THEATRE

I GOT RHYTHM

I Got Rhythm is the latest show from the Bill Buchanan Players to be held on November 6 at 20h00 and November 7 and 8 at 14h30 and 20h00 at the Bill Buchanan Park Hall. Phone 21-2137.

PLAYHOUSE NEW YEAR

Party in true theatrical style and see the new year in at the Playhouse. There is a choice of three different shows: the family pantomime Robin's a Cruise-Ou; Siwela Sonke Dance Theatre's Cool Currents, or the adult panto, Sleeping Beauty in the Playhouse Cellar.

THE FINAL CUT

After sell-out seasons at the Standard Bank National Arts Festival, Michael-house and the Hermanus Whale festival, the two-hander cricket comedy, The Final Cut, runs at the Kwasuka Theatre from November 1 to 14.

The Final Cut is set at Durban's Kingsmead cricket stadium where South Africa is taking on Australia in the final of the Nelson Mandela Tribute Series. The play revolves around two totally dissimilar spectators who meet in the crowd. Danie, an amiable and over-friendly Brakpan plumber, has plenty of stories to tell to anyone within earshot! Bruce - Australian, prickly and unap-proachable - is an avid cricket fanatic and ornithologist, who wants nothing more than to relax and watch the game in peace and quiet.

While their repartee and situation is reminiscent of Paul Slabolepszy's Under the Oaks, Ben Voss and John van de Ruit introduce some amusing interludes as they `send up' familiar figures from the world of cricket, such as commen-tators Trevor Quirk and Peter Becela. They also play the Australian commen-tators - the fiercely patriotic and vocally-challenged Bill Lawry and the smooth, but temperamental Tony Greig.

The Final Cut, which is directed by Tamar Meskin, is sponsored by MTN.

To purchase performances at discount prices for charities or sports clubs fund-raising purposes, call 202-9093 during office hours.

SHAKESPEARE SOCIETY

On November 22 at 18h00 The Shakes-peare Society of Southern Africa will hold a `think tank' to give members an opportunity to discuss and plan their end-of-year party and entertainment. New members are welcome. Phone Nancy on 207-3687 for more details.

PEACE IN THE VALLEY

Written and directed by Jerry Pooe, Peace in the Valley is influenced by the musical West Side Story which, in turn, was based on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.

Set in KwaMashu, it features the love relationship of a young boy from Y section and a girl from Z section, two areas torn apart by political war.

The show has input from two top names in music and dance. Tu Nokwe wrote the music; Boysie Cekwana assisted the cast with choreography, and Patti Nokwe (Tu's mother) handled the voice training.

Sharing the lead female role in Peace in the Valley are Dawn King and Sonto Maphumulo, third year drama students at Technikon Natal. Former Umabatha cast members Skhumbuzo Nsele and Buyani Shangase share the male lead.

The musical will be launched at the Technikon's Courtyard Theatre on November 10 before moving to the Open Air Theatre at the University of Natal.

"If we receive the necessary funding," says Jerry Pooe, "Peace in the Valley will tour KZN - going to places like Richmond and Ezingolweni that have been torn apart by violence."

TADA'S SHY SHARK

Young students of the Kwasuka Theatre School will play characters such as Starby Starfish, Oswald Octopus, Great Shark, Colonel Cod and Samuel Seahorse in Tada and the Shy Shark directed by Caroline Palmer.

Running at Kwasuka Theatre at 14h30 every Saturday afternoon in November, the show projects messages of responsi-bility and mutual respect. The 15-member cast is headed by Nita Allsopp (ShyShark) and Nicholas Morell (Tada). Students of the Linda Vargas School of Spanish Dance also form part of the cast.

The show can also incorporate catering, face painting and an `under-the-sea' treasure hunt. Bookings at Kwasuka Theatre on 309-2236.

BACK-SIDE

Following his last Playhouse sell-out pro-duction, The Great R31 Million Robbery, Ronnie Govender is about to launch Back-Side in the Playhouse Drama from November 24 to December 12. This is the third in a series of hilarious send-ups of leading personalities. Successful pre-decessors, Off-Side! and In-Side!, poked fun at figures such as the Rajbanis, PW Bothas, JN Reddys and the Alan Hen-drickses, to name a few.

