On 26 August Montecasino, and Afrikaans television channels kykNET and kykNET Musiek, officially announced that Afrikaans musical Liefling is coming to The Teatro, and with it, the first native South African language production will be staged at South Africa’s largest theatre.
This will be the second staging of Liefling, which was adapted for the stage for the State Theatre in Pretoria last year following the success of the movie Liefling.
The National Film and Video Foundation’s latest stats measuring box office trends between January and July said revenue from locally produced films saw significant growth.
“On aggregate, approximately R33 million was generated compared to R23 million in June 2013,” their report said.
On top of that three Afrikaans films generated more than half of the takings.
Afrikaans rom com Pad na jou Hart took in over R11 million, drama film Faan se Trein took in just over R7 million while another rom com, Vrou Soek Boer raked in more than R5 million.
If these figures are anything to go by, there is an Afrikaans audience hungry to get a bite of entertainment in their own language.
Considering up to 12 percent of Johannesburg’s population identify Afrikaans as their home language according to StatsSA, Montecasino might play a significant role in ensuring local productions, in local languages, could be more prominent in stage productions.
Liefling’s producer Paul Krüger was excited to announce the second season of the musical, and said Montecasino’s The Teatro was an ideal location, considering the internationally renowned productions staged there.
He was also hopeful that Liefling’s move to the theatre will ensure more South African productions are on par with their international counterparts.
General manager for The Teatro, Brian Hill, added that Liefling’s move to The Teatro is due to its high standard and production value. He admitted that talks to move it to Joburg began during Liefling’s run at The State Theatre in Pretoria last year.
If Liefling causes such a buzz, who knows, soon old favourites like Sarafina and Ipi N’tombi or even fresher South African narratives could be the predominant force on our stages – and international ones.
Liefling opens in December.
Details: www.computicket.com
