Joburg Theatre is thrilled to take audiences on a trip to Neverland with this year’s Janice Honeyman Pantomime Peter Pan on The Mandela Stage at Joburg Theatre from November 3rd to December 24th 2023.
“What better way to follow up from the success of last year’s pantomime than to delight Joburg Theatre patrons with an adventure to Neverland with Peter Pan.” says Xoliswa Nduneni-Ngema, CEO of Joburg Theatre. “The pantomime has elated audiences for years with tales packed with wit, belly laughs, a joy from start to finish. Audiences have been wowed by the colourful characters, vibrant mix of songs and spectacular choreography. It features a highly talented cast and creative team, we are looking forward to continuing with this annual tradition of the Janice Honeyman Pantomime. Peter Pan has always been an audience favourite and this year we have lots of surprises and even more fun for the whole family.”
Think happy thoughts, gather some fairy dust and join a sensational cast for an action-packed adventure with Peter Pan, Tinkerbell, the Darling children and other exciting characters.
Based on the classic tale by J.M. Barrie, this is the third time that the pantomime Peter Pan will be presented at Joburg Theatre; the first time being in 2007 and 2014 respectively.
This time around will be different as the show will incorporate the magic of the traditional pantomime props and sets, with the magic of modern LED screens.
“I absolutely love the story of Peter Pan, because it has so many elements to it; firstly the magic of the flying is my favourite part of the show – most children and adults dream of flying. Then there is the magic of the story. What I’m trying to do this year, to differentiate from the last two Peter Pan productions, is to highlight more issues that children, teenagers and young adults deal with, like bullying, being left out, feelings of rejection…This story lends itself to addressing these topics in a very subtle way. It will be a reworked script with the same favourite characters, and I am so excited to share this with everyone.” shares Director Janice Honeyman
Starring in the role of Peter Pan is the talented Sandi Dlangalala who debuts in his first Janice Honeyman pantomime. He has performed in various National Children’s Theatre productions such as ‘Khokho’s Treasure’, ‘The Chronicles of Narnia’ and ‘Fantastic Mr Fox’, for which he won the Naledi Award for Best Performance for a Young Audience. He has also appeared in ‘Sophiatown’, ‘Gaslight’, ‘Sinbad the Sailor’, ‘Hlakanyana The Musical’ and the ‘Shaft 6’ feature film.
Ben Voss plays the role of Captain Hook and is no stranger to the pantomime stage; he played the Evil Queen Hildagona in 2018, he was one of the Ugly Sisters in ‘Cinderella’ in 2021, and Abanazar in ‘Adventures in Pantoland’ in 2022 – each of these roles has earned him a Naledi Theatre Award Nomination. Other theatre roles includes his alter-ego Beauty Ramapeleple in two stage productions, ‘Bend it like Beauty’, and ‘Beauty and the BEE’, ‘Green Mamba’, ‘Black Mamba’, ‘Mamba Republic’ and ‘Mamba-Proudly SA’ plus ‘Benny Bushwhacker’.
Playing Captain Hook’s sidekick Smee is actor Michael Richard who has a career spanning 49 years in highly acclaimed TV shows, films, musicals and theatre. He is also one of the country’s top voice over artists. He recently played the role of Jack in ‘Kunene and the King’, and has performed in three Janice Honeyman Pantomimes as the Dame.
The lovely Kiruna-Lind Devar is playing the role of Wendy. She has performed in many musical theatre productions including ‘Saturday Night Fever’, ‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat’, ‘Evita’ and ‘The Phantom of the Opera’, where she played Meg Giry. This is her third pantomime; she has featured in Janice Honeyman’s ‘Sleeping Beauty’, ‘Snow White’ and ‘Cinderella’.
Dame Clementina Coconut will be played by David Arnold Johnson, who appeared in his first pantomime in 2022 as various characters. David has performed in many musicals but is best known for his characters Dwayne in ‘7de Laan’ and as Liam in ‘Getroud Met Rugby’. He also played the role of Dr. Bennet on SABC’s ‘Society’ and Sergeant Jacobs in the international film ‘Zulu’, starring Forest Whitaker and Orlando Bloom, and was in the movie ‘Momentum’ starring Morgan Freeman.
Newcomer Virtuous Kandemiri will be sharing her pixie dust as Tinkerbell. Her musical theatre experience includes shows like, ‘Seussical Jr.’ and ‘The Buddy Holly Story – The Musical’. She also worked as the choreographer and musical director for ‘Annie Jr.’ and ‘Matilda’ in 2023. This will be her first Janice Honeyman Pantomime.
Also featured in the cast of Peter Pan this year are (in alphabetical order) Matthew Berry, Inge Breytenbach, Gugu Dhlamini, Diego Hamity, Tarryn Heard, Dirk Joubert, Sarah Leigh, Elsje Lourens, Charity Madhlazi, Siya Makakane, Gareth Meijsen, Bo Molefe, Lesedi Mpshe, Tania Mteto, Sibusiso Mxosana, Tshepo Ncokoane, Brian Ngobese, Manyano Ngoma, Zamaswazi Nkosi, Micah Stojakovic, and Kensiwe Tshabalala.
The pantomime is written and directed by Janice Honeyman, with musical direction by Dale-Ray Scheepers, choreography by Khaya Ndlovu, lighting design by Johan Ferreira and production designer Andrew Timm.
Tickets are on sale through www.joburgtheatre.com or by calling 0861 670 670.
Preview prices start at R130, regular prices start at R190. Student and pensioner prices available. Early bird prices available until 31 July 2023 (30% discount on regular performances only, not applicable to preview or school performances), thereafter regular prices apply.
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MNET and the Mail & Guardian are the official media partners for this year’s Janice Honeyman Pantomime Peter Pan.
