Mangaung is gearing up to have its own Love, Crime and Johannesburg play, reports Ace Moloi.
Respected director and drama lecturer Masedi Manenye has challenged himself to bring Love, Crime & Johannesburg – a known play – to Mangaung.
Rehearsals for the show, which is set to hit the stage in March of 2018, started off with intense fitness exercises first, followed by dance lessons.
The appointed band – Colourful Souls – has also begun its practice, and costume fittings will soon be completed.
TK Da Poet, who plays the main character, describes the script as challenging, yet important for his growth.
“As challenging as the play is, it reveals the best out of me. It digs out the creativity in me,” says the local poet, adding that his leading role is proof that the director has immense faith in him. “I believe the director saw the qualities and the influence I may have to drive the play.”
Though Love, Crime & Johannesburg is not TK’s first gig as a main act, he promises theatre lovers a different side to him altogether; one they’ve never seen, even in MANTSHO, the locally produced and nationally acclaimed play he headlined.
With this kind of talent and more, the Mangaung adaptation of Love, Crime & Johannesburg is timed to explode during Human Rights month. Originators of this award-winning musical, Malcolm Purkey and Carol Steynburg, have found a perfect guardian in the form of Masedi Manenye: director, actor, choreographer and academic.
Masedi obtained his MA in Drama and Theatre Arts, majoring in Drama and Dance, at the University of the Free State.
He is currently working as the incubator programme mentor for the Performing Arts Council of the Free State (PACOFS), which is supported by the Department of Arts and Culture. He has performed and directed various productions, which showed at festivals such as KKNK, Grahamstown National Arts Festival and FS Arts Festival.
His vision for this musical is to show the universality of its themes, using local talent and capacity.
ART STATE is the official media partner for the play. Follow us on Twitter for updates, and like the show’s Facebook event page: Love, Crime & Johannesburg.
FEATURED IMAGE: Local version of Junction Avenue Theatre Company’s ‘Love, Crime and Johannesburg’ set to hit theatres in autumn.
