Comedian and actress Shimmy Isaacs shines the spotlight on kroes hare in her debut Showmax series, Mince Jou Hare.
Shimmy produced a 13-part series based on the life of her mom, Frieda Klaasen, a popular hairdresser in Worcester.
The comedy series started airing on Monday and has already received rave reviews.
It tells the tale of Frieda, a hairdresser in her 30s, who is creative, fun-loving and ambitious.
After 17 years of marriage, a fed-up Frieda decides to realise her dream of becoming a hairdresser. She quits her factory job and opens a salon at home, much to the consternation of her hubby Vincent.
Melissa de Vries stars as Frieda, with comedian Dugald Pieterse as Vincent, Fleur du Cap nominee Bianca Flanders is bestie Julia, while Franka Kirby shines in a breakthrough role as daughter Jody.
Shimmy says: “Melissa has been with the project since day one, since I filmed the original pilot five years ago. I originally wrote the script with another actor in mind but they were unavailable. But then Melissa walked into the audition and she took the character in a whole new direction, and I embraced that.”
Spinners star David Isaacs is the director while rapper Early B created the theme song.
Shimmy tells Daily Voice: “I feel overwhelmed, excited, the reaction from people is so positive, people did not expect for it to be such a positive story.”
She says the series is based on her mom’s life: “There were specific stuff my mom helped me with, such as the dialogue, the slogan of the salon that says “Hoe kroes oek al, ons maak hom glad”.
“Worcester was a factory town and my mother was a factory worker. When she quit her job at the factory, she said that she was done working for someone else, this was a significant event in my life.
“She did everything that she set out to do. I was a child, so this was the first time I saw someone make a promise to themselves and then do it. It inspired me, that I could also dream big.”
Melissa says she played the role with caution because Aunty Frieda is still around.
“It was so cool playing the role of such a remarkable woman. People already fell in love with Frieda in the first episode. I am excited to see what the rest of the episodes bring.”