DRAMA



ALTERNATIVE ACTION



The Playhouse Company, in association with the playwright, is presenting Alternative Action written and directed by Kessie Govender in the Playhouse Sanlam Loft from May 8 to 26.

The play is described as "a down-to-earth look at the effects of democracy on unsuspecting South Africans."

When Rajen, a quirky bra-salesman, quickly realises that life in the 'new South Africa' requires innovative skills for survival, he gets himself into a fix trying to be politically correct by having his Indian wife pose as an African woman so he can get a job promotion.

Like award-winning Govender's pre-vious productions, Alternative Action is a said to be an entertaining bite of reality that shouldn't be missed.

Tickets at R20. (R10 tickets at door for students and over-65's at the Playhouse box office 30 minutes before curtain-up on production of valid cards. Pay What You Can (minimum R5) operates on Tuesdays, one hour before curtain-up.

OLD BOYS

Award-winning playwright and director Anthony Akerman's newest play, Old Boys, has its world premiŠre in the Playhouse Sanlam Loft on June 8.

Based on Akerman's experiences at Michaelhouse school (this year celebra-ting its centenary), the play features Tim Wells, Nick Ashby, Jacqui Logie, Ashley Dowds and Brett Golden. Sets and costumes will be by Rod Smith.

RUGBY SHOW



Paul Slabolepszy's long-running farce, Heel Against the Head, now at the Playhouse Drama stars the playwright and Bill Flynn as two platteland "okes" in Johannesburg to watch the 1995 World Cup rugby final.

Also in the cast are Gaby Lomberg as Slabolepszy's wife, Michele Levin as a student/escort lady and Ellis Pearson as an off-beat Japanese tourist.

Once a member of the Loft Theatre Company, Pearson is probably best remembered for his appearance in the three-hander, Frank 'n Stein, at the Playhouse Loft and in the Cellar.

The show's previous sell-out successes in other centres prove it's a must!

MEN WITH WEAPONS



If you didn't catch Greig Coetzee's hit one-man-show directed by Garth Anderson, White Men with Weapons, when it ran at the Square Space at the University of Natal a few months back, then don't miss its return season. It runs in the Playhouse Tudor Room until May 26 before going on to the Standard Bank National Arts Festival in Grahamstown.

This funny, honest and hard-hitting comedy is set in the old SADF during the dawn of the new South Africa.

TALENT

Greig Coetzee is definitely a talent to watch and, in this show, he takes on a number of characters ranging from the meek Anglican chaplain to the drunken directionless staff sergeant and from the scowling foul- mouthed corporal to the drug-addicted medic. His handling of the scene when the ANC is unbanned is particularly notable, when the question arises: `Who is the army fighting now if the enemy isn't the enemy any more?'

White Men with Weapons

is an autobio-graphical account of Greig's conscription into the SADF in 1990.

Seating in the Tudor Room is at tables and a cash bar is available.

DOUBLE BILL



In May, the University of Durban-Westville's drama department presents a double bill of South African plays: Bopha by Percy Mtwa, directed by Logan Shunmugam, and The Island by Athol Fugard, John Kani and Winston Ntshona, directed by Robin Singh.

Arising out of the protest theatre era, the plays are presented because of their his-torical significance in South African theatre. Acknowleged excellent examples of this genre of drama, the plays are amongst the few published works from South Africa's recent and turbulent past. John Kani and Winston Ntshona appro-ved the amateur rights of The Island.

The plays run at the Asoka Theatre at UDW from May 20 to 22 for schools performances (10h00) and from May 23 to 25 for the public (19h30).

Bookings open on May 8. Phone Ms S Naidoo on 820-2626.

CHALK CIRCLE



The University of Natal's speech and drama department will present The Caucasian Chalk Circle by German playwright Bertolt Brecht at the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre from May 6 to 11. As setwork for matric speech and drama students, the play was written while Brecht was in exile in America during the Second World War and pro-vides a novel view of human relation-ships and the nature of justice.

Director Tamar Meskin will present the play in a quasi-Vaudevillean style which illustrates the dichotomy that Brecht perceived between theatre and reality.

COLLAGE



The television programme on the arts, Arts Unlimited, is transmitted on Thursdays at 22h10 on SABC3 .

Collage

is produced by Allen Auld.



BRIGHTON EXTENSIONS



Brighton Extension Productions returns to the fringe of the Grahamstown Festi-val after the success of their 1995 production, Inkawu's Tale.

The group consists of two adults and 38 children (aged from five to 18 years) in five productions including a puppet show, Andile, in which puppeteers Jean Byrne and Jean Strange have made the marionettes.

Three of the older students have created an anti-drug show, Dogpounded.

GROWING

Growing Stars

is an all-girl cabaret about stars who began their musical careers at an early age and features 15-year-old Matsita Potlaki whose father was in the original cast of Ipi Tombi.

The Boy and his Genie

is the major junior production featuring brother and sister Amanda and Teddy Makhetha. The set design is by Farley Whitfield, with the costumes designed and made by Jean Byrne.

All involved with Brighton Extension Productions are either residents of the Bluff or go to school on the Bluff. For details contact Jean Strange on 47-4472.