Esteemed opera diva Aviva Pelham, recounts her 95 year old mother’s fascinating tale of survival through song in Santa’s Story, which returns tothe Fugard StudioTheatre in Cape Town by popular demand from 14 to 26 May 2013 for a limited season.
One-woman show Santa’s Story, an on-stage rendition of 94-year-old Holocaust survivor Santa Pelham’s touching autobiography, captivated audiences at the Theatre on the Square in Sandton, early in 2013. The production enjoyed a sell-out season at the Fugard Studio Theatre in 2012. Aviva was nominated for a Fleur du Cap Theatre Award this year in the category Best Performance by an Actress in Music Theatre.
The production is an evocative mix of storytelling and live music, helmed by a particularly adept creative team – including accomplished local director Janice Honeyman, esteemed designers Mannie Manim and Dicky Longhurst, and gifted music arranger Matthew Reid – the solo lead of the show is none other than Santa Pelham’s own daughter, multi award-winning, internationally-acclaimed opera singer Aviva Pelham. The production has been invited to Helsinki in October.
Aviva is accompanied onstage by a vibrant Klezmer band that shifts through multiple genres, bringing this seasoned mother’s intriguing tale to life through one of her most personally cherished mediums: song.
Starting in pre-war Germany where the Jewish Santa Pelham was born, the production recounts this remarkable woman’s attempts to navigate life under Nazi oppression. The narrative follows her as she flees from this dictatorial state to Spain, where civil war rages, then on to even poorer conditions in an occupied France, and finally, by ship, to Rhodesia, Zimbabwe, where, under arranged circumstances, she marries a man she has never met – a decision that ultimately, saves her life.
To evoke a sense of place and culture as the story unravels, the gifted Aviva sings in multiple languages – German, Spanish, French, Yiddish, Hebrew and English – reflective of the different parts of Europe. But the show is far more than merely an account of one (now) elderly woman’s distressing journey; rather, with a core focus on upliftment and perseverance, it carries moving universal messages of courage, tenacity and hope, and works to highlight issues – such as prejudice, intolerance, displacement and acceptance – that are likely to resonate with most.
In essence, as Aviva emphasises, Santa’s Story is an evocative piece that, through poignant music, explores the possibility of pushing through the darkness to ultimately find strength, spirit and light again.
WHEN: Tuesday to Saturday at 8pm and on Sunday at 3pm. There are no performances on Fridays.
WHERE: The Fugard Theatre in Caledon Street, Cape Town.
TICKETS: R130 to R150 per person through Computicket or the Fugard Theatre box office on 021 461 4554.
Generous discounts are available for the Friends of the Fugard.
