Performing arts sets her apart

SO, what’s it like being a career creative? Look no further, the Queensburgh News recently interviewed freelance artist, Gisele Turner. Her career spans more than 40 years and her talents allow others to showcase theirs. The owner of Happy go Lucky theatre company gives us a glimpse into her life.

Where about in Queensburgh are you based?

I live in Escombe in a 100-year-old wood and iron house. I moved here in 1981 and I love everything about it. The gracious spaciousness, the old oregan pine floors, the sound of rain on the tin roof, the charm of covered verandas. I like sitting on my kitchen step drinking black coffee watching the birds flit about and the monkeys jumping in the trees. My house is east facing so I get the early morning sunlight – a privilege I never take for granted.

You sound like a jack of all trades in the arts, what exactly is it that you do?

Being self-employed and a freelance artist, I had to maximize on my serious interest in the arts. My main source of income and my driving passion has always been for theatre in education, creating, producing, directing and performing in original plays for school audiences, since forever. I enjoy mask work and puppetry, movement and mime. I also love to teach and to mentor, so I have spent a fair amount of time doing that. And I love to write – short stories, plays, poetry and articles. I also write about food, vegetarian and vegan food.

You did a bit of directive work with the Fresha Festival, how was it received?

Fresha Festival is a great new initiative from Emma Durden and TWIST and it was an honour to be part of it – bringing theatre, dance and music onto the beachfront and performing free to the public. My contribution was in collaboration with Sibo Masondo, a young deaf mime artist and we presented three short pieces. They were very well received!

Was this your first time working with a deaf performer?

I was lucky enough to work at Fulton School for the Deaf for almost 10 years – teaching non-verbal drama techniques. This experience taught me about the talent that many deaf people have for communicating through the universal languages of mime and dance. When I met Sibo at the end of 2013 he was looking for a mentor, someone to help him reach his potential – he had no formal training.

We have been working together since and developing his capacity. He has entertained at uShaka Marine World, been involved in lots of theatre festivals locally as well as in Cape Town and Jo’burg and toured schools with our productions.

What other productions are you involved in?

Right now my little theatre company Happy go Lucky has a few productions in the repertoire. Sunshine Babies which is for pre-school kids, Tshala! aimed at junior primary and Point Blank which is for high school. Those are all non-verbal with lots of comedy and feature Sibo as well Mlu Ngidi who is from Luganda Township. I have a puppet and poetry play for youngsters called Nature’s Secrets. It’s in isiZulu and English and is all about metamorphosis. And a pop-up eco puppet show called Chippi & the Gang which focuses on managing household waste.

Do you have any other upcoming productions that you’re

working on?

There is always something happening in my brain! I am three quarters of the way through writing a musical for children, I have written a play suitable for community theatre practitioners and Sibo and I have been discussing plans for a production called Colour me Deaf, which aims to help people understand deaf people, their language and their culture.

Tell us a bit about your involvement with the

Alliance Francaise.

Both my mom and dad were French, so French is my mother tongue, although I came to Africa when I was a toddler. The Alliance Francaise in Durban is so active in the cultural field, bringing music, theatre, dance, film and art from the French Diaspora. They also support local artists, giving them a platform for collaboration with other artists. My involvement with the Durban Alliance Francaise goes back more than a decade and I have had the privilege of being on the committee. I have also been involved in the annual Franco Fete, the Human Rights Festival that takes place in Sutton Park in March.

You have a drama studio in Escombe, what are some of the things that your learners are able to absorb from you?

I did have a very busy art and drama studio years ago! These days I am available to mentor individuals, mostly adults and young adults. What I teach and what they learn is highly individual. I tailor-make lessons to meet their specific needs. Improvisation skills, mask work, puppet manipulation, articulation, interpretation and even script writing. Whatever – as long as it’s creative!

Jazz music, how did you

get involved?

Sjoi! Jazz is the music for me and I am particularly addicted to jazz that has its roots in indigenous music.

It’s hard to explain the love affair with jazz but for me it is a platform of extreme creativity and the way musicians bond and work together to create sounds is endlessly fascinating. When I am in the presence of good live jazz, my soul knows all about it.

You used to write reviews about the genre, why did you stop?

Thanks for asking that! I started reviewing jazz gigs and conducting interviews with jazz musicians way back in 1996 and had a weekly jazz column in The Daily News for 17 years.

After management decided to stop hiring freelance writers I was lucky enough to write jazz reviews for Going Places, an on line entertainment site. But whether I am writing or whether I am not I never stop going to jazz gigs and that’s the music they can play at my wake. Like something amazing from Zim Ngqawana, for example.

You seem like quite a busy woman career-wise, who is Gisele Turner when she’s

at home?

I have worked hard for more than 40 years, brought up three fantastic sons who are now all married with children of their own and found many ways to express my creative passions.

At home, I love my own company, I’m hooked on reading and I enjoy silence. But I also love to cook for family and friends and I get enormous pleasure taking my dog Savvy for a walk in the park down the road or picking up my grandchildren and going for a nature ramble or a nice long stroll on the beach.