I watch in horror as students storm a university campus hoping to register. A mother dies in the stampede. Just young people, starry-eyed, wanting to study. Unsure of the future.
I think back to my student days. I studied drama at the University of Stellenbosch, not because I had an incredible talent, but because of an English high school teacher who introduced me to the wonder of theatre. The stage, the wings, waiting for the audience to settle, your entrance and then: magic! I knew I wanted to study drama, or rather, study the magic of anticipation. My mother had other ideas – a nurse, a flight attendant. Continue reading…
It was our year end function on Thursday night. The end of the year at the Lollipop Lounge was met with double standards. On the one side I will be relieved of the late nights. The ever flowing stream of invoices that always needs to be paid. The endless listening to all the stories and drama that only women working closely together can create. The overload of admin as the salaries and bonuses were paid. From my side the end of the year meant rest and switch off. For many of my employees it means their way of making a living stopped dead in its tracks for 3 weeks. For my floor staff it meant family time. They will be traveling far to get to the ones they love and by the first week of January they will take the route back to the Lollipop Lounge. Hopefully rejuvenated, ready to tackle the bulls by the horns.
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We are sitting huddled around the fire in a house in Melkbosstrand. Me and my fellow actors. We are staying in the house of the director of the production “A Seder Val in Waterkloof”. There are two weeks left before we leave for Nelspruit for the Innie Bos festival. Its raining and cold and the warm fire and sherry warms up the bones after a long day in the freezing cold rehearsal room. I am at word. My fellow actors are tucked away under blankets listening to my tales of the Lollipop Lounge, the girls, my team, my strange, strange world. Continue reading…