People of Note

Agatha Christie’s play Witness to the Prosecution is pulling in the crowds at Theatre on the Bay. And rightly so because not only is it a superb play, but it is an excellent production with a large cast. In this week’s edition of People of Note, Rodney Trudgeon spoke to a member of the cast, Sharon Spiegel Wagner who plays the role of Romaine Vole, the wife of the accused. Sharon talks about how t...

Rodney Trudgeon’s guest on People of Note this week is the South African based documentary photographer, author and professional speaker Matthew Wilman who, in 2003 was commissioned to archive and document the life and times of Nelson Mandela for the Nelson Mandela Foundation. This allowed him to develop an intimate relationship with Mandela. But Matthew has also published a beautiful book of blac...

My guest on People of Note this week, is a doctor who has written a book called Ice Cream – A Doctor’s Journey to Discover what Matters. This is an engaging memoir about the highs and lows of working as a medical doctor in South Africa and how, with a little help from ice cream and heavy metal music, he was able to struggle on. He’s Alistair Mcalpine and you may find his choice of music a little u...

One of those irresistible Agatha Christie murder mysteries is about to open at the Theatre on The Bay. Witness for the Prosecution is in the form of a gripping court room drama, leaving the audience gasping with surprises as the case proceeds. The director is Alan Swerdlow and Rodney Trudgeon spoke to him on People of Note about both the difficulties and the fun of directing one of Christie’s myst...

I wonder whether or not you remember the tragic fire that swept through the mountain in April 2021, in the process destroying the iconic Mostert’s Mill and leaving an awful, burnt out stump. Well, three years later and with considerable support from the public as well as from overseas companies, Mostert’s Mill has been completely restored and it opened in April and will be open on each third Satur...

In People of Note this week, Rodney Trudgeon has an inspiring young guest in celebration of Youth Day. He is Charles Jansen who has risen from a life of crime, prison and drugs to become the Art centre Coordinator and training Materials Develop at the Butterfly art Project He has developed therapeutic art projects and art classes with children aged from 5 to 21.

On People of Note this week, Rodney Trudgeon will be talking to the conductor and pianist Kamal Khan who is In Cape Town to conduct Donizetti’s opera Lucia di Lammermoor for Cape Town Opera. Kamal enjoys an international career as a teacher and conductor and he has worked with most of the world’s leading opera singers at most of the world’s leading opera houses. He was also head of Opera at UCT fo...

Rodney Trudgeon's guest on People of Note this week is the distinguished jazz musician and saxophonist Mccoy Mrubata who is in Cape Town doing a series of concerts for the Cape Town Music Academy to celebrate a special birthday. Mccoy has a long career of writing and performing both here and internationally. He was discovered as a young artist by Sipho "Hotstix" Mabuse who took him to Johannesburg...

With the election coming up, Rodney Trudgeon invited Professor Hugh Corder into the People of Note studio to discuss issues such as the 3 ballot papers and the South Africa’s first Bill of Rights which became part of the transitional constitution. They discussed issues such as the accommodation of independent candidates for the first time and the role of the courts and judiciary in our constitutio...

Opening this week at Theatre on the Bay is a show called Any Dream Will Do – My Pad Met Webber. In this show, Andre Schwartz explores his relationship with all that is Andrew Lloyd Webber since he encountered his music for the first time at the age of 12. Andre is well known to theatre audiences through his many stage appearances, both in hit musicals and his solo shows. The narrative of this show...

Rodney Trudgeon’s guest on People of Note this week is the distinguished singer and author Margaretha Deysel Stemmet. Apart from her hugely successful singing career in places such as Vienna and Graz, Margaretha returned to South Africa to sing all over the country for the various arts councils. She also started the Songmaker’s Guild in 1994 with Albie van Schalkwyk. In 2014, Margaretha travelled...

Paulina Malefane is a Cape Town born opera singer, who studied at UCT’s College of Music with Virginia Davids. Later she became co-founder and co-Music Director of Isango Ensemble and has worked with members of the company since 2000. She was also an advocate for The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

The focus on People of Note this week is jazz and sound. Rodney Trudgeon’s guest will be a veteran sound engineer, Akbar Khan, who is the CEO and most seasoned Sound Engineer and Sound Designer of Eastern Acoustics. Aki, as he is known, has a passion for passing on his skills to the younger generation and has a host of stories to tell about his concerts during the apartheid era and working on big...

