Archive for the ‘Drama’ Category
by Stuart on Apr 3rd, 2012
Joanne Hichens recently wrote about her travels abroad on Michael Sears’ Murder is Everywhere website.
DIVINE JUSTICE is Joanne’s third novel, following OUT TO SCORE (2006), co-authored with Mike Nicol and published in the USA as CAPE GREED, and STAINED (2009), published in the UK and France. She edited the first anthology of South African crime-fiction short stories, BAD COMPANY (2008) (Kubu makes an appearance), and THE BED BOOK OF SHORT STORIES (2010), both of which include her own work. She lives in Cape Town, but has recently been far to the north-east from home. Here she shares her feelings about the difference and similarity of cities.
Featuring the inimitable sleuth Rae Valentine, the setting of my new novel DIVINE JUSTICE is Cape Town at the toe of the African Continent. Voted Top Destination for Tourists by tripadvisor, Rae describes the harbour city, with Table Mountain as spectacular backdrop, as “a mix of sophistication and in-your-face Africa, a cross between London and Lagos, New York and Nairobi”. Indeed it’s a mix of first and third-world, of varying creeds and cultures, where wealth and glamour sit in stark contrast to poverty and struggle. It’s the perfect environment to forment craziness.
Here, the dream mansion that any Hollywood star would drool over, sits a five minute drive from shantytowns where shacks are constructed of cardboard and plastic. Remember that great sci-fi flick, District Nine? Well, no movie set was created. The impoverished squalor was a pukka South African the township.
As for Hong Kong, a city I recently visited for research, I reckon it’s an equally appealing setting for sci-fi as high density living sees apartment buildings touch the heavens. Not even my photos can capture the sense of the unreal. Demands for living space on this small section of land has meant building up, up, up. Fat fingers of concrete stretch up and disappear into a misty sky.
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by Stuart on Feb 13th, 2012
Verdict: carrot
Bitter Pill is available on Amazon for download on the Kindle.
This book is about smut. Extraordinary characters thrive in the dark world of drugs, blackmail, violence and sex – playful innocence destroyed in the gutter world of noisy bars, shooters and spiked drinks.
It’s a good book to take note of if you think books should have an enlightening role in society.
After reading this, the Mother City will never be seen in the same way. The ugly side of Cape Town is laid bare.
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by Stuart on Jul 4th, 2008
For those who missed Tim Plewman’s Cape Town Book Fair monologue (geddit?) on Defending the Caveman – the book that tells the story behind the hit theatre production – here’s a great video of the occasion, compliments of Zoopy.
Love the jacket, Tim:
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by Stuart on Jun 16th, 2008
A somewhat grizzly Tim Plewman was found at the Struik stand representing Two Dogs, clad in a mock-animal fur jacket. He seemed to have just stepped out of the cave, though he would prove to be a rather talented caveman.
Plewman gave us more of a performance than a reading from his book Defending the Caveman, performance being what he is most famous for and what the book is about. Although he said “I know this is not a performance stand,” he could not help himself. His dramatic reading told us most clearly of his performance background; the variation in pitch and tone and accentuated accents made it more than just your average reading.
Plewman spoke about his play of the same name which inspired the book; it has seen its 1000th performance come and go! Quite something for a South African production.
Quote of the hour: “The whole idea of the Caveman is the idea of the understanding and love that should exist between men and women”
-Tim Plewman
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by Stuart on Jun 9th, 2008
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by Stuart on Apr 8th, 2008
Having passed on the mantle of “South African Caveman” to the hilarious Alan Committie in 2006, local theatre legend Tim Plewman transposed the world’s most successful theatre comedy from the stage to the page.
“Defending the Caveman”, the play, opens for its 11th season at the Theatre on the Bay, Camps Bay, tonight, starring Committie and directed by Plewman. The show runs until Saturday 19 April, with performances Tuesday to Friday at 8pm and Saturdays at 5pm and 8pm.
Defending the Caveman, the book, will be available in the theatre foyer – at a reduced price – before and after performances.
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by Stuart on Mar 6th, 2008
Tim Plewman has done so well with Defending the Caveman – first the play, now the book – that his fame has spread far and wide.
As far and as wide as the outer regions of the former USSR, at least. Read this:
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