There’s a new pantomime in town as Aspoestertjie premieres at Emperors Palace! This retelling of the classic Cinderella (whose name translated into Afrikaans is Aspoestertjie) will have you laughing from start to finish. This pantomime features an all-star cast with Karlien Van Jaarsveld as Aspoestertjie, Izak Davel as the charming prince and Soli Philander as the narrator and Aspoestertjie’s best friend.
Firstly, I must be frank and admit that Afrikaans and I aren’t the best of friends. Sure, I did it for matric but that doesnt’t mean that I understand much of it. That being said, even I fell in love with this show. The thing that makes a good show is, obviously, the cast. The fact that they got huge stars such as Karlien and Izak proves that the team behind this production weren’t playing around. My favourites? The evil step-sisters and step-mother were fantastic and Aspoestertjie’s fairy god mother was amazing as well!
The production was incredibly well-written. It was funny, serious, emotional and had some hilarious proudly South African moments. Not only that, the puns will make you laugh so hard. Another thing that is very important to a pantomime is the music and, as expected, Aspoestertjie delivered in this aspect as well. The songs were really brilliant. Some were funny and some really struck those emotional chords. Karlien’s new smash hit ‘My Hartjie’ served as the show’s theme song and her performance of the track with Izak was just brilliant. The costumes on the show were super awesome as well and Aspoestertjie’s magical transformation on stage was done really really well.
While everything about the show worked, the two leads, Izak and Karlien, were clearly just there for the name. Izak’s acting was spot on but his singing was constantly overshadowed by his hilarious sidekick’s voice which is a lot better than his. Karlien, on the other hand, was the exact opposite. Her vocals blew me away! Every note was spot on. Her acting, however, wasn’t as good as I expected it to be. That being said, she is a singer and not an actress and did pretty damn good despite this fact. I also wanted to see more of the evil step-mother and although I got such a Maleficent vibe from her, I just couldn’t get enough!
The show is brilliant and I hope that it is a first of many Afrikaans pantomimes in the future. If you’re looking to be part of the fun, book your tickets to this fantastic show right here.
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