Sharing the stage with Daneel van der Walt (if you aren’t the strong cast of Good Will Acting) must be tough because you would have to match her energy, timing, comedy, characterisation skills and abundance of the most ‘thespian electricity’.
(An actor friend facebooked me yesterday about the time he was performing a two-hander in Bloemfontein and the reviewer called the piece a “great one woman show”. I thought this was almost as funny as not putting in the name of the director, the dates of the run or the time of the show in a review yesterday.)
Back to Daneel! The first time I saw her was in Dalliances at Artscape and she blew my mind; and in fact blew everyone else off that beautifully designed stage! When she came to audition for me for the industrial theatre job I was a bit intimidated. I could hardly believe that an actor of her calibre would want to do an industrial theatre roadshow! I had absolutely nothing to worry about. Daneel, aside from being so magnetic and dynamic on stage, is also the most generous, uncomplicated, inspiring, kind, un-diva like performer. I cannot believe that she hasn’t taken the South African stage by absolute storm. She is a far huger talent than all of the usual suspects put together (you know, the usual ones who get the parts over and over again.)
Daneel van der Walt is a hilarious, sexy, brilliant theatre chameleon. Her character Tabatha in Good Will Acting is so weird, funny, poignant and out there. I completely, totally love her.