Even superheroes are trying to Beat the Bank!
This week two superheroes - or at least people who thought they would attempt to be - tried to break into the Beat the Bank vaults at East Coast Radio.
‘Superman’ and ‘Batman’ even went as far as abseiling down the side of the station’s building, on Umhlanga Rocks Drive, to see which vaults would be full of cash and which would trigger the alarm. As they learnt the hard way, the only way to actually get into the vaults is over the phone!
The best way to win in Beat the Bank is to listen out to East Coast Radio for the signal to call in. The lucky listener on line seven then has the chance to open as many bank vaults as they like and take all the cash in each one as they go. But they’d better be warned, some vaults trigger an alarm which will leave the player empty handed.
Beat the Bank Beat the Bank wraps up on 24 February, so make sure you tune in for the signal to call and play in the next two weeks!
Boesman & Lena is coming to the Catalina
Athol Fugard’s classic story of two coloured people trapped in a struggle for freedom and dignity set during apartheid South Africa, to be staged at the Catalina theatre, Wilsons Wharf for a season designed primarily as a study aid to high school learners, from the 27 February – 16 March 2012.
Directed by Daisy Spencer and starring Rory Booth and Caitlan Kilburn in the title roles, with Mthokozisi Zulu as "Outa", this production takes place in the course of a single evening, following Boesman and Lena’s story as they journey across the mudflats of the Swartkops River near Port Elizabeth, carrying all their belongings, as they have been uprooted from their home which has been bulldozed by the white authorities in order to drive them and other blacks and coloureds in the segregated settlement further away from their white neighbours.
Fugard described an encounter he had that influenced the creation of Boesman and Lena: on a hot August day in 1965, Fugard and two friends were driving along a rural road when they saw an old woman trudging along with all of her worldly possessions tied up in a bundle on her head. They stopped and offered her a ride. She cried at their unexpected kindness, and during the fifteen-mile trip to a farm up the road, she told them about the death of her husband three days earlier and her nine missing children. If Fugard and his companions hadn't stopped to offer her a ride, she would have followed her plan to sleep in a stormwater drain that night and continue her long journey the next day.
Boesman and Lena premiered in Grahamstown at the Rhodes University Little Theatre in 1969 with Fugard himself in the role of Boesman and Yvonne Bryceland as Lena. Glyn Day, a white actor, played the part of Outa in blackface. When the curtain rang down at the end of the play there was a moment of silence and then followed round after round of applause from the distinguished first-night audience. The cast took eight curtain calls.
Daisy Spencer says this about the current production: “If you have ever had the fortune of meeting a coloured person, I’m sure you will agree that we are a very special, amusing and interesting race. Yet as unique as we are, we are constantly conflicted by our lack of a sense of belonging. We metamorphosise into whomever we need to be to entertain the people we are surrounded by, which often leaves us unsure of who we really are. Yes, race is one of the themes Boesman and Lenahighlights, but far beyond this, Athol Fugard presents two people whose pain and suffering is as stark as their surroundings, made worse by man's cruelty to man - the secret pain we all inflict upon each other in our closest relationships. It is a struggle to find the strength it takes to break free from what holds one back from finding out who one really is, and more importantly, what one's value is”.
DATES: 27 February – 16 March 2012
TIMES: School Groups: 11am Weekdays
Public Performance: Fri and Sat: 8pm, Sun: 6pm (Two Weekends Only)
PRICE: Schools: R45 (One teacher free for every 10 scholars)
Public: R 75 (Pensioners R60)
Book Reviews
The Tree Whisperer by Pieter Scholtz
A wonderful tale set in a magical forest. It's all about a man who discovers a wonderful
creature in this forest and together they have a wonderful adventure in the forest
and all over the North Coast of South Africa.
Really easy to read and a enjoyable read.
Rating 4/5
The Tree Whisperer is available at Adams Bookshop at Musgrave Centre, Durban.
Living with Haiku - by Pieter Scholtz and Andrew Verster
This book features some wonderful Haiku (Japanese poetry form) written by
Pieter Scholtz together with some amazing drawings by world famous artist
Andrew Verster. There is so much detail in the Haiku's and the Drawings.
Well worth the read.
Rating 4/5
Living with Haiku is available at Adams Bookshop at Musgrave Centre, Durban.
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