Press Release: Internationally acclaimed …miskien for Baxter

Three continents, multiple awards, international acclaim, and now back to Cape Town. The universally lauded …miskien, returns five years after it premiered in the city. It will be performed at the Baxter Golden Arrow Studio from 2 to 27 September at 8.15pm.

Presented by The Pink Couch in association with Freckle Productions, …miskien is directed by Tara Notcutt (The Three Little Pigs; Mafeking Road; Last Rounds; WhatWhat) and features Albert Pretorius (The Three Little Pigs; Playland; Doodsnikke; Balbesit; Binnelanders) and Gideon Lombard (The View; Special Thanks to Guests From Afar; Porgy and Bess). It is written by the cast and director, with design by Tara Notcutt and lighting by Matt Lansing.

Performed in English and Afrikaans, …miskien is a simple story of two guys: best friends who are stuck in similar dead end jobs and nondescript lives, both waiting for Happy Hour at the end of each day to drink, talk about rugby and other regular guy stuff, to drag them into the next. It is a story that examines the spaces between people, and what we do, what we don’t do, what we say, and what we don’t say, when we want to fill these gaps.

Now in its fifth year of touring, ...miskien has received rapturous reviews such as “devastating. A simply superb piece of South African theatre.” (The Witness); “leaves one speechless and hardly daring to breathe”(Cape Times) and “fantastically intricate….5 stars” (Fringe Review, Amsterdam).

The production has earned Pretorius, Lombard and Notcutt a string of awards and nominations, among them the Standard Bank Silver Ovation Award for Theatre at the National Arts Festival, 2011; the Clover Soveel Beter Prize for Best Production at the Clover Aardklop Arts Festival in 2011, and the Rosalie van der Gucht Prize for New Directors at the 2010 Fleur du Cap Awards. In addition, the team has been nominated for Best Actor, Best Director, and Best Production in South Africa, as well as at the Amsterdam and Perth Fringe Festivals. ...miskien was also one of eight recipients of a Jury Commendation Award at the National Arts Festival and was invited to the New York Fringe Festival.

“...miskien is about the deep love you can feel for someone that can’t be expressed,” says Notcutt. “It explores how we often talk, but never say what we really mean.

“We are delighted to be returning to Cape Town with ...miskien , as Gideon , Albert and I are co-founders of The Pink Couch and ...miskien was our debut production. It is fitting that during the course of this run, we will not only mark our 100th performance of the show, but The Pink Couch will celebrate its fifth birthday and we have an extra special evening planned for 25 September.”

Tara Notcutt is a seasoned and internationally acclaimed director and producer, and artistic director of The Pink Couch. The many productions she has worked on have toured around South Africa and abroad with much success. . ..miskien and The Three Little Pigs have both been performed in Perth and Amsterdam and been invited to New York. The Three Little Pigs won the Silver Award for Best International Production at the Amsterdam Fringe. Tara’s numerous credits include Mafeking Road; Last Rounds; WhatWhat; Ilusive; Thom Pain (based on nothing); Waiting for This God Ou and A Town Called Fokol Lutho. At the tender age of 27, she has already received more than twenty awards and nominations.

Albert Pretorius is a celebrated actor on the South African theatre scene. In 2012 he collaborated with Rob van Vuuren, Tara Notcutt and James Cairns for The Three Little Pigs, a political satire that received great accolades here and abroad. Together with ...miskien, Pretorius has performed on three continents and at various theatre festivals all over the world. After graduating from UCT in 2008, he made his professional acting debut in Jaco Bouwer's #Untitled and started The Pink Couch with Tara Notcutt, Gideon Lombard and Mat Lewis. He has performed with Dutch theatre group Toneelgroep De Appel on various occasions, both here and in Holland, as well as credits such as

Sam Shepard's Doodsnikke directed by Janice Honeyman, Athol Fugard's Playland directed by Albert Maritz and Christiaan Olwagen's Dogma to name but a few. Albert recently played the lovesick nr 2 in Saartjie Botha's Balbesit, working with Jaco Bouwer again. On screen performances include Boland Moorde and Ulrich in the kykNET soap Binnelanders. In 2013, he won a Standard Bank Ovation Award for his performance in Thom Pain, (based on nothing), which was also performed in Holland. He has also been nominated for numerous Best Actor awards, including for ...miskien at the Clover Aardklop Festival; for The Three Little Pigs at this year's Fleur du Cap Awards; the kykNET Fiesta Awards for Messe in Henne and for Nagwond; and most recently at the Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees Kanna Awards for his role in Dogma, which is heading to Aardklop this year.

Originally from Namibia, Gideon Lombard grew up all over the world, owing to the fact that both his parents are academics. He has been educated in Namibia, on the East and West Coast of the States, Holland and South Africa. Since graduating from UCT, Gideon has worked in a wide range of fields, including acting and directing in theatre, designing lights, set and sound for theatre and art/sound installations, film, opera, dance and fine art. He was nominated for “Best Actor” at the Aardklop Festival for his role in ...miskien, and in 2012 he was one of a few in the history of the Fleur du Cap Theatre Awards to be nominated in both major categories: his role in The View earned him a nomination for “Best Actor” and his role as Markus in Special Thanks to Guests From Afar earned him another nomination for “Best Supporting Actor”. In 2014 Gideon toured with Cape Town Opera's production of George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess, as a performer and as Assistant Director. Gideon is one of the founding members of The Pink Couch theatre company and he is a member of the Polony Theatre Collective.

...miskien will be performed at the Baxter Golden Arrow Studio from 2 to 27 September at 8.15pm. Be part of the historic Birthday Bash on 25 September when …miskien marks its incredible 100th performance and producer The Pink Couch turns five! Celebrate in style with the cast and team after the show with pink champagne and cake.

Age advisory 16 (Language)

Tickets cost R80 for the previews on 2, 3, 4 and 5 September. Tickets to Baxter Mondays cost R100, which includes a light meal. Tickets on Tuesdays are R120 for 2 tickets. Tickets to the 100th gala performance on 25 September tickets cost R145. Student tickets cost R65. All other tickets cost R120.

Bookings can be made at Computicket 0861 915 8000, online at www.computicket.com or at any Shoprite Checkers outlet.

Press comments for ...miskien

“… devastating. A simply superb piece of South African theatre.” – The Witness

“leaves one speechless and hardly daring to breathe” Cape Times

“fantastically intricate….5 stars” Fringe Review, Amsterdam

“an entertaining and moving portrayal of love….at turns hilarious and tender” Cape Argus

“riddled with dark humour, discontent, and steadily brewing tension that will keep you utterly engrossed until the final denouement” Perth Now

“funny, sad and shocking… It will provoked emotion, thought and discussion, just as good theatre should do” www.aussietheatre.com.au

““Hilarious and awfully sad…masterpiece of story telling…” the West Australian

“ You cannot leave unmoved” Citizen

“Die stuk het momentum, styl, en onweerstaanbare ritme. Dit woel met jou kop soos teater moet doen” Die Burger

“Defies your expectations even as it fulfils them” Artsblog

“ extraordinary” Business Day

“brave and brilliant” The Herald

“brilliant... brought tears to the audience’s eyes” Cue

“ beautifully and sensitively directed” The Next 48 Hours

“ brave, original, sexy South African theatre” Meganshead.co.za

“first-rate entertainment that is refreshing and meaningful” Writing Studio

Press release provided by Christine Skinner.