SHRAPNEL
When award winning performer Natalie Gamsu’s partner turned to her and said, “Darling, do you think you were a flamenco dancer in a past life?”, she decided that yes, she was.
And this show was born.
An evening of storytelling, music, and yearning to find the flamenco dancer inside, SHRAPNEL, is an autobiographical theatrical work created by Natalie Gamsu, director Stephen Nicolazzo, and dramaturg Ash Flanders.
Natalie Gamsu grew up in Namibia in the 60’s, as far away from being a flamenco dancer as one could possibly get. A country that was colonized by the British, the Germans and by the South African government.
She grew up under the apartheid regime, went to boarding school in Cape Town, performed in underground nightclubs during the state of emergencies, and searched for a way to make sense of a country that made no sense to her at all.
In SHRAPNEL, Gamsu searches for meaning through diabolically funny stories of tsuris- the Yiddish word for pain, eating her mother’s blood by mistake, psilocybin spiritual journeys into the past and of course, her shapeshifting days suffering from temporal lobe epilepsy. There are also stories of meerkats and tortoises without their shells. And customer service arguments over tinned fruit.
Combining poetic writing, ridiculous and heartbreaking personal stories, and the deep and haunting singing voice of one of Australia’s most gifted performers, SHRAPNEL is a celebration of Natalie Gamsu’s strange, beautiful, and fearless capacity to expose her eccentricities and uncanny life experiences with you all.
Feedback/Comments
Great performer
incredible! best autobiographical work I have seen in a long time. what a fantastic journey taken
Interesting storytelling, would have loved more songs.
Natalie Gamsu was astounding in her delivery of her stories, her songs, her humour, honesty and the magnificence of how she lives her life.
I was really disappointed with this performance. She sings so well and gave us 2 songs so the pianist was sitting at the piano for over an hour with not much to do.
It was a long monologue that contained some interesting vinettes of life in Sth Africa. It would have been so much better if the sections had been interspersed with songs. She's an amazing cabaret singer so it was an informed decision. Hence I wonder as to her objective.
Mesmerizing interweaving of stories, told with intensity, honesty, humour and bravery. My attention was captivated and I was entralled throughout the entire performance.
Full of comedy and pathos!
A great evening!
Fabulous voice. Wonderful story telling, lurching from the hilarious to poignant one minute to the next.
great show