Preview: David Kramer’s Ver in die wêreld Kittie

Preview: David Kramer’s Ver in die wêreld Kittie on in Cape Town at Suidoosterfees

People who attended the recent KKNK in Oudtshoorn [April 1-9, 2023], have been raving about David Kramer’s Ver in die wêreld Kittie. They have urged me not to miss this production which stars, Rushney Ferguson, Jenny Stead, Dean Balie and André Terblanché and which is written and directed by Kramer. The production is on at Artscape as part of the Suidoosterfees 2023. There are only three performances- tonight – Wednesday April 26 at 6.30pm, Sunday April 30 at 5pm and Monday May 1 at 8.30pm [public holiday].

Ver in die wêreld Kittie was tagged at KKNK as Ver in die wêreld Kittie as ‘musiek-teater’ and as David Kramer was in tech rehearsal, I was unable to ascertain if ‘musical’ or ‘musical theatre’ is the way to describe this production. There is singing and there is an on-stage band. The story was inspired by the Josef Marais – “the international celebrity from Worcester, that no-one remembers”, says David. Josef Marais was born Joseph Pessach in Worcester, the hometown of David and his wife Renaye Kramer. From what I can gather, Joseph Pessach change his name and re-invented himself as Josef Marais and made it big in the USA. David: He had his own radio programme on NBC in New York which broadcast to countries all over the world. He had his own band and performed concerts across America and Europe. As a recording artist he released many albums which sold extremely well in North America. His book for children was an international success. He lived and worked in Hollywood and was friendly with the film stars of the day. And yet back home hardly anyone remembered Joseph Pessach, except my wife Renaye’s aunt Lily Lange.”

In the 1920s, Josef/Joseph courted Renaye Kramer’s aunt, Lily Lange. However, Lily’s family were not chuffed. “They discouraged the relationship as they felt he was not a suitable candidate for Lily’s hand” They reckoned that as a musician, his future as an entertainer was not looking bright. They had no inkling that he would become star, In the blurb that Renaye sent me, David muses: “Years later when I married Renaye, Lily would proudly recall her relationship with Joseph and show us the newspaper clippings of his huge success in America which she kept under glass on her dressing room table. That’s how I first became aware of him – Josef Marais – the international celebrity from Worcester, that no-one remembers.”

The singer from the Cape had a meteoric rise. “In the 1950s, Josef and his wife Rosa were famous in America as a folk song duo – known for their Afrikaans songs Josef had translated into English.” They worked with Burt Lancaster and Humphrey Bogart in Hollywood. In 1952 Doris Day and Frankie Laine had an international hit with the song “Sugarbush”, reportedly written by Josef Marais.”So that is the story of Josef Marais. In Ver in die wêreld Kittie, we see that in the Boland that “Kittie Jaftha didn’t revel in their success. She felt betrayed, because she knew that Josef had learnt these songs from her and Koos Heuningbek who was a labourer on the farm where Josef grew up.” From what I can ascertain, from chatting to Renaye yesterday, Kittie is a fictional character. “Koos is based on a musician that was a farm worker. He shared his stories and songs with Joseph before Joseph left home, as described in book that Josef Marais wrote years later”.

I look forward to seeing this new work by David who was the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 58th Fleur du Cap Theatre Awards, on March 26, 2023 at Oude Libertas in Stellenbosch. [https://thecaperobyn.co.za/announcement-winners-of-58th-fleur-du-cap-theatre-awards-2023/] He is a storyteller extraordinaire and passionate about heritage and celebrating creatives who have been ‘forgotten or side-lined and often effectively erased. I am intrigued by the real-life story of folk singer Josef Marais in the USA and how that impacted on those in the Boland, sitting with their newspaper cuttings and memories and harbouring and archiving their regrets and faribbels -Yiddish for gripes. This is my input – and not a quote from Renaye or David. Note – I have not seen the show yet- but I am gleaning this from what they have shared with me around the narrative.

✳Featured image: Andre Terblanche (Josef Marais) & Dean Balie (Koos Heuningbek). Supplied.