Cape Town’s beloved Maynardville Open-Air Festival season is back and better than ever, sporting a new food market and a full season of music, opera, ballet, and Shakespeare under the stars.
After a three-year hiatus, Maynardville is now under the management of Jaco van Rensburg and Wessel Odendaal’s award-winning entertainment production company, VR Theatrical.
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The Maynardville Open-Air Theatre Festival season is a highlight for Cape Town summers. In recent years, it has expanded to feature a full schedule of classic plays in addition to a traditional Shakespeare play. Shakespeare and classical concerts are combined in this expanded seasonal format by VR Theatrical.
Shakespeare’s fantasy comedy “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” will be the featured production in 2023. Geoffrey Hyland is directing it, and after his successes with “Richard the Third” (2019) and “Twelfth Night” (2017), it promises to be a fresh take on this magical classic. The lead roles will be played by actors Chi Mhende and Mark Elderkin.
The Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra will present the musical “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” by Mendelssohn as the orchestral programme, and the Cape Town City Ballet will present a programme of two works titled “SummerSnow”, which will contrast the hot summer heat with works with strong, icy winter themes. An unforgettable choral performance of “Songs of Shakespeare” as a tribute to the great playwright is also on the schedule for the Maynardville Festival.
The season dates are:
- 19 to 21 January: The Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra
- 26 to 29 January: Cape Town Opera
- 2 to 23 February: A Midsummer Night’s Dream
- 1 to 5 March: Cape Town City Ballet
The tradition of having a picnic in the park remains a custom of the Maynardville Theatre, but picnics can now be ordered in advance and collected on arrival. The Maynardville Evening Food Market, which will be open to the public in the summer evenings and run throughout the festival, offers a variety of food and beverages for patrons to choose from.
Van Rensburg and Odendaal of VR Theatrical are seasoned producers who have presented popular Broadway plays and musicals as well as commissioned and developed brand-new theatrical productions.
Van Rensburg says, “We recently opened a new production office in Cape Town and were absolutely thrilled when the opportunity to present Maynardville came our way. It is a cornerstone of the Cape Town theatre calendar, with a history dating back to 1956, when two brave and ambitious women, Cecilia Sonnenberg and Rene Ahrenson, staged the first Shakespeare play at Maynardville. It was a bold idea that paid off and has been a tradition for many over the years. We are hoping to honour this legacy by presenting a summer season that delights, entertains, and celebrates the return of live theatre, which will give us all a few hours of pure magic under the stars.”
The Maynardville Open-Air Theatre Festival will collaborate with the Open Culture Foundation to launch a personal development programme aimed at educating and upskilling a new generation of technical theatre producers in the areas of sound, light and stage management. This initiative is part of VR Theatrical’s mission to promote theatre education.
Tickets for the 2023 Maynardville Open-Air Theatre Festival season are available via Quicket.
Details:
- Starting date: 19 January 2023
- Location: Maynardville Open-Air Theatre in Maynardville Park | Entrance on the corner of Piers and Wolfe Street, Wynberg.
- Cost: From R161
- Tickets: www.quicket.co.za
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Picture: Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra / Facebook