The Anchor Players Dramatic Society, Simon's Town

Death comes to us all.
When he came to Mort - he offered him a job!

APRIL 28 to MAY 6 at The Theatre in the Dockyard

When Mort (or Mortimer) is left in charge for an evening, he allows his heart to rule his head and soon the whole of reality and the future of the Discworld are at risk. Along the way, Mort encounters not only DEATH’s adopted daughter, Ysabell - who has been 16 for 35 years! - and his mysterious manservant, Albert - whose cooking can harden an artery at ten paces - but also an incompetent wizard with a talking doorknocker, and a beautiful, but rather bad tempered (and dead) princess by the name of Keli. He also of course, meets DEATH himself...

In Terry Pratchett’s Discworld, DEATH is really a 7-foot skeleton in a black hooded robe and wielding a scythe. He is also very fond of cats, enjoys a good curry and rides around on a magnificant horse called Binky! This was the second time The Anchor Players have performed a Terry Pratchett work (and also the first time in South Africa). Mr.Pratchett is currently the third best selling author in the English speaking world. Mort was adapted for stage by Stephen Briggs and was directed for The Anchor Players by Cole Cameron, who also handled the first production, Wyrd Sisters.

DISCWORLD? Imagine a world as flat as a pizza. Imagine it flying through space on the back of four great elephants who in turn stand on the back of a giant turtle, the great A'Tuin. This is Terry Pratchett's Discworld. Inhabited by Humans, Trolls, Dwarves, Werewolves, Vampires, Goblins, Gnomes, Golems and Ghouls; they toil, fight and carry on with their lives providing a wealth of hilarious adventures. The inhabitants, however, surprisingly have all the same comical failings as we have. Their appeal has turned the Discworld series into the largest selling series of books ever! In fact the Discworld has spawned an entire industry: books, graphic novels, television series, computer games and soon a Hollywood movie by Terry Gilliam (of Monty Python fame). If this is your first trip to the Discworld, don't worry, it's not as strange as you think. In fact the inhabitants are so like us that they are all easily identifiable. Let us take you somewhere you may never have been before, suspend disbelief and...

FISH HOEK ECHO, 4 May 2000 - Review by Estelle Knott-Craig
Review of Mort by Terry Pratchett, directed by Cole Cameron at the Simonsberg Theatre with a large cast. One had to admire the expertise with which a fanciful, rather rambling fairy story was convincingly mounted on stage in a-two hour production. Originality, creativity and enterprise were the names of the game. With imaginative lighting and the minimum sets, the Discworld appeared before us. The costumes were very good indeed, and the use of sound helped to create the atmosphere. Among the players, Deon Bisschoff as Death was quite outstanding - he managed the handicap of the stilts superbly, and his excellent voice came clearly through his mask. He managed to be both frightening and funny at the same time. John McConnell (Albert) gave another of his well rounded performances, while James Mathers (Mort) gains stature in each play I see. For the rest, all the cast gave good support, while the backstage crew were beyond praise.

CAPE TIMES, 29 April 2000 - Reviewed by Lieske Bester
PRATCHETT fans will need no encouragement to visit Discworld once again, a world as flat as a pizza, flying through space on the back of four great elephants, which in turn stand on the back of a giant turtle. If you've never been there, this is a good time to take a leap into space and visit a place where people "walk under a broken mirror", as Pratchett puts it, and fantasy and reality change places in an instant. It is also a chance to meet Death, enjoy the hilarious experience, and live to tell the tale. MORT has a better theatrical structure and a more interesting storyline than Wyrd Sisters, which was staged by Cole Cameron for Anchor Players two years ago. The staging of Pratchett's writing requires a cracking pace and accelerated scene changes to sustain suspension of disbelief. Action, speech and continuity in this production are a little slow at times, and direction is not really strong enough to support the less experienced members in the cast. The play benefits from an impressive performance by Deon Bisschoff in the leading role. Towering over all and sundry, with only voice and gleaming eyes at his disposal, Death strides the stage and dominates the action at every appearance. Bisschoff also designed the fascinating set, which combines bleakness and infinity in a convincing perspective, while the weird and wonderful costumes and props of Claudine Johnson illuminate the visual effects. In the role of Death's apprentice, Mort, James Mathers delivers a well-developed characterisation. Good support, if a little ponderous in delivery, comes from John McConnell as the enigmatic Albert, and Warren Rothenburg, Lynn Moss and Ken Cox do well as a variety af comic characters.

Cole Cameron (Director), James Mathers (Mort),
Sue Bolton (back) (Stage Mngr) and Claudine Johnson (Props & Costumes)