WITNESS HILTON ARTS FESTIVAL

KZN’s foremost arts and culture festival to take place at Hilton College from September 18 to 20.

KZN’s foremost arts and culture festival - the annual Witness Hilton Arts Festival comes to the Hilton College from September 18 to 20 with a glittering line-up of cutting-edge drama, comedy, music and cabaret, as well as an impressive array of arts and crafts in a bumper programme that features an enticing mix of hot South African performers and artists gleaned from the most prestigious stages around the country including the Grahamstown festival in July.

There are invited productions on the Main festival, and a huge selection of productions on the Fringe. There are also children’s productions, various concerts and music revues, physical theatre productions,

This year’s flagship production is a triumph for the festival - a collaboration with top KZN theatrical producers, KickstArt. Together they are producing a brand new production of the ultimate backstage farce, Noises Off by Michael Frayn. This hilarious play tells of the rivalries and misfortunes of a bickering touring theatre company. Other Durban productions which are heading up the hill this year are Shear Madness - one of the world’s most popular comedy-thrillers, it combines comedy, a juicy whodunit murder mystery… opportunities for the audience to give input to help craft the script – and the resolution of the murder. Also from Durban is Wit - Margaret Edson’s Pulitzer Prize-Winning play. Wit engages both the heart and the mind. It is the story of Vivian Bearing PhD who has late-stage ovarian cancer. It isn't a tearful lecture on how to die; it's a dry-eyed lesson on how to live.

Mark Graham directs Dorothy Ann Gould and Michael Maxwell in one of the South Africa’s most enduring dramas, Athol Fugard’s poignant masterpiece Hello and Goodbye. Pictures of You is an enchanting little story produced bv From the Hip productions. The intriguing story of Karen Blixen is told in Longing for Darkness by Mia Have from Denmark.

The Fleur de Lis club is under new management and will run as a cabaret venue with the top Durban cabarets. The festival once again will have strong focus on classical music with an eclectic mix of more than a dozen concerts hosted by Christopher Duigan’s Music Revival Concerts featuring a myriad special guests and soloists.

This year the dance element will be provided by Rob van Vuuren – who together with his partner Mary Martin – will be doing a highlights package of some of the dances from Strictly Some Dancing marrying dance with comedy.

For a glimpse behind the obvious - there will be a series of Thinkfest lectures and discussions on a myriad of interesting and diverse subjects presented by leaders in their respective fields. For the third year there will be a curated art exhibition at the festival. This year there will be a focus on local arts and craft with regular arts workshops as part of the festival programme to take place at the Art School. There will be a special focus on food and eating this year with various food areas to choose from.

Festival-goers requiring accommodation are strongly advised to book early at one of the many B&Bs and hotels in the area.

Booking now open. Programmes and booking kits available at selected Spar stores or on www.artslink.co.za/hilton Kits can also be collected from Exclusive Books (La Lucia, Pavilion, Liberty Mall and Gateway), Adams in Musgrave Centre and Durban town, Cascades Bookshop and the Witness offices in Pietermaritzburg, and the Hilton College Theatre. Also from leading galleries and theatre foyers.

Detailed information can be found on www.artslink.co.za/hilton. For more information or a full programme and booking kit – visit http://www.artslink.co.za/hilton / www.artslink.co.za/hilton or the Hilton Festival hotline on theatre@hiltoncollege.com or phone 033 3830126. Info will also be found on the East Coast Radio website.