The majority of English plays presented at Clover Aardklop this year are proudly South African.
Ismail Mahomed’s Cheaper than Roses is a heart-warming, unusual, funny and sad story of a woman who did not want to be “cheaper than roses”. Lizz Meiring stars as the woman who returns to her hometown to find she doesn’t belong anywhere anymore. Zane Meas is the director.
For decades Malcolm Gooding’s golden voice has been soothing South African ears – as narrator on Squad Cars and now as presenter of Criminal Minds. Hear him imitate Anton Hartman, Pat Kerr and Charles Fortune. Going Gooding is a nostalgic and hilarious look at the golden age of broadcasting.
The Return of Elvis du Pisanie is a Paul Slabolepszy classic, with Lionel Newton as Eddie – a married man from Modderfontein with kids who sells underfloor heating. He decides the only way out is suicide, but when he turns on the radio Elvis Presley, his hero, is singing. The play, directed by André Odendaal, takes a poignant look at the journey of a man who reconnects with the future.
French writer Yasmina Reza’s award-winning comedy Art takes a wry look at the nature of friendship, the fault-lines that run through even the closest relationships and the power of art to please, disturb and challenge. What would your reaction be if your friend spends an exorbitant amount of money on a completely white painting? Marthinus Basson is the director and designer and the cast is Christiaan Olwagen, Wessel Pretorius and Wilhelm van der Walt.