Cutting-edge theatre at the Arts Fest
19 June 2009
Private narratives from the book of life make for searing drama at the 2009 National Arts Festival taking place in Grahamstown in the Eastern Cape from 2 to 11 July, with a programme featuring five world premières.
A grandmother's efforts to reclaim the past and rescue her granddaughter from a legacy of dissolution is dramatised by Standard Bank Young Artist Award Winner Ntshieng Mokgoro in her multi-layered "The Olive Tree" (première). The story is woven into a tapestry of image, poetry and song.
In "Something Dark", mesmerising British performance poet Lemn Sissay enacts a personal drama: his search as a gifted boy for the mother who dumped him at birth. He uncovers the secret of their mutual tragedy in Africa, land of his forefathers.
We peer through veils of revealing disguise in "I am my own Wife" by Doug Wright. But no full disclosure is possible for the secret world of Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, a German transvestite who survived major upheavals in Europe's recent history. Like the museum he/she guards so jealously, Charlotte is an ambiguous figment of his/her own history. And like a refracting mirror, Jeremy Crutchley plays the protagonist and 40 other characters in this Baxter Theatre production directed by Janice Honeyman.
The scripts for both "I am my Own Wife" and "Wit", by Margaret Edson, have won Pulitzer Prizes. But, in "Wit", there is nowhere to hide for a professional sceptic facing ultimate fear under the clinical lights of a teaching hospital. It's more shock therapy than catharsis until she and the audience are blessed with visitations from two of the most unlikely angels in literature. "Wit" is presented by KwaZulu-Natal's KickStart Theatre Company with Clare Mortimer, Alison Cassels and Ralph Lawson directed by Steven Stead.
Secrets, lies, toxic jealousy and the spectre of HIV/Aids poison relationships between three friends in "Iago's Last Dance" (première) by Mike van Graan. But the very now, very South African woman in the triangle is no hapless Desdemona. Keep your safety belt fastened.
Artscape's production of "The Return" by Fatima Dike is directed by Roy Sargeant. After he has lived for 18 years in the diaspora, recurring nightmares bring Buntu Somdaka home to Langa with his Afro-American wife. Can a traditional healer help to lay the ghost of the past? The cast includes Nomhle Nkonyeni, Mzwakhe Mdidimba, Astara Mwakalumbwa and Phakamisa Zwedala.
Sharing his fascination with an iconic Afro-American jazz singer, Nigel Vermaas speculates on the relationship between "Lady Day" and her prison warder in "Do you know Billie Holiday?" (première). Questions about liberation and imprisonment, physical and psychological, underpin the music-filled action.
James Ncgobo directs his own adaptation of "Touch my Blood" (première), which brings Sunday Times columnist Fred Khumalo's memoirs alive on stage. Fast, witty and touching, the piece is reminiscent of the golden days of Sophiatown, when stylish gangsters greeted one another by saying, "Touch my blood".
Another work based on literature is presented by Dublin's Gare St Lazare Players. Hailed as the experts on dramatising Samuel Beckett's work, their adaptation of his novella "First Love" is performed by Conor Lovett, who is regarded as the greatest living Beckett interpreter.
The enchantment of magical realism is stock-in-trade for the Fresco Theatre Company. Directed by Helen Iskander, "The Famished Road" (première) is inspired by the writings of Booker Prize winner Ben Okri. Spanning our world and another reality, it is a story of love and sacrifice seen through the eyes of a spirit-child.
"Jimeoin on Ice" launches a special new comedy slot at this year's festival. Dave Levinsohn gets first laugh in his curtainraiser for the astute Irish-Australian stand-up comedian Jimeoin McKeown, whose international success proves he has a finger on the world's funny bone.
Continuing The Studio's tradition of spunky productions by Eastern Cape companies, Port Elizabeth's Fire Theatre Promotions presents "Meneer", an outspoken satire on the absurdities of democracy.
Makana's Matt Productions takes audiences into the murky world of shebeens in "The Maxim", directed by Matthews Nontyi. Bra Zitt tries to keep youth off the road to ruin, but he has an Achilles heel ...
Proposing the pantsula dancer as a contemporary pilgrim, "The Road to Success" tracks the progress of a small-town hopeful lured from the Eastern Cape by the glittering promise of Jozi. Featuring terrific dance sequences, the show is directed by Brink Scholtz and Ayanda Nondlwana.
Street theatre
Visual extravagance prevails on the free street theatre programme, with the family of four metre tall puppets from Orange Farm's South African Great Ubuntu Recycled Universal tipped to steal hearts with their show and unscripted meet-and-greet sorties.
Hair art soars to new heights with Spain's sensational Osadia. Wearing towering coiffures, extraordinary make-up and exquisitely excessive costumes, they set up an outdoor salon and jazz up passers-by with backcombing, rainbow sprays and glitzy cosmetics.
Student theatre
Young and restless talents from 11 tertiary institutions feature on the Student Theatre Festival.
Participants this year include groups from The University of Pretoria, City Varsity (Cape Town), Rhodes University, the Tshwane University of Technology, the University of Stellenbosch, the University of Cape Town, the University of KwaZulu-Natal (Pietermaritzburg), the University of the Free State, The Durban University of Technology, the University of the Witwatersrand and the University of KwaZulu-Natal (Howard College).
Stories run through a wide variety of the offerings, many of them workshopped. Excitingly innovative dramaturgy, music, movement, and special effects prove the next generation of theatre professionals is making the best of broad-based training.
And on the Fringe a surprise package of theatrical treats ensures that every available minute in every visitor's festival programme is jam-packed.
Now in its 35th year, South Africa's National Arts Festival is one of the leading arts festivals in southern Africa.
The National Arts Festival is supported by Standard Bank, the Eastern Cape Government, the National Arts Council, the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund and The Sunday Independent.
For more information, visit www.nationalartsfestival.co.za.
Source: National Arts Festival
