SEX ACTUALLY

The Drama For Life Festival in Pietermaritzburg

The organisers of the exciting Drama for Life Festival which ran at Wits University in Johannesburg during the last week of August, are bringing some of the key performances and workshops to Pietermaritzburg on September 15 and 16. One of the most extraordinary aspects of this Festival is that entry to all shows is free and everyone is welcome to attend. Entitled Sex Actually, the DFL Festival features the talents of some of the most important theatre and dance practitioners in South Africa addressing the taboos around the open discussion of sexuality in a society that needs effective communication relating to HIV/Aids.

Coming to Pietermaritzburg in this Festival are Deep Nights, a dance work choreographed by PJ Sabbagha and featuring Dada Masilo whose Swan Lake is the flagship production of the Witness Hilton Arts Festival the following weekend. Also featured will be I am Here by Peter Hayes, rated by the critic Adrienne Sichel as one of the key works of the 2010 National Arts Festival in Grahamstown. There are also performances of Sex Machine conceptualized by Tarryn E. Lee, which is a visual journey of performance-installation art that is activated through image and sound, and performances by Playback Theatre in which audiences can expect to be taken through their own journey of Sex Actually in a sensitive and thought provoking way.

Also on the programme are Ncamisa!: The Women, a groundbreaking new play which explores growing up as a black lesbian in South Africa and Hush, a performance by UBOM from the Eastern Cape.

In addition to the performances, there are also several Drama for Life workshops on Forum Theatre, Installation Art, Capturing Emotion through Music and an additional workshop by Jamie McLaren Lachman of Clowns Without Borders. The DFL Festival will run at the Hexagon Theatre complex UKZN and free tickets are available at the door on a first-come first-served basis. As spaces in the workshops are limited however, advanced booking in advised on 033 260 5537 or hexagon@ukzn.ac.za