“Strong, melodic and dramatic delivery…Evocatively punctuates the narrative with songs.”

“A strong performance that includes attractive and evocative singing. ✭✭✭✭”

“This is one of those little Edinburgh Fringe gems… Upstairs is joyful, sulky, sexy and seductive as Mata Hari. Do go and see this if you can. ✭✭✭✭✭”

“Aletia Upstairs brought some sultry cabaret lounging to the stage. She has an earthy, raw voice with a lot of potential and an honest emotion. Her down-tempo songs are her true strength.”

“The voice is sublime: smoky and sexy, and suddenly strident and angry. The songs are full of pathos and yearning…. Drunkenly defying gravity, dancing, jumping and foot-stamping in nine-inch heels – terrifying and strangely compelling; like watching a man on a ledge with a gun to his temple.”

“Singing in English, French and German she enchants her audience, swinging her mood from fizzy and hyper to miserable and touching, once she realizes she “forgot to put a condom on her heart”. There is surely plenty of experience and potential here: Aletia will go far, and she won’t need to click her heels to do that.”

“It was dramatic, quirky and expressive, with moments of beautiful song writing and skilfully sung melodies. Aletia knows how to own a stage, and her comfortable confidence stilled the audience as she sang us her songful stories. Her style was refreshing – moody and beautiful – it was art. ”

“The artist was laid back and definitely had a smokey stage-persona. Her jazzy numbers were smooth, silky and her eyes were intense throughout. The vocals rose to ring high and clear. Summed up in one phrase, Aletia was mind-blowing.”

“Effectively enacted”

“The performance was truly brilliant.”

“Stupendous energy ”

“Aletia has proved to be exceptionally dexterous and dazzling in her forte that is a huge variety of multiplicity, she certainly creates a show that is intense and enthralling- a must see!”

“What are the different reactions from various cultures? It is exceedingly rewarding to sing to people in their own language. People truly appreciate and are touched at the effort made to learn and interact in their own language. It’s a way of looking into their realm and showing them your eagerness to acknowledge their culture and interact with them. You describe your company as ‘Good, good, good’ in your show and you thoroughly enjoy interacting with the audience. How do you build up this ‘friendship’ with your audience? I react to what the audience give me; it’s an impulse from them that I react to. The thrill about cabaret is that there is no fourth wall: the imaginary wall through which the audience sees the world of the performance. Instead cabaret breaks down this wall and opens up the performance and thereby increases the expectation to interact directly, with no pretence. The audience do not feel excluded, they are in my bedroom with me.”

“There is an element of cabaret in everything I do. I am more worried about being funny than being emotional. It’s like ‘oh, shit’ that was a joke and they didn’t get it. South African audiences like sentimentality…wallowing in self-pity…whereas a British audience would rather enjoy ‘taking the piss’. Miss Demeanour is what the show is about – “a girl up to mischief”. She is a thirty-something woman looking for love – and lust! ”

“She can write; she understands the use of irony.”

“This multi-lingual cabaret veteran is a very versatile artist who did very well in South Africa and is now conquering the UK.”

“The performances here were grounded, confident and quite enthralling, as she found a stillness that held the audience spellbound.”