Music and theatre events to keep you entertained
Music, theatre, ballet, opera and a virtual art exhibition from around the country and around the world are some of the live and recorded events that will keep you entertained this week, safely at home.
Wednesday 1 April at 6pm – The multi award-winning rock and blues singer Jan Blohm hosts a free live concert on his Facebook page. The concert is free but people are welcome to make donations (details will be provided) to help performers who are unable to do live shows at this time.
Wednesday 1 April and Saturday 4 April 6pm – The Bolshoi Theatre from Russia broadcasts an opera and a ballet. The opera The Tsar’s Bride by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov is on Wednesday and the ballet Marco Spada by Daniel François Esprit Auber on Saturday. Broadcasts will start at 6pm South African time and productions will then be available to view for 24 hours. Visit the Bolshoi theatre’s YouTube site for information and to view for free. These productions are not live but are a unique opportunity to view world-class productions for free.
Wednesday 1 April at 6pm – Erika Botha from the alternative rock band Erika en die Dudes offers a live acoustic session on her Instagram and Facebook pages. The band plays mainly alternative rock and they play a mixture of Afrikaans and English songs. “The songs we play are covers of well-known songs that everybody can relate to, and our own original songs,” Botha said.
Wednesday 1 April at 8pm– The Bloemfontein singer Neil Nachtrein, Jan Blohm’s former partner in the duo Blomtrein before he went solo, hosts a free live concert on his Facebook page. He is known for his husky voice and nostalgic Afrikaans music. The concert is free but donations are welcomed. Details will be provided.
Thursday 2 April at 12pm (until 5 May) – The NWU Art Gallery opens an online exhibition that brings together recently exhibited work by Phoka Nyokong and Philiswa Lila for the Absa L’Atelier Gerard Sekoto Award. Visit the gallery’s Facebook page for a link to the exhibition.
Thursday 2 April at 8pm – The National Theatre in London broadcasts the Broadway and West End hit One Man, Two Guvnors. This is not a live stream, but still a special opportunity to see world-class theatre for free, something that is not usually available to YouTube viewers. View the show on YouTube. It will be available for a week, when a new production will be broadcast.
Friday 3 April at 8pm – The comedian Schalk Bezuidenhout hosts a live stand-up comedy show in English, a departure from his usual shows in Afrikaans. Visit Lockdownlaughs for more details and to book. Tickets are R50 each.
Sunday 5 April at 5pm – Atterbury Theatre in Pretoria hosts a live e-concert with some of the biggest names in Afrikaans music, including Amanda Strydom, Joshua na die Reën, Jak de Priester, André Schwartz and many others. Tickets are R50 each and are available on Atterbury Theatre’s website. There will be another e-concert on 12 April.