WIN: Shades is a family affair

THE South African Women’s Arts Festival returns to The Playhouse to celebrate women in arts from the 22 to 31 August.

This year’s festival marks the 18th anniversary and promises to be a truly unforgettable experience, boasting a mouthwatering line-up of features, live productions and special attractions that cater for all members of the family and cover all genres of the arts.

The Playhouse Company’s presents Sharman Macdonald’s Shades, an enthralling drama which is a highlight of the Festival, directed by Ralph Lawson.

Shades takes us through an evening in the lives of Pearl played by Lisa Bobbert, her mother, Jane Ross, her suitor Louis van Eeden and her young son Alan, Aleks Robertson – an evening that changes the course of their relationships forever. The successful West End play is was modified to a South African context set in the 1950’s.

No stranger to Durban theatre stages, Bobbert best known for her comedy roles will take on the quite serious role as Pearl a widow. “If you’re an actor,, you like to play different characters. Each role comes with different challenges becoming a different personality in each character is the joy of acting,” she told Berea Mail.

This is the first SAWAF that Bobbert is involved in and she is very excited to be part of the Festival. “I think the play is very relevant especially because she is a single mother, has a difficult relationship with her own mother and she puts a lot of pressure on her young son in the absence of his father but the exciting thing is there is always hope!”

Bobbert says the role was interesting and challenging to play since her character is very different from the 38-year-old widow Pearl. “Pearl is rather mean and selfish to her son so I really have to get into character with her. She is highly strung, in a serious relationship but has an ever-present nagging mother on her back and the clock is ticking in terms of finding love although she is still in love with her dead husband and compares every man to him,” she said.

WIN

Three lucky Berea Mail readers can each win double tickets to watch Shades on Friday 29 August at The Playhouse by filling in your details on the entry form attached to this article. Competition closes Wednesday 27 August at 10am. Winners will be contacted by telephone. Terms and conditions apply.

Sorry, this competition is closed.