Cast

Anna - Charne van den Berg

Annie - Laura-Jean Runchman

Brand - Cameron McEwan

General - Pieter Taljaard

Director - Pieter Taljaard

Producer - Amanda Bothma

Charne van den Berg

After matriculating from The Lady Grey Arts Academy, Charne obtained a Bachelor's degree in Live Performance, Directing and Writing from AFDA. Having taught Dramatic Arts for the last 12 years, she has performed in and directed various productions in and around East London. As the Head of Drama at Stirling High School, Charne recently directed a highly successful production of Hairspray, much to the delight of local audiences.

Laura-Jean Runchman

Laura-Jean is an actor, director and Drama teacher at Stirling High School in East London. She has appeared in many local stage productions, including The Sound of Music, The Wizard of Oz, Sabrina Fair, The Heart of Robin Hood, Missing and Good Heavens. She recently made her directorial debut with Missing by Reza de Wet, performed by Stirling High School students at the 2023 National Arts Festival, where the production received a Bronze Ovation Award. 

Cameron McEwan

Cameron is a freelance actor, director and a Dramatic Arts teacher at Cambridge High School in East London. He has appeared in numerous South African television programmes, including Backstage, Scandal, The Wild and Binnelanders. He has also performed in various stage productions, most notably the Naledi Award-winning Hungry, which ran at the State Theatre in Pretoria. In addition, he has directed many successful productions in East London, most notably Sophiatown and, recently, Grease.

Pieter Taljaard

After matriculating from the Pro Arts High School for the Arts in Pretoria, Pieter went on to study at the Technikon Pretoria Film School. While still studying, he produced his first play, Violince, at the National Arts Festival. As a freelancer in the Film and Television industry, he directed various plays and cabarets and pioneered the subject of Dramatic Arts in Eastern Cape schools while teaching at the Lady Grey Arts Academy. Since 2008 he has directed and acted in many East London productions, including Hamlet, Hairspray and The Glass Menagerie. He has also directed and acted for Wela Kapela Productions, with some of the most notable productions being Once On This Island at the Baxter Theatre in Cape Town and Happy Days by Samuel Beckett at the 2023 National Arts Festival. Pieter currently teaches Dramatic Arts and Music at Gonubie High School in East London.

Amanda Bothma

Amanda Bothma's work has entertained East London audiences since her first break-through production of Bobaas in die Boendoe at the Guild Theatre in 1990. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Drama and Acting from the University of the Free State and in 2017 she enrolled at The Eugene O’Niell Theatre Institute in Connecticut. In 2021 she trained in the Chekov Method under Mara Laduvic, co-founder of the Michael Chekov Actors Studio Boston. Since then, critically acclaimed work has followed with a list of award winning productions, including: A Star is Born – the rise and fall of Judy Garland, NEXT!!!, Damsel in Distress, The Story of Eva Cassidy and Vincent -his quest to love and be loved.