Why do good people exhibit ugly behavior? If society’s expectations don’t match a person’s innate talents and passions, how does that affect them? How do we end up playing roles in life that we are not suited to? Why do we stay in those roles and what does it take to break out of them?
Spanish Steps explores these questions through the characters of Maureen and Barry, two unlikely companions who get stuck in a basement and face the prospect of spending the foreseeable future in close quarters. Maureen, the earnest thirty-something corporate executive, and Barry, her grumpy, underachieving middle-aged employee, get to know one another more than they ever wanted. One may both laugh and cry as they trigger each others’ deepest resentments, regrets, and fears and, in so doing, become mirrors to each other’s blind spots. Will they push each other over the edge or can they help each other become unstuck?
PRODUCTION CREDITS
Cast
Barry (Male lead) – Gavin Werner
Maureen (Female lead) – Diane Simpson
Director – Caroline Midgely
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Dianne Simpson graduated from Pretoria Technikon in 1996. She then attended the TVI Actors Studio course in LA.
Her theatre highlights include ‘SPOOF FULL OF SUGAR’ (Sandton Square), ‘THE SOUND OF MUSIC’ (State Theatre), ‘MY FAIR LADY’ (State Theatre), ‘A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM’ (Civic Fringe Theatre), BLITHE SPIRIT (Sandton Square), ‘WITHOUT A HITCH’ (Monte Casino Studio), ‘THE TAMING OF THE SHREW’ (Maynardville), ‘INTO THE WOODS’ (Theatre on the Bay and Monte Casino) and ‘KINKY BOOTS” (The Fugard Theatre).
She has appeared on TV in “GENERATIONS”, “EGOLI” and “THE WILD”, “BINNELANDERS” and “HEAVEN CAN WAIT and “LEGACY” and movies, ‘PASSION GAP’,‘PLAY BY HEART’ and ‘BHAI’S CAFÉ’. She has done numerous documentary re-enactments including THE DEVIL SPEAKS, THE GRANT SERIES and AMERICAN MONSTER.
She was an on-set voice artist for the movie, “RACING STRIPES” (Warner Bros) and she can be heard as the voice of Lillian in SA animated Movie “JOCK, THE HERO DOG”. She wrote a few episodes of SILLY SEASONS (motion capture animation series for e-tv) directed by Daniel Buckland and voiced the characters of Summer and Venus. She also wrote and voiced ‘SHARP SHARP’ children’s programme for four years for the SABC. She became one of the writers for ‘LEGACY Season 2’ in 2021.
She has written and has been touring with her own one woman show, ROSE RED since 2011 and debuted the sequel, THE SISTERS UGLY at the National Arts Festival in 2017.
Gavin Werners’s theatre credits include Neil Simon’s “God’s Favorite”,’ Noel Coward’s “Private Lives”, David Stevens’ “The Sum of Us” and Mary Laws’ “Blueberry Toast”. He has appeared in over twenty five film and TV productions including “Black Sails”, “Wallander”, “Warrior” and “Vagrant Queen”. After school he enrolled for a performer’s diploma at UCT, then switched to IT for several years which led him to travel extensively and live and work around the world. He came back to Cape Town to study at ACT Cape Town and thereafter with the Mathew Harrison’s Actor’s Foundry based in Vancouver. He won a silver Standard Bank Ovation Award (2021) for his performance in Pete Malicki’s “Extraordinary Unusual”. He has written one play (Spanish Steps), a short film (The Art of Peace) and a screen play (FarAway).
Caroline Midgely has a penchant for satire and shrewd social commentary and she enjoys exploring the fine line between comedy and tragedy with her actors. She discovered her love of directing while studying drama at Wits and at AFDA. Starting as an assistant director in Laughing Wild by Christopher Durang, she became known for her innovative and sometimes quirky techniques for helping the actors find their characters. Her directing credits include her own productions of Hey Baby and Ain’t She Sweet. Her theatre acting credits include Berkoff’s Decadence, Pinter’s The Lover, and a female Vladimir in Waiting For Godot and her her most recent television appearance was as Ruth in Tali’s Wedding Diary.