima at the time of the atomic bomb, who succumbed to leukemia at 12 years of age, as a result of radiation. Filled with hope of having the gods grant her wish to be better, Sadako only managed to make 644 cranes. Her friends and schoolmates made the remaining 356 as a tribute to her, and the memorial park in Hiroshima has a statue of her which is visited by thousands of people, all bringing paper cranes to honour her and the inscription at the base of the statue: “This is our cry. This is our prayer. Peace in the world.”  

The play, aimed at 8 year olds and over, is a warm-hearted tribute to the ideals represented by the paper Crane: hope and peace. Performed in a style influenced by Oriental theatre traditions, the show is a visual treat which reflects on a part of history often not considered by Western education. The ensemble cast of seven actors ingeniously weave a tale of love, fear, joy, tradition and ancestral spirits. While the play deals with a tragic event, director Peter Mitchell assures that the message is one of hope and tolerance of different traditions and cultures.

The show is designed by the Hexagon Theatre production team of Sandra Styles, Marcus Henning and Peter Mitchell. The performers are Sasha Roopen, Jon Branch (Magical Mystery Tour), Stallone Santino (Rituale Romanum), BreeH Cele, Bongeka Dlamini, Jessica Killerby and Nompumelelo Mtshali.

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Double Bill of Postgraduate Directors’ works.

Venue: Hexagon Studio Theatre

Date and Time: Thursday 16 & Fri 17 May at 6pm

Tickets:  R30   Available at the door only.

EGOLI, CITY OF GOLD

Egoli is a 35 minute play written by Matsemela Manaka and directed by Bongeka Dlamini. This play centres around two characters caught up in the life of migrant black mine workers during the apartheid era. It explores how the city of gold treated the workers, but also how families became alienated as the lifestyle on the mines changed their fathers, husbands and brothers.

Influenced by their living conditions men could no longer hold on to the traditions of their homes. Some men turned against their own through lack of unity, opting for the profits that could be made.

Performed by TQ Zondi and Mpilo Nzimande. (Pictured)

AN AWAITED DAY

AN AWAITED DAY is a romantic drama about young lovers Ndoni and Sabelo, who rebel in order to be together despite their family’s rigid opinions.

 Elsewhere a young Prince also seeks love whilst he embarks on a journey in search for his missing sister, the princess. When their paths finally cross chaos ensues, and their future fate lies in the merciless hands of the King.

The piece is a mix of intense drama and romantic comedy.

The play is written and directed by Nompumelelo Mtshali.