ISIGCAWU FESTIVAL

New stage works showcased in KwaMashu. (Acknowledgement to Billy Suter, The Mercury)

Six community theatre groups from KZN will premiere new stage works on Saturday and Sunday (November 27 and 28) at Durban’s Isigcawu festival. Taking place at the Ekhaya Multi-Arts Centre in Kwa Mashu, it will involve plays commissioned as one of ten projects run annually by Twist Theatre Development Projects. Twist works throughout KZN over a period of two years with six selected community theatre organisations.

“The initiative is an attempt to build the capacity of these groups and their ability to become self-sustaining,” says project spokesman Emma Durden. “The theatre project links established and up and coming writers and theatre directors with the six community groups, to work together on a new production for these groups.”

After the performances at the Isigcawu Festival, the group will perform the works in their own communities. The writers will later adapt the six plays for performance at Durban’s annual Musho Festival in January which highlights solo and two-handed plays.

Herewith dates and times for the works commissioned for the project:

November 27 at 10h40: To Be Like This Rock by Umsindo Theatre Projects (Umlazi). Written by Durban’s Neil Coppen and based on a workshop production by the group, it is directed by Debbie Lutge with assistance from Xolani Dlongolo and Musawenkosi Shabalala. This is the harrowing story of five girls working in a quarry breaking rocks. Taken from their homes and into human trafficking, their stories are all different, but their lives all feed the same sex trade. All they wish for now is to be “like this rock’ that they smash and break, but which feels nothing.

November 27 at 13h10: Kwanele: It Was Enough by Uthando Lwabaqulusi (Vryheid) written by Cape Town writer Amy Jephta and directed by Durban’s Themi Venturas. This powerful tale of a woman imprisoned for the murder of the man she once loved is told through a letter to her daughter in which she revisits her lifetime of love and heartache, and her relationships with the men who wooed then abused her.

November 27 at 15h10: Camp Thirteen by KwaMashu’s Just Don’t company written by David Stein and directed by Durban’s Jerry Pooe. This play focuses on four comrades and their commander, who are reunited 15 years after the armed struggle. It tells a story of brotherhood and betrayal, and a secret that could destroy them all.

November 28 at 09h15: The Poisoned Mango by Umphithi Theatre Arts (Pietermaritzburg). It is written by award-winning playwright Anton Krueger and directed by Durban’s Zeph Nzama with assistance from Gcina Mdludli. This play sees the stories of three young boys from the KwaPatha township woven together into an intricate tapestry of lives lived and lives lost.

November 28 at 11h10: Isimangaliso! by the Sakhisizwe Theatre Group (Mnqobokazi, Zululand). It was written by the group with Richards Bay’s Bhekani Thabede, and directed by Durban’s Edmund Mhlongo. This is the story of the Isimangaliso Wetlands Park, which was named the “place of miracles” by King Shaka’s advisor, Jeke, who was forced to flee after Shaka’s death. The play is told through the eyes of a game ranger and explores the interaction between man and nature in this world heritage site.

November 28 at 13h40: The Wedding Goat by KwaMashu’s Ubuntu Productions. A comedy featuring traditional music and dance, it has been written by Dhaveshan Govender, known for his radio plays and work on Radio Lotus, and directed by Durban’s Bheki Mkhwane. A family celebration is broken apart by the theft of a goat on a wedding day. Luckily, the police chief is at the wedding ceremony and an investigation ensues.

The announcement of winners and prizing giving will take place at 14h20. For more Isigcawu Festival information, call Xolani Majozi on 083 621 6338.