Fiona Chisholm
THERE’S a breath of fresh air blowing through the Suidoosterfees this year in the form of Niël Rademan, 34, the multi-talented new CEO of the festival whose personality is as colourful as his shirts.
He’s an acclaimed baritone who can accompany himself on the piano. He’s a dynamic theatre director with a master’s degree in Drama from the University of Stellenbosch. And his passion is to make this 12th festival “Slegs vir Almal” – only for everybody, as well as a platform for new talent.
Along with the changed date, from January to April 28 to May 3, Rademan is one of the reasons for the festival’s new name The Winds of Change, or Winde van Verandering.
Interviewed under the shade of the Alphen Hotel’s oaks, Rademan expressed the hope “that from now until I move on, the Suidoosterfees(SOF) will be known as the first place where youngsters had the chance to show their talent. I can provide performers with a platform to become stars and hope that they will be remembered for starting their careers at our festival.”
Early rounds of the popular talent search to find future stars continued until the end of March and involved the communities of Athlone, Mitchell’s Plain, Brackenfell, Langa and Wellington.
The finals take place on Saturday May 2 in the Fees Gees, a big “pleasure tent” on Artscape’s piazza, where the sound of music will also be heard both inside and outside on May 3 during the usually exclusive annual choir competition in six different categories.
Two shows with different appeal are the classical concert on April 30 in The City Hall with the Cape Philharmonic’s Youth Orchestra and soprano Lynelle Kenned, conducted by Brandon Phillips and a new Afrikaans play Santa Gamka, a Karoo story based on the award-winning novel by Eben Venter.
“It’s about the son of a farm worker and the things he has to do to earn a living. He has seven big adventures with his seven ‘clients’! Direction is by Jaco Bouwer and will star Marlo Minnaar in four performances from April 29 in The Fugard Studio. “
As 2015 is an unofficial Jakes Gerwel year, (Vanguard Drive and the great hall at UWC now bear his name) a talk on the spiritual founder of the SOF is expected to attract wide interest. Entitled “Jakes Gerwel: Renaissance Man” it will be held on Saturday May 2 from 9am to 11am in the kykNet isiBaya Theatre.
Good sponsors and co-producers have enabled Rademan to stage several major events.
For the first time in years there will be opera – Gian Carlo Menotti’s exciting music drama The Medium(from April 29 to May 2 in the kykNet Theatre). It stars contralto Elizabeth Frandsen in the title role of Madame Flora, the medium who stages fake séances with help from her daughter Monica (Amanda Osorio) and Toby, a deaf mute. This non-singing role will be played by well-known actor Roelof Storm.
“The opera is fast paced with accessible music and a melodramatic story and Elizabeth has both the presence and fantastic contralto to carry off the role,” said Rademan “Alex Fokkens will conduct a chamber orchestra and director Matthew Wild has promised a different and almost cinematic production that should be very exciting.”
Three iconic octogenarians will be honoured during the festival: P. G. du Plessis, Adam Small and the late Hennie Aucamp – poet, playwright and academic who died of a stroke in March last year two months after turning 80.
P.G’s ever popular play Siener in die Suburbs, complete with car, motor bike and popular Shaleen Surtie Richards is a big co-production being shared by other festivals such as US Woordfees, KKNK and Aardklop. It will be staged with Du Plessis’s blessing from April 28 to May 3 at kykNet Theatre.
A poetry and music programme of works by Adam Small will be presented on May 2 in The Fugard Studio by Royston Stoffels, Ivan Abrahams and June van Mersch.
And Aucamp’s cabaret Slegs vir Almal, which combined music, theatre and text for the first time and is the theme for Rademan’s programme, will be presented on April 30 to May 3 in The Cabaret Arena.
A handy programme with details of everything on a plastic sheet is available. At a glance festivalgoers can decide if they want to attend Die Burger’s 100-year art exhibition on April 28 in the Marble Foyer or two hours of popular line dancing on May 2 in the Piazza tent. They can take their pick from a serious May Day discussion to seeing ventriloquist Conrad Koch and his previously disadvantaged puppet Chester Missing (May 2 at kykNet Theatre), or entertainers Max and Lola (Vinette Ebrahim) Jody Abrahams, Terry Fortune, Zanne Stapelberg and others.
There is also a Bokaap Meander on May 2 to 3, where “kos, kuns and kultuur” can be savoured in this special atmosphere of old Cape Town.
l Computicket 086 191 5800.