Cultsha Kennis

Faith Kinniar has a fantastic take on absurdist theatre in Antie Wi’oekal, an online show which she has written, performed and co-produced with the National Arts Festival 2021 with the collaboration of a dynamic team: Director Jeremeo Le Cordeur; Choreographer Rae Classen; Set & Lighting by Alfred Rietmann; Production & Stage Management by Dian Harcovecchio. With a clever use of symbolism, repetition, physical theatre and audio-visual material, the show calls out coloured female stereotypes prevalent in the entertainment world and, as the show advertises, stereotypes that are “exploited for comedic value”. Just as we get comfortable listening to the unidentified central character – fitting to the title of the play – express her frustration at the worn-out gown she’s wearing, we get pulled into her alternate world (“ek was innie yal in”) where she is living in the coronavirus pandemic (“die taxis het fokkel oep vensters”), being teleported (“djy gaatjie, vi wat teleport djy my

  Dean Balie is an actor, musician and composer, having worked mostly in theatre and radio. He graduated from Stellenbosch University with a BA in Drama in 2010, making his professional debut in the Maynardville production of Antony and Cleopatra and Die Kortstondige raklewe van Anastasia W , both directed by Mathinus Basson. He is most known for performances in musical and drama productions at the Fugard Theatre, a few which include David Kramer and Taliep Petersen’s Kat and the Kings in 2012 ( Cultsha Kennis has fond memories of him playing the charming young Kat Diamond!) , for which he won a Fleur Du Cap award for Best Actor in a Musical, and Kramer’s Blood Brothers (2014) , Happy New Year and Orpheus in Africa (2015). He has also performed locally and internationally at the Grahamstown Festival in 2015, the International Shakespeare Festival in Romania and the Tennessee Williams Festival in the USA. Other theatre credits include Abrahamse and Meyer’s productions of The Tragedy o