Maynardville Open-Air Festival 2025

When: January 22 to March 8, 2025
Where: Maynardville Park, Piers Rd, Wynberg, Cape Town, 7800
Website with programme: www.maynardville.co.za 
Info: 069 792 6020 (10h00-16h00 daily) or leave a WhatsApp to get a response 

Bookings: Quicket  
Direct booking link: http://bit.ly/Waves2025  
Ticket prices for 2025:  

The Tempest
R220- R380

All other concerts
R220-R335

Pensioners & students: 15% off on Premium and Tier 2 tickets. For school block bookings, or ticket enquiries email Boxoffice@maynardville.co.za      

Maynardville Open-Air Festival has announced its 2025 programme and it looks awesome. The Shakespeare play is The Tempest, directed by Sylvain Strike. Cape Town Opera and The Cape Town Philharmonic will be once again be part of the lineup. Their concerts sold out last year, so do book. An exciting feature of Maynardville 2025 is Sunday in the Park with Sondheim. Two concerts celebrating the prolific composer’s 95th birthday will be presented by Jonathan Roxmouth. He will be accompanied by the ensemble singers from Vivox Voices and the Winelands Philharmonic Orchestra. Read on for more about the 2025 Maynardville Open-Air Festival programme. Info as supplied:

Maynardville’s Outdoor Amphitheatre Full Programme and Cast Announced 

In a whirl of magical summer evenings, the Maynardville Open-Air Festival is back for the 2025 season – and patrons can look forward to a programme of theatre, opera, classical music and contemporary songbook classics produced by VR Theatrical under the playful theme, Waves of Wonder

Shakespeare’s Tempest stirs up the storm

The deftly woven blend of romance, illusion and revenge plays out in Shakespeare’s final masterpiece, The Tempest, this year’s play at Maynardville running from January 31 until March 8, 2025. Placed into the capable hands of formidably talented director, Sylvaine Strike, the cast is led by the indomitable Antoinette Kellermann Sylvaine Strike, the cast is led by the indomitable Antoinette Kellermann playing the powerful sorcerer Prospera (a female twist on the central character Prospero), with Albert Pretorius as the mischievous and complex Caliban, who is enslaved by Prospera and plots his revenge.

Prospera conjures a storm to shipwreck his treacherous brother, Antonio (played by David Viviers) and the complicit King Alonso of Naples (Brent Palmer) who had her banished from their kingdom. Stranded on the island, they become pawns in Prospera’s plan to restore her daughter Miranda’s (played by Jane de Wet) honour and reclaim her dukedom. Unbeknownst to her and with the help of the ethereal Ariel (Daniel Lasker), Prospera’s loyal spirit servant, who creates much of the island’s magic, Prospera manipulates events in Miranda’s favour, even as she falls in love with Alonso’s son Ferdinand (Jefferson Lan). The cast is completed by Tankiso Mamabolo playing both Sebastian and Trinculo, Siya Mayola as Gonzalo and Len-Barry Simons, Naoline Quinzin and Lungile Lallie as the Spirits. 

Niall Griffin will be designing costumes and set, Oliver Hauser will design lighting, and Wessel Odendaal composes an original score and soundtrack with a sound design by David Classen.

An intriguing, clever and spellbinding play, The Tempest will no doubt be an early highlight on the 2025 theatre calendar. 

Tour de Tchaikovsky: An Exquisite Evening of Chamber Music

January 22 and 23, 2025

The Maynardville summer season will open on January 22, with Gerhard Joubert performing Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat minor, and Ethan Lawson presenting Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations for cello, both accompanied by the talented Elna van der Merwe on piano. For two nights only (January 22 and 23), there are limited tickets for this event. 

Unmissable Once-off Concerts Under the Stars 

In keeping with the tempestuous theme, the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra presents Stormy Weather – A Symphonic Weather Report, a two performance (January 24 and 25, 2025) CPO special at Maynardville this year. Under the direction of conductor Brandon Phillips, audiences can expect ‘thunder, lightning, and everything in between’ as the orchestra explores composers’ expressions of nature’s elements. The show will be narrated by John Woodland with a programme that includes Mendelssohn’s Overture to The Hebrides, Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony and Tchaikovsky’s The Tempest, Rossini’s dramatic William Tell Overture, the magical The Sorcerer’s Apprentice by Dukas, and Debussy’s enchanting Clair de Lune will charge the mood and musical weather report, while skies above remain calm and clear. 

