Darryl Spijkers, the new dramatic arts teacher at Parel Vallei High School, and Yanou Pienaar, the English teacher, both have a passion for theatre making and are actively involved in the Playhouse Theatre and Hottentots Holland Dramatic Society.
Darryl is the chairman of the society, and well-known director of community favourites such as Shrek, Grease, Wizard of Oz and Calendar Girls.
Yanou has recently earned her director’s ticket in order to direct plays at the theatre.
Both teachers were honoured at the annual Cape Amateur Theatre Awards (CATA) recently, held at the Masque Theatre in Muizenburg.
The prestigious CATA awards were initiated by The Cape Times more than 30 years ago, and recognise and honour excellence in amateur theatre productions of many theatres and societies in and around Cape Town.
Among many awards for the wildly successful Shrek, staged in 2017, Darryl received the awards for artistic contribution, best director of a musical, and the production won Best Musical overall.
He also played the role of Johnny in the 2017 production of Hello and Goodbye (directed by Yanou Pienaar), for which he was nominated for best actor.
Hello and Goodbye took home the trophy for best actress (former Parel Vallei drama teacher, Annelie van Zyl who played Hester), best director
of a play, and best play.
Yanou also received the award for best newcomer: directing.