Peter Shaffer’s award winning play Amadeus has just opened at Theatre on the Bay starring Alan Committie as Salieri and Aidan Scott as Mozart. This thrilling drama received worldwide acclaim with the film Amadeus and is always an incredible experience in the theatre, even though the theory Shaffer puts forward about Salieri murdering Mozart is not true. My guest on People of Note this week is Alan...

My guest on People of Note this week is the distinguished actor, director, writer, scenic and costume designer, Marcel Meyer who, with Fred Abrahamse, is co directing a newly written opera by the South African composer Conrad Asman. It’s called Trial by Media and concerns the Oscar Pistorious murder trial. It is one of three short operas in Cape Town Opera’s season called Shorts – the others are L...

Birds and birding feature in this week’s People of Note. I’ll be talking to Mike Buckham who has been passionate about bird watching since he was six years old. Now he is the Chairman of the Cape Bird Club and continues to attract new members and young people to the joy of bird watching.

Rodney Trudgeon’s guest on People of Note this week is Chantal Coetzee, who is an artist, feminist historian, speaker and radio presenter. Her current series of artworks is called African Queens: Restoring History and is her passion project. Her giant paintings are portraits of African Queens whose lives she has meticulously researched.

Lara Foot’s highly acclaimed production of Shakespeare’s OTHELLO is about to open at the Baxter. In the lead role is a son of John Kani, Atandwa Kani who is enjoying a hugely successful career based in New York with television, film and acting careers running side by side. Atandwa has won numerous awards locally and internationally and is very excited about this exciting new production of Othello...

My guest on People of Note this week is a highly respected and award winning journalist, author, broadcaster who has covered major events such as the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of Communism. His recent book with the provocative title, Why The Germans Do It Better was a best seller and his latest book is called In Search of Berlin. John is fascinated by Germany, although he is English...

The Luitingh Alexander Musical Theatre Academy, LAMTA, is presenting the highly anticipated musical “Spring Awakening”, the ground-breaking musical which garnered 8 Tony Awards on Broadway. On People of Note this week, Rodney Trudgeon will be talking to the two directors of Lamta, Anton Luitingh and Duane Alexander abou the show and about the success of their academy.

My guest on People of Note this week is a true philanthropist. In the face of dwindling or no sponsorship from national, regional and local governments, ALEXANDER VALENTIN has embraced the Cape Town Philharmonic orchestra’s Composer’s Competition and an exchange of students between Germany and South Africa which he will sponsor. Alexander is a German lawyer and investment consultant with business...

A new play premiered at the Baxter Theatre to rave reviews. It’s called "Expelled" and focuses on the largely ungoverned world of social media in which a matric pupil at an elite school gets caught up in a viral scandal and is suspended. On People of Note Rodney spoke to the husband and wife team of Rosalind Butler, who wrote the play and Craig Freimond who directed it.

A new ballet has opened at the Baxter Theatre. It’s called The Gold Rhino of Mapungubwe and it has truly imaginative choreography by ANGELA REVIE and is described as a fusion of classical and afro ballet and contemporary dance, enhanced by poetic narration. In People of Note this week, Rodney Trudgeon spoke to Angela Revie about his new ballet which has a powerful storyline that connects the mythi...

In People of Note this week, Rodney Trudgeon will be talking to BIANCA AMATO who you may remember from the long running cast of Isidingo, but Bianca also had a stint in the American series Sex In The City. Now Bianca is directing a new production at the Theatre on the Bay called LUNGS, in which a young urban couple consider whether or not to have a child in today’s toxic and insecure environment.

Cape Town City Ballet has announced the appointment of David Nixon CBE as its new Artistic Producer with immediate effect. The appointment coincides with the company’s 90th anniversary. Rodney Trudgeon spoke to David about his long and distinguished career both as a dancer, artistic director and choreographer in his home in Canada and in Europe. He was made a Commander of the Order of the British...