A good night out in Alex

Theatre Night in Alexandra proved that the township could hold its own when it comes to theatre and music, with some great entertainment receiving loud cheers from the audience.
IT all started innocently enough, with Jack wanting to hold a surprise baby shower for his wife. With many promises and enticements, he gets his three best friends to go along with his plans.

Star attraction: Israel MakoeStar attraction: Israel MakoeThe party starts off with a good vibe, with the wife and the guests getting into the swing of things. In fact, it is going exceptionally well, until Jack’s aptly named mother-in-law, Chaos, arrives.

Unfortunately, the men are dressed in drag – having performed a raucous dance routine as the party entertainment – and her pregnant daughter is taking a drink as a forfeit for not managing to guess the gift.

The packed house attending the one-act farce, Baby Shower, at Alexandra’s Thusong Centre thoroughly enjoyed the one-off event, put on by Theatre Night on Friday, 9 September as part of this year’s Joburg International Arts Alive Festival. Particularly loud cheers greeted the dance routine and the dazzling outfits the men donned for the party.

Israel Makoe, known for his roles in the Oscar-winning movie, Tsotsi, and the television series, Gaz’lam, made a special guest appearance as one of Jack’s friends. The show also starred Michael Mabizela as Jack, Vusi Simelane, Sbongiseni Phakathi, Harriet Manamela, Lindiwe Mbundu and Zanele Mthembu.

Baby Shower was directed by Mpho Molepo and written by Mike Motaung, who was thrilled to see his work come to life on stage. The evening started off in a somewhat mellow mood, with a jazz quartet greeting the theatre-goers on their arrival.

In the run-up to the show Zino-buu kept the buzz alive with some smooth songs, including her favourite, George Gershwin’s Summertime. She was accompanied by the laid back Mphumzeni Khonjelwayo on keyboards.

All told, it was a great evening, and the audience was loud in its praise of the play and the musicians, pointing out that Alex could hold its own with the rest of Jozi artistically.