KTB Productions presents seven projects at arts festival

In addition to mounting London Road for the final time, the company is co-producing various shows including Tonight Neither Hamlet, The Shadow of Brel, Stories of Crimes and Passion, Kaput and Sie Weiss Alles. It will also present Imprints, a new exhibition of prints by fine art printmakers Alma Ita Vorster and Helen Brent Cooper.

KBT Productions was established in 2009 by Simon and Helen Cooper, to present productions at venues other than Kalk Bay Theatre in Cape Town, which they own and operate. As a producer, Simon has also been involved in other theatre productions, including collaborating with Megan Choritz and Graham Weir for Uncomfortable Productions, which presented the world-première of the Fleur du Cap nominated, full-length a cappella musical, Noah of Cape Town.

A funny and inspiring story

London Road is Nicholas Spagnoletti's funny, poignant and inspiring story of an unlikely friendship between an elderly Jewish widow and a young Nigerian woman. It features the power house duo of Robyn Scott and Ntombi Makhutshi with direction by acclaimed director Lara Bye. Its many accolades include, most recently, this month, Nicholas Spagnoletti being awarded the Olive
Schreiner Prize for Drama.

Produced in collaboration with Dowling Sisters Productions, Tonight Neither Hamlet features prolific actor, broadcaster and scriptwriter Adrian Galley, directed by Christopher Weare, recent recipient of the Fleur du Cap Lifetime Achievement Award. Rainer Lewandowski's play is a quirky, witty and intriguing look at what happens behind the theatre curtain as told by the forgotten character of the stage, the curtain puller.

Celebrated performer, musician, director, composer and cabaret star, Godfrey Johnson, returns to the National Arts Festival after a six-year absence with a triple-bill offering. In partnership with Yawazzi, KBT Productions is presenting two of these - Godfrey's award-winning The Shadow of Brel, his homage to music great Jacques Brel; and Stories of Crime and Passion, a line-up of songs about love, murder and revenge.

Brothers' lives get disrupted

Dark Laugh Theatre in association with Fresco and KBT Productions present Kaput, a story of two brothers living peacefully on the Mediterranean Sea until the cyclical turmoil in the Middle East disrupts their lives. The stellar creative team includes direction by James Cuningham and a cast featuring Taryn Bennett, Helen Iskander and Dorian Burstein.

With James Cairns Productions, KBT Productions presents James Cairns' Sie Weiss Alles, which has received universal praise since it opened last year. Directed by Tamara Guhrs and featuring Cairns with Taryn Bennett, the play is set in Berlin, 1945 at the fall of the Third Reich.

Helen Brent Cooper is known to many Cape Town theatre-goers as the co-founder of Kalk Bay Theatre and KBT Productions. She is also a talented print artist and, together with Alma Ita Vorster, is showcasing her work in Imprints.