Dalene Matthee’s classic, Fiela se Kind, will visit The Baxter Theatre in Cape Town from 22 to 26 August. Suzanne van Wijk adapted Fiela se Kind for the stage and Frans Swart directed the play. Swart has produced the production twice (in 1997 and 2007), and he and Matthee became great friends before she died.
“With this production of Fiela se Kind, we would also like to pay homage to Dalene Matthee … one of South Africa’s most talented authors. During one of our rehearsals in those days, Dalene brought me a copy of Fiela se Kind – inside she had written: “Fiela is in good hands! Dalene Matthee”. It is once again time for us to experience the wonderful story of Fiela se Kind on stage”, Swart adds.
Fresh and new
“From the outset, my team and I said that we did not want to copy any of the former Fielas and therefore, this production will be fresh and new. I am very excited about what happened during the creative processes. Theatregoers will definitely experience a wonderful new production and, after 30 years, there is of course a whole new generation that has never seen Fiela se Kind on stage.
Swart further explained that they did a nationwide search, especially for a young characters Benjamin and Nina. “After auditioning more than 300 children across the country, we finally found our new Benjamin (Vian Singleton from Meyerton) and Nina (Jaime du Toit from Vereeniging). These two are extremely talented and will do justice to the important roles of the young Nina and Benjamin. I am just as excited about Shaleen Surtie-Richards, the original Fiela. Then we have the two wonderful young actors, Marissa Claasen and Phillru van Achterbergh, as the older Nina and Lukas, respectively.
The rest of the cast
Elias van Rooyen (woodsman) – Paul Lückhoff
Barta van Rooyen (forest woman) – Edrien Erasmus
Selling Komoetie – Johny Klein
Census takers – Dirk Vermeulen, Nardus van der Vyver
Willem van Rooyen – Divan Prinsloo
Tollie Komoetie – Graigan Swartz
Emma Komoetie – Marilise van Wyk
What: Fiela se Kind
Where: The Baxter Theatre, Rosebank, Cape Town
When: 22 to 26 August, 2017
Book: 0861 915 8000, www.computicket.com Group/school bookings – Lefra 011 815 3000, admin@lefra.com
WS
