LONG STREET NIGHTS -THE HARD- HITTING REALITY OF CPTS PARTY CAPITAL!
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| Eliza,Thando dohi(plays the role of sizwe) and I at The Baxter Theatre Golden Arrow Studio. |
The dynamic cast of Long Street Nights found inspiration after spending two weeks exploring Long Street nightlife at various nightspots such as clubs and bars.
The Baxter Theatre’s Golden Arrow studio is almost filled to capacity and there’s a sudden buzz of excitement in the air.Being a fan of Long Street, I was just as excited as everyone else.
The set and lighting designed by Patrick Curtis commands attention, made up of colourful lights,the backdrop includes names of popular spots in Long Street from Space Bar,169 on Long, Fiction Dj Bar, Joburg Bar to Adult World.
The set also consists of key elements of a typical party - a bar, DJ box, dance floor and balcony.
Long Street Nights is made up of six unique cast members journey in Long Street, one summer night including a care-free party girl,a barman that has fantasies of being a rentboy,and a single mom.
Each cast member takes on their respective roles with a hands-on approach.Mia(Natasha Dryden)is a beautiful, energetic party girl that has a thing for wild parties and bad guys .Attention is drawn to Long Streets underworld of wild parties which involves drug abuse and drug dealing .Mia finds herself gushing about her ‘bad boy’buddy like a lovestruck teen but as the story unveils doubts begin to set in. Jasmine(Reyana Alfreds)takes on the role of the motherly figure ,as she is a single mother and business woman,that is not afraid to speak her mind about the hard hitting reality of Long Street nightlife, such as girls and men often behaving in an unbecoming manner when they ‘’let go’’and become caught up in the wild party buzz Long Street offers.Jasmine also finds herself critically questioning people's reasons for visiting Long Street, at night. Fabian(Antonio Fisher)is a barman that has fantasies of being a rent boy and shares his experiences of being a barman such as overhearing people's explicit conversations and also reveals interesting research he conducted about rent boys high paying jobs, but one begins to see a sensitive side to him as he reveals a critical factor in his life.Catherine (Daneel Van der Walt)is a well-known karaoke DJ but ironically , she feels rather lonely,and finds herself checking out guys and criticising karaoke singers.Duma(Thami Mbongo)is a politician and entrepreneur who's drunken state provides humour.He finds himself lashing out at men, eating sushi off naked women and even Helen Zille. Sizwe(Thando Dohi)is a reserved young man from the Eastern cape who finds himself crossing paths with Mia.But will she give in to his desires?
Long Street Nights,theatre play style dates back to the late Barney Simon,co-founder and artistic director of the Market Theatre in Johannesburg from the late 1970s to late 198Os.His production credits include Cincinnati,Black Dog and more, which he created with Nicky in 1985.Long Street Nights is definitely worth the watch, no strings attached just reality mixed with humour and more…Long Street Is a place where no boundaries exist after all!
Q AND A WITH ANTONIO FISHER
Fabian,The barman…
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| Antonio Fisher |
How similar are you to your character(Fabian) in real life?
There’s no similarities really, I’m definitely not as vulnerable as Fabian, I’m not comfortable behind a bar where as Fabian loves every minute of being a barmen and I’m not at all keen on being a rent boy.What was some of the challenges you were faced with when preparing for your role as Fabian?
Preparing for this role it required me to go back to my childhood memories, where I met my father for the first time, at the age of 12; this is something that makes my heart sink every time I talk about it. So, it was challenging to go back so many years and re-live that moment but it was something that the director believed in it will work and it did.
Do you ever get nervous when on stage?
I get nervous all the time, but I think nerves are good, Nicky Rebelo says that maybe it’s not nerves it’s just excitement, so I’m using the excitement to calm my nerves.
You spent 2 weeks exploring Long street nightlife. What was that experience like?
Well I got robbed of my cell phone the first night in Long Street. But besides that I can say that it was really awesome, because I got to be there for two weeks and I got paid for it and also mind-blowing to see prostitution, drug pushers, homeless people, tourist and local people of all race in one street, and how amazing it was that everyone came there for the same thing and that is to have a good time, but not everyone has the same definition of a good time, (smile)Why would you say people should come and watch Long Street nights?
It reveals so much more than just the good times people normally go out to have on Long, This production shows you that there are a lot more that we think there is, the underbelly of Long Street is revealed through characters that you know exist by strolling down Long on a Friday night.
Message to aspiring performers
Never give up, keep on trying. Endurance will make you victorious.
Future plans regarding your acting career
There’s nothing in the pipe-line yet but hoping to join a vibrant and young artistic company , that’s all I can say for now, like they say ‘watch the space’.
PICS@PREVIEW NIGHT ,FRIDAY 1O MAY 2013.
Long Street Nights will be showing at The Baxter Theatre,Golden Arrow Studios until the 04 June 2013.
Tickets are available at Computicket @R70-R120,OO(Student nights special 8 May-18 May,only R45,00 includes a drink and a samoosa)
Times:7PM(except 18 May@8PM,and 30 May-01 June@6pm+matinee performance on May 16@11AM)
Parental Guidance advised ( PG)
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