During the run of The Tempest, Sunday evening music concerts are planned with Cape Town Opera taking February 9, 2025 to present a programme of extracts from Shakespeare-themed operas. These arias and ensembles will be performed by Cape Town Opera House Soloists, Young Artists, and both the Chorus and Childrens’ Chorus, also featuring international opera star Clint van der Linde, accompanied by Jan Hugo.

On February 16 and 23, the highly popular Sunday in the Park with Sondheim will celebrate the prolific composer’s 95th birthday. Jonathan Roxmouth, who has rocketed to international stardom as the youngest leading man to portray the mysterious Phantom in Andrew Lloyd-Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera, has been confirmed to headline these concerts during a break from his international Phantom of the Opera tour in the title role. Expect iconic Broadway classics like Sunday in the Park with George, Into the Woods, Sweeney Todd and Company featuring a stellar line-up of musicians. Ensemble singers from Vivox Voices, accompanied by the Winelands Philharmonic Orchestra will join Jonathan Roxmouth in a resounding blend of voices. These once-off concerts sold out quickly in 2024 so audiences are advised to book their tickets soon.

The sublime setting for the Maynardville Open-Air Festival is a simple stage surrounded by trees within the Maynardville Park in Wynberg, Cape Town. The experience has been extended to include a food truck feast, full bar and hot drinks offering. Patrons can enjoy their dinner sitting at long tables beneath twinkling strings of lights, enjoying the evening ahead of the show, or following a half-century of tradition by sitting on the park lawns overlooking the lake for a convivial picnic. 

Says Head of Innovation and Strategic Partnerships, Rauen Venter, “Maynardville’s team is making a conscious effort to use the Festival as a platform for social innovation in a way that has come to inspire other festivals. Our technical training programme has secured employment for all our graduates locally and internationally, while our sustainability initiatives continue to expand. In 2025, we are proud to introduce a ground-breaking programme for outdoor theatres in Africa, a deaf accessibility programme, underscoring our commitment to community, inclusivity, and sustainability.”

Says VR Theatrical’s Executive Producer, Jaco van Rensburg, “A creative storm is brewing for Maynardville this year, and we’re thrilled about the programme and stellar cast we’ve been able to assemble for our 2025 season. We look forward to enchanting audiences new and old – and, of course, our school tradition continues as we introduce many young minds to the classics. It’s a weight of responsibility we don’t take lightly and we hope to inspire the next Shakespeare or Tchaikovsky along the way! Our thanks to The City of Cape Town and the team who work around the clock in preparation for this exciting line-up of unforgettable productions.” 

Tickets are available via the Maynardville Open-Air Festival website https://maynardville.co.za or directly from Quicket http://bit.ly/Waves2025

Ticket prices are as follows:

The Tempest
R220- R380

All Other Concerts
R220-R335

Pensioners & Students: 15% off on Premium and Tier 2 tickets. For school block bookings, or ticket enquiries email Boxoffice@maynardville.co.za

The Tempest: Luminary director Sylvaine Strike is directing Shakespeare’s The Tempest at Maynardville Outdoor Amphitheatre, January 31 until March 8, 2025
Sunday in the Park with Sondheim. Two concerts celebrating the prolific composer’s 95th birthday will be presented by Jonathan Roxmouth at Maynardville Open-Air Festival. Roxmouth will be accompanied by the ensemble singers from Vivox Voices and the Winelands Philharmonic Orchestra. The concerts are on February 16 and 23.
Follow Maynardville Open-Air Festival on social media   

Instagram: Maynardville  https://www.instagram.com/maynardville/?hl=en   
Facebook: Maynardville Open Air Theatre Festival https://www.facebook.com/maynardvilleopenairtheatre/   
Maynardville’s contact number:  069 792 6020 (10h00-16h00 daily) or leave a WhatsApp to get a response.     

✳ Antoinette Kellermann will play Prospero in Shakespeare’s The Tempest at Maynardville Outdoor Amphitheatre, January 31 until March 8, 2025.