De Beer Necessities

Review by Diane de Beer RISE ’76: THE STORY OF JUNE 16TH WRITER/DIRECTOR: Tiisetso Mashifane wa Noni CAST: Deon Lotz (police commander), Sbuja Dywili (policeman) and Ben Albertyn (policeman), the three men at the back With bottom row from left to right: Mfuneli Ntumbuka (teacher), Alex Sono (male pupil) Zilungile Mbombo (standing, female pupil), and Botlhale Mahlangu (headmaster) With all of them playing many other smaller characters in the play VENUE: Mannie Manim Theatre at Joburg’s Market...

DIANE DE BEER Soloist/accompanist/lecturer Charl du Plessis is all about music. He is constantly travelling all over the world, but everything is about the performance – or occasionally catching one of his cherished artists either in the classical or jazz genres. His annual classical festival at the Fairtree Atterbury Theatre has become legendary in a very short time because of its innovative programming as well as the acclaimed artists participating.

If you were witness to the birth of the South African democracy in 1994, Albie Sachs will be familiar to you. Not only was he part of the drafting of a charter for the new non-racial South Africa, but he also fought for the inclusion of a Bill of Rights and an independent judiciary in the new constitution.

Pictures: Ngoma Mphahlele It bubbles and bristles with energy, enthusiasm and excitement in this return season of a play which started as a student production in 2024 and returned in 2025 to the National Arts Festival, where it won a Golden Ovation Award, as well as a Naledi for Best Ensemble. This current season is the forerunner of a showcase at a Swedish Festival, where it is one of four international productions selected from 600 applicants. And rightly so.

From an early age, JO Steenkamp knew what he wanted to do. Even though he didn’t have any artistic influences in his youth, he started sculpting at the age of 16. But when life decisions had to be made, he realized that his interest was psychology – and not simply the true and tested path of the time; he was intrigued by spontaneous healing, something he developed through his doctoral work and which he turned into what today would best be understood as Steenkamp brand.

Chef/artist/fashion activist Lientjie Denton is a woman who lives life to the full. Meeting her a few decades ago when she opened her first interior shop, Lemon Lounge, in the always-sassy Brooklyn Mall, I knew this woman had exceptional style. That feeling has exploded over the years. She always seems to make the right move at the right time, usually driven by personal passion and when life runs ahead, she finds a new pad for one of her passions and gets down and dirty.

Author Gerda Taljaard with her dog Iggy Pop. It is the fairytale quality of the story meshed with a realism that keeps you questioning from beginning to end. That, as well as the double destination of motherlands with Russia and South Africa as the main focus, hooks you from the start. I’m writing about Pretoria author Gerda Taljaard’s latest book Die Grafdigter, which has those in the know in the Afrikaans literature world talking.

A NOTE FROM JANNA RAMOS-VIOLANTE I wanted to write THE OPERA SINGER because I am deeply interested in the stories we tell about greatness and in what those stories leave out. We celebrate artists at their peak. We applaud them, photograph them, quote them. We call them icons, divas, legends. But we rarely stay long enough to ask what it cost them to become that, or what remains once the applause has faded. We are very good at consuming brilliance.

Marty Supreme is a star effort. The theme of table tennis didn’t thrill me, so I skipped this movie until I heard an interview with the two stars, Chalamet and Paltrow. I was intrigued. Then Paltrow came out of self-imposed retirement for her role, which also says something. Chalamet impressed in Call Me By Your Name, but it was especially the Bob Dylan movie, A Complete Unknown, that caught my attention and that I loved.

Steinway Artist Charl du Plessis is joined by long-time collaborators Werner Spies (double bass) and Peter Auret (drums) for a reflective journey through two decades of crossover music-making –  both on stage and on their latest album.