Kennisgewings | Notices > Fiona Coyne tribute at the Baxter Concert Hall, next Tuesday, 7 September at 12h30 Fiona Coyne tribute at the Baxter Concert Hall, next Tuesday, 7 September at 12h30

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2010-09-03

To honour the memory of playwright, actress, TV host, personal branding and communications consultant and environmental activist Fiona Coyne, a special tribute will take place next Tuesday, 7 September, at 12h30, at the Baxter Concert Hall in Rondebosch, Cape Town.

Coyne was born in Springs, just outside Johannesburg, and passed away on 18 August in her home in Fish Hoek. A week later a memorial service was held at the St Peters Catholic church in Strand, attended by about 150 family members and close friends.

The diminutive but larger-than-life 45-year-old became a house-hold name in South Africa and will be remembered for her razor-sharp wit as the presenter of the highly popular quiz show The Weakest Link, where she was feared by contestants and revered by the nation. The South African version of the show ran on SABC 3 for five seasons from 2003 to 2007, with 22 shows per season. Another two seasons were commissioned last year but were cancelled due to internal problems experienced by the broadcaster.

It is only fitting that her life and work will be celebrated at the Baxter which she regarded as home to most of her work as a playwright. With the world premiere of her play The Shadrack Affair, produced by the Baxter Theatre Centre in 2004, she wrote the following biography for the programme:

“Coyne studied drama at the Pretoria Technikon where she won the Pretorium Trust Award for Most Outstanding Student. She also held an Honours Degree in Clinical Psychology.

She was a full-time member of the CAPAB Drama Company for seven years before moving to Kenya with her husband. There she worked for the David Sheldrick Wildfire Trust, where they rear - and rehabilitate to the wild - orphaned elephants and black rhinos. She lectured extensively on conservation issues before returning to South Africa in 1996.

In 1998 Fiona wrote her first play, As The Koekie Crumbles.  It was directed by Ralph Lawson and subsequently adapted by him for SAFM’s The Saturday Play, under the title Little White Lives. In the same year she wrote and presented Fiona’s Backpage for eTV’s Tabloid. Towards the end of 1999 she agreed to “help out” on one job for New Communications Training and Development. Six months later she had become the company’s senior facilitator and went on to work in corporate community training nationally and abroad. In 2001 she was invited to Denmark to consult on Cross-Cultural Communication Strategies in the Workplace. Her first full-length play, Glass Roots, was commissioned by the Baxter Theatre. Directed by Roy Sargeant, it premiered at the National Arts Festival, Grahamstown in July 2000. In 2001 Glass Roots won Fiona both the Fleur du Cap and Cape Vita Awards for Best New Indigenous Script. In 2002 she was awarded the Gauteng Vita Award for Best New Script, again for Glass Roots. Her third play, Dearly Beloved, premiered again as part of the National Arts Festival, Grahamstown and was named the flagship production for the Hilton Festival. The Baxter Theatre Centre has been the home of all Coyne’s plays.”

The Shadrack Afffair, which Fiona described as a gritty comedy with a dark twist, was directed by Lara Bye and starred Anthea Thompson, Kate Normington, Joko Scott (now deceased) and David Butler.

In May 2009, her stage play, the comedy Careful, was hailed as a great hit when it premiered at the Absolut Dublin Gay Theatre Festival in Ireland. Fiona was nominated for her writing for the prestigious Oscar Wilde Best New Writing Award and Diane Wilson received the coveted Michael MacLiammoir Award for Best Actress. The play was directed by Roy Sargeant, who was instrumental in getting her to write the two-hander, which also featured Deidre Wolhuter. It was performed at Artscape in September last year.

Coyne also coached media and camera skills, served on the Theatre Advisory Panel for the National Arts Council and published a book Who Moved My Ladder? The Working Woman’s Guide to Success.

In December last year she appeared in the popular pantomine The Adventures of Pinocchio as Katarina the Cat, directed by Janice Honeyman at the Mandela at Joburg Theatre.

A self-professed perfectionist, Fiona's interests included flying, sky-diving and great champagne while her evenings were spent either at the opera, the theatre or fine dining, which she regarded as a pleasure in itself.

Between seasons of The Weakest Link Fiona would take time to indulge her other interests such as her addiction to crossword puzzles and writing, as well as spending as much time as she possibly could up on the mountain, on the beach, in the forest or along the green belts - accompanied by her doting dogs, Tamu, Malaika and Oscar.

Friends and colleagues in the theatre and entertainment industry will have the opportunity to pay tribute to and applaud the life, work and contribution Fiona Coyne made to the South African canon, at the Baxter Concert Hall, next Tuesday, 7 September, at 12h30.