#fiona ramsay

[cptrs]

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"Consummation by sacred flame", a review of 'The Opera Singer' at Theatre on the Square in Sandton until 28 March 2026.

Consummation by sacred flame

[artsvark]

REVIEW: Blonde Poison

Fiona Ramsay as Stella Goldschlag in Blonde Poison. (Photo: CuePix / Megan Moore)

People and personalities are complex, and as we go through life and the experiences that life sends our way, we go through varying levels of confidence, we experience joy, love, anger, frustration, sorrow and hurt. These experiences and emotions change us and we are molded by them. One person that experienced all of these, in the most extreme of circumstances was German-Jew Stella Goldschlag, who has been the subject of a number of books as a result of her infamy during and after World War II in which she became a Greiferin (catcher) for the Gestapo, hunting down and betraying Jews hiding in Berlin. This work and her Aryan looks earned her the nickname “Blonde Poison”.

On stage at the Auto & General Theatre on The Square, actress Fiona Ramsay portrays Stella Goldschlag as a 70 year old woman, still mesmerised by her own blonde beauty, recalling her life story, and transforms into the young Stella Goldschlag as she tells her tale. The play is progressed by questions she imagines that she will be asked by a journalist, a former childhood friend who fled to America before the war began, as well as a female voice who keeps asking “How can you live with yourself?”.

Fiona Ramsay in Blonde Poison (Photo:CuePix/Megan Moore)

Blonde Poison tells the story of Stella Goldschlag and how she avoided detection as Jewish by her Aryan looks and falsified documents, her lovers and husbands, smitten by her blonde beauty, a couple of close encounters with the Gestapo, her ultimate capture and becoming a catcher to save herself and her parents. The story sounds like one we all know from countless books and films set in World War II, but this one asks questions in a way I have not encountered.

This work, compared by some in the audience on opening night to Sophie’s Choice, shows the audience how hard it really is to judge someone’s choices without actually walking in their shoes, and that choices made might haunt a person forever. Choices that can ruin lives, friendships and relationships.

Fiona Ramsay as Stella Goldschlag in Blonde Poison. (Photo:CuePix/Megan Moore)

This production which runs at the Auto & General Theatre on The Square until 4 February sees the formidable team of Fiona Ramsay and Janna Ramos-Violante return with this work by Gail Louw. The last pairing of Ramsay and Ramos-Violante on a Gail Louw play, Miss Dietrich Regrets, resulted in a Best Actress Naledi Award for Fiona Ramsay. The acting in this production by Fiona Ramsay is remarkable, Ramsay being a master of accents ensures that the accent is believable and not distracting. Under the direction of Ramos-Violante, Ramsay portrays Stella Goldschlag in both her 20s and 70s, as a confident beautiful blonde – blue eyed young woman, a terrified Jew in hiding, a prisoner and as a heartless Gestapo greiferin.

Blonde Poison is both well written, and flawlessly presented, a simple set design with even simpler lighting that is just enough to set the scenes without overwhelming or detracting from the story. Fiona Ramsay once again delivers a spot on performance, under the direction of Janna Ramos-Violante. I highly recommend catching this show before it ends on the 4th of February.

REVIEW: Blonde Poison was originally published on Artsvark

[artsvark]

Review: If We Dig - Market Theatre

On Friday night at the Market Theatre in Newtown, the audience was treated to the first performance of a preview run, for a brand-new production being incubated by The Market Theatre. If We Dig is written and directed by Megan Willson.

This work is based on the life and writings of social historian, author and activist Luli Callinicos who joined the liberation struggle as a member of the Congress of Democrats in her youth and contributed to the Fighting Talk journal edited by Ruth First. Her books include Gold and Workers (1981), Working life: factories, townships and popular culture (1987) and A place in the city: the Rand on the eve of Apartheid (1993) that tell the real stories of the people of Joburg.

If We Dig, based on the life and writings of Luli Callinicos, written and directed by Megan Willson, peeformed by Fiona Ramsay.

The play, like the writings of Luli Callinicos gives a fascinating view into early Johannesburg prior to, and during the implementation of apartheid and the group areas act. If We Dig focuses on women’s stories and tells stories of poverty, hard labour, love, working class living, culture and diversity. We see through these real characters from Joburg’s past, that despite the bigotry, racism, classism and fear that fed apartheid, many of the people working in the mines, mills and factories on the ground did see each other as equals. We see the damage that the apartheid system did to individuals, to relationships and to families.

The play is a solo theatre piece perfomed by Fiona Ramsay and is presented in the form of a response to an interview of Cleopatra (a character based on Callinicos.) She responds with her story and refers to the stories in her books. Fiona Ramsay transforms into these characters to tell their story. Using mastered accents and subtle gestures, Ramsay makes each of the characters completely authentic. Willson sees to it that there is a fair deal of humour scattered through the production to ease some of the tragedy.

If We Dig runs till 6 November at The Market Theatre in Newtown. The show runs for 1h10m and tickets start at R95. Tickets can be bought at computicket or at the theatre box office.

Review: If We Dig – Market Theatre was originally published on Artsvark