Liewe Heksie, brainchild of Verna Vels, made her debut in 1961, in the SABC's Siembamba radio programmes. Vels, who was herself a presenter on Afrikaans radio, read the stories and did all the characters' voices herself. In the stories that were broadcast in those days, Blommie Kabouter was the main character and Heksie the one who kept getting him into trouble. The first story was called
Blommie Kabouter en die heks wat vergeet het.
The actual
Liewe Heksie stories, in which Heksie took over as the main character, began in 1963 and were re-broadcast every now and then, all the way to 2010,
Liewe Heksie had become part of our national heritage. Besides the radio broadcasts and books, the stories were published in various other forms as well. There were records, later CDs, and puppets, and two television series.
Frans Swart is the director of the
Liewe Heksie stage production and he adapted two new Heksie stories for the stage. "To me, this is a wonderful honour. I was a camera man on the
Liewe Heksie show years ago, and that is why it is such a challenge and honour to direct
Heksie. I was privileged to work with Vels and Louise Smit in those days, to produce
Liewe Heksie for TV. Vels gave us wonderful characters, stories and dialogue to work with … and it was such a pleasure directing the stage version.”
There will be two shows every day at 09:00 and 11:00. Bookings can be made with Computicket on 011 340 8000, or
online.
Liewe Heksie is ideal entertainment for nursery schools, crèches, primary schools as well as secondary schools. Schools and groups can book by phoning Zena on 011 815 3000 or e-mail to
[email protected] More information available at
www.lieweheksie.co.za.