Wow. Here is the list of nominees for the annual Fleur du Cap Theatre Awards. I think there are a great number of very strong actors, students, directors and productions this year and I am so far beyond excited to be a part of such a talented group. Best Performance by an actor Bongile Mantsai for Mies Julie as John Elton Landrew for Boesman & Lena as Boesman Gideon Lombard for The View as Young Man Jeremy Crutchley for Sacred Elephant as Everyman.
Best Performance by an actress Anthea Thompson for Kingdom of Earth as Myrtle Bo Petersen for Statements after an Arrest under the Immorality Act as Frieda Joubert Hilda Cronjé for Mies Julieas Julie Quanita Adams for Boesman & Lena as Lena.
Best Supporting Actor Adam Neill for Champ as Waldo David Dennis for A Midsummer Night's Dream as Nick Bottom/Pyramus Gideon Lombard for Special Thanks to Guests from Afar as Markus Weitig Mbulelo Grootboom for Just Business as Mabuso.
Best Supporting Actress Ella Gabriel for The View as Various Characters Emily Child for King Lear (This Time it Hurts) as Regan Jennie Reznek for Autopsy as Madam Shu and Others Thoko Ntshinga for Mies Julie as Christine Best Performance by an actor in music theatre and/or a musical Danny Butler for Kat and the Kings as Kat Diamond Dean Balie for Kat and the Kings as Young Kat Diamond Jonathan Roxmouth for Topsy Turvy as Various Characters Sasha Halhuber for Cabaret as Emcee
Best Performance by an actress in music theatre and/or a musical Aviva Pelham for Santa's Story as Various Characters Kate Normington for Menopause the Musical as Soap Star Samantha Peo for Cabaret as Sally Bowles Sivan Raphaely for From the Mouths of Babes as Herself.
Best Performance by a supporting actor in music theatre and/or a musical Carlo Daniels forKat and the Kings as Ballie Grant Peres for Kat and the Kings as Bingo Peter Court for Cabaret as Herr Schultz Zakariyah Toerien for Kat and the Kings as Magoo
Best Performance by a supporting actress in music theatre and/or a musical Amy Trout forKat and the Kings as Lucy Dixon Charon Williams-Ros for Cabaret as Fräulein Schneider Kate Normington for Cabaret as Fräulein Kost Londiwe Dhlomo for Cabaret as Texas.
Best Performance in a cabaret/revue/one person show Daneel van der Walt for Big Girl as Big Girl James Cuningham for Sunday Morning as Mat Jeremy Crutchley for Sacred Elephant as Everyman Lynita Crofford for An Audience with Miss Hobhouse as Emily Hobhouse and Others.
Most Promising Student Award Ella Gabriel (UCT) Roelof Storm (UCT) Chrisma Van Zyl (University Stellenbosch) Stefan Erasmus (UCT). Best Director James Ngcobo for Boesman & Lena Mandla Mbothwe for Did We Dance: The Sinking of the SS Mendi Matthew Wild for The Comedy of Errors Yael Farber for Mies Julie.
Best Lighting Design Faheem Bardien for A Midsummer Night's Dream Kobus Rossouw for The Comedy of Errors Patrick Curtis for Did We Dance: The Sinking of the SS Mendi Paul Abrams for Mies Julie. Best Set Design Fred Abrahamse for Kingdom of Earth Leopold Senekal for Did We Dance: The Sinking of the SS Mendi Patrick Curtis for Doodsnikke Patrick Curtis for Mies Julie.
Best Costume Design Angela Nemov for The Comedy of Errors Illka Louw for Sacred Elephant Marcel Meyer for Kingdom of Earth Neil Stuart-Harris for Cabaret.
Best Original Score and/or Sound Design Charl-Johan Lingenfelder (original score) for Kingdom of Earth Charl-Johan Lingenfelder for A Midsummer Night's Dream Daniel Pencer and Matthew Pencer (original music) for Mies Julie David Kramer and Taliep Petersen (original score) for Kat and the Kings. Best New SA Script Bench by Brent Palmer Champ by Louis Viljoen Mies Julie by Yael Farber Sunday Morning by Nick Warren
Rosalie van der Gucht Prize for new directors - Greg Karvallas for Champ; Kim Kerfoot forStatements after an Arrest under the Immorality Act; Michael Kirch for Bench; Philip Rademeyer forThe View
And, you can now vote for the People's Choice Award by texting 'FDC' to 33783. Click on the link and select your favourite play of 2012. R1.50 for the text. I do hope that soon the theatre making students will be recognized for their work by the Fleur du Cap awards, too.
This time next year, I'll be living in New York City.
(Now that that's out of the way):
Today I was at a restaurant I go to at least 5 times a week. An unusual looking guy (I guessed around thirty or so) sat at the bar about three chairs down. I caught him looking at my sushi. I was annoyed - typically timid South African, I didn't want him to talk to me. I'm usually much more comfortable pretending to text or to be on the phone or to think really hard and to avoid eye contact completely - anything's better than talking to a stranger.
"What's that you're eating?"
HOLY SHIT: HE'S AMERICAN.
I was shy but quickly convinced myself to strike up a conversation with him (especially after he told me he lives in NYC). And I was so proud of myself. We chatted for the rest of the meal. He showed me pictures of Hurricane Sandy, his home, his halloween outfit, etc. Told me he was there at the restaurant (eating Sushi) because it's Thanks Giving today. I said "not quite a turkey" and he laughed. It was sweet of him.
We chatted away, he could hear me (I worked quite hard not to mumble) and he introduced himself right at the end as'Joe from New York City'. And he wasn't a jerk, or obnoxious, or loud, or stupid or naïve, or any of the other equally as presumptuous traits so many South Africans readily lend their Western counterparts. He was just Joe from New York City. And it was so nice to meet him.
It is an experiment. It is long and you should listen to it properly or not at all.
I read a play called 'Box' today by Edward Albee. The entire piece is a voice over. On stage is a box. That is all. The voice comments on the human predicament and, in consequence, the effects of art. And the box. Which I thought would be quite interesting stuff to contemplate in the wake of the Zuma-Murray Spear/Smear saga.
Zapiro earned himself a lawsuit for the first rape metaphor cartoon. Mad props for stickin' it to the man and coming out with the necessary second cartoon despite it all.
I decided today that every now and then (hopefully every day but I'm trying not to be unrealistic), I'm going to post my favourite fb status - as in someone else's. I'm putting it under the label "fb status" so eventually, when you want to see all my favourites as a collective bunch of fb status', just click on that label in my cool little label constellation on the right hand side of my posts :)
Today:
"Favourite morning headline: ANC not into sushi and naked girls" -Jonx Pillemer (Photographer)
