After a two-year absence, Aunty Sheila will make her way back to the stage for a live performance at the iZulu Theatre at Sibaya.
Aunty Sheila is a fictional character created and owned by Theshen Naicker.
He said he wanted to do a production for a while, so as soon as the Covid-19 infection rates came down, and with the amended venue restrictions, he thought it would be an ideal time to stage Aunty Sheila: Reloaded in Isolation.
“The show takes you on Aunty Sheila's journey from when the president announced the hard lockdown in March 2020. The theme is ‘in isolation’ and it basically takes you through all of Aunty Sheila’s emotions.
“She has to deal with not seeing her children, the hard lockdown, the panic over the Covid-19 pandemic. It also takes you through the past two years of the pandemic and the vaccination process, strikes and the looting in July last year.”
“Aunty Sheila has socially distanced herself from everybody else and what we see is her interactions with her neighbours because now she realises the importance of the community around her.
"When she was cut off from everybody else, it was only a few people she could see from across the road, and also enemies became friends.
“Essentially, that is the concept of the production. During these difficult times of uncertainty, we saw the human spirit thrive and we saw humanity coming together, putting all of their differences aside and being one community trying to help each other and see each other through the difficulties."
Naicker said the show was a full theatrical production.
“It starts off with a storyline. So there is a golden thread that runs throughout the production. Aunty Sheila is one character. We always have other characters. This time there are three other actors involved.
“Sheena Ramouthar (’Curse of Highway Sheila’, and ‘Broken Promises 4 Ever’) will play Aunty Sheila’s arch-enemy; and Chrisintha Moodley (Phoenix FM, and ‘African Essence’) will play the neighbour who mediates between the two. Ashish Misra (’Broken Promises’, ‘Mr Johnson’) will take on the male character.
“The show is more of a musical. One of my greatest passions as an artist is being able to sing. During the production, everything is introduced with a song. It has taken on the form of a musical. There’s also a dance group that will join us. So it’s a full-on theatre production.”
Naicker said people needed this type of socialisation.
“At this time we need to reintegrate into a normal way of living again. The industry has suffered tremendously. So this is the time we as artists are coming out and asking communities to support and encourage us.
“As an artist, the lockdown was difficult for me. Since the beginning of the year, I have not done a new Aunty Sheila video because I have not had the creative energy. The pandemic has taken a lot out of us as artists. So when we come out and present shows it is a big step for us.”
To commemorate his first theatre performance in two years, Naicker will do a few give-aways at the shows.
“For example, we have three packages and each contains professional hair, make-up, skin and facial equipment, and treatments. At the shows on July 29 and 30, you could stand a chance to win a package that is worth R2 000 each.”
Tickets for “Aunty Sheila: Reloaded in Isolation” are R150 from www.ticketpros.co.za
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