In the cast of Back-Side are Ramesh Hassen, who has also written the music and songs for the show, and well-known choreographer Kumari Ambigay. Also featured are Solly Pillay, sought-after compére and stand-up comedian, who was in The Lahnee's Pleasure, Swami and Inside, and University of Durban Westville Speech and drama graduate Yugen Naidoo, recently seen in the Smirnoff Mule Comedy Roadshow.

Back-Side! is also directed by Ronnie Govender who is the winner of the 1997 Commonwealth Writers' Award.

THE CRUISE-OU

Writer director Janet Honeyman's panto-mime hit Robin's A Cruise-Ou to be staged at the Playhouse Opera from December 5 to January 10, sees popular M-Net KTV star Matthew Stewardson return to the lead role of Robin he performed during last year's sell-out season at Johannesburg's Civic Theatre.

This festive season production, with Bheki Mkhwane in the role of Friday, promises a frolic into the wonderful world of pantomime. The part of Prim-rose is yet to be confirmed while her mother, the City Treasurer Rykie Rixdaler, will be played by Velephi Mnisi (also doubling as the dinosaur, Ten-Ton-Sore-Arse-Rex).

Robin's two sisters Milly Malciosa and Vitriola Viciosa, both uglier than each other, are played by Duncan Royce (FNB Vita Award winner for his role in Return to the Forbidden Planet) and Stephen Gurney. Peter Court is their lush but loving mother-figure, Dame Lolla Laf-A-Lot and Garth Anderson will play Kaptein Vullis van Hunks.

The trio of treacherous villains will all be played by Drummond Marais (last seen in Return to the Forbidden Planet). His evil companions, the Raver Rats, are Mari Visagie and Philippa Savage.

Those wishing to purchase performances for fundraising purposes should phone 369-9448. Tickets from R25 to R45.

BIRTHDAY SUITE

The Pinetown Repertory Players will present Birthday Suite this month in the Pinetown Library Functions Room.

Directed by Celia Ellard, Birthday Suite is a comedy by Robin Hawdon.

The setting is the stuff of pure farce. Four people find themselves in a hotel - all there on a dating system. However, while two have come from a computer agency, the other two are a married couple on the verge of breaking up and their presence (unknown to each other) at the hotel has been set up by a friend.

In the cast are Dirk Kotze, Dawne Oosthuizen, David Andrews, Elize Viljoen and Cliff Dyason.

There will be performances from November 5 to 8 and again from November 12 to 15 at 19h30 (Sunday shows at 18h30). Tickets are R35 pp.

To book phone Clare on 701-5315 or Celia on 708-5832.

THEATRE SCHEME

The Southern Foundation will fund a new project next year to train six performers who have never previously received any formal theatre training, thus empowering them to be self-employed in educational and community theatre.

Starting in January 11, the programme will be run by well-known educational theatre experts, Bheki Mkhwane and Ellis Pearson, who will provide skills and knowledge of street/community theatre and theatre of the imagination.

They will be assisted by Tom Harding and Dorothy Garcia, in South Africa from the USA through funding from an educational institution in the USA.

Based on the theme Rights and Respon-sibilities, a play will be developed during the training programme. This will be performed, free of charge to schools in KwaMashu and Mlazi in February and March 19 by the newly-trained actors. The play then becomes the theatrical property of these six actors providing them with a vehicle to launch themselves into a business, offering educational theatre to the community. The project will be run under the auspices of the Commonwealth Society of SA and Sue Clarence Promotions.

AUDITION

Anyone wishing to audition for this project should contact Sue Clarence on 764-7518. Auditions will be held in the BAT Centre on November 13 at 13h00. Auditionees should arrive suitably dressed for physical theatre work.

ÉDITH

The Hilton Theatre will host Danièle Pascal in Édith a tribute to the legendary Edith Piaf, on November 4 at 19h30.

Édith explores the hardship, drive and insatiable hunger for love of the street urchin with the powerful voice. The show presents Danièle Pascal in a daring portrayal. Part Piaf, part character raconteur, she reveals the passionate, chaotic and sometimes sublime aspects of Edith Piaf's world.

It unites her for the second time with writer/director Pluto Panoussis after their successful Fallen Angel last year.

To book, phone Doreen between 08h30 and 13h30 on (0331) 43-0126.