MUSHO WITH A TWIST

Planning is well underway for the 2011 Musho festival (see separate article). The Catalina Theatre will again be the major venue. It is anticipated this year’s festival will be run along similar lines to last year – as a scaled-down festival in one central venue.

In addition to the nine top-notch productions from around South Africa, this year’s festival sees the addition of the Musho Twist. This involves six short productions from community theatre groups involved in the Twist Theatre Development Project, which is supported by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. These six groups are paired with award-winning writers and directors, including Neil Coppen, James Ngcobo, Anton Krueger, and Amy Jephta. These dynamic collaborations promise to bring something fresh and exciting to Durban audiences.

The festival is supported by Twist Theatre Development Projects, KwaZulu Natal Department of Arts and Culture, and Pentravel. For more info / to book tickets contact the Catalina Theatre on 031 305 6889. Full programme available at www.mushofestival.co.za. Tickets can be purchased online at www.strictlytickets.com or at www.goingplacessa.co.za / www.goingplacessa.com

Shortly after the close of each show, reviews will appear on the Musho website. The programme for the double-bill programmes appearing on Musho with a Twist is as follows.

Twist 1: Kwanele/Camp 13 (Saturday, January 15 at 12h00) Kwanele: It Was Enough! from the Uthando Lwabaqulusi Theatre Group. It is the final day of a 20 year incarceration. Through glimpses of an unnamed woman’s past, we see how she got there and what led her to commit a harrowing act. If we could go back and correct our mistakes - would we take that chance? (Written by Amy Jephta and directed by Themi Venturas) Camp 13 from Just Don’t Theatre Group. The words “Camp 13” take what are now very different men back to another lifetime as guerrilla soldiers. They know there’s only one person who could have sent the cryptic message. What they don’t know is that he will reveal a secret that tests the bonds of brotherhood that they formed in the bush. (Written by David Stein and directed by Jerry Pooe)

Twist 2: Still Waiting/The Poison Mango (Saturday January 15 at 14h00) Still Waiting from Sakhisizwe Theatre Group (Zululand). The story of two men, just children when their family were violently and forcibly removed from the Dukuduku Forest, are now in the Isimangaliso Wetlands Park. Their lives are governed by a mixture of anger, fear and resentment, as they sit, still waiting, for the promised compensation for their land. (Written by Bhekani Thabede and directed by Edmund Mhlongo) The Poisoned Mango from Umphithi Theatre Arts. “I saw a pigeon eating a seed of wheat... What has happened to our harvest? Are the seeds from the past still alive within us? 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. (Written by Anton Krueger and directed by Zeph Nzama)

Twist 3: Legacy/To Be Like This Rock(Saturday January 15 at 16h00). Legacy from Ubuntu Productions. A man wakes up to a thief in his house in the night. What does this boy want? Revenge? Kill him? What unfolds is the story of a love that happened a long time ago, in a different life. This is a story about vigilante justice, forgiveness and making up for the sins of the father. (Written by Dhaveshan Govender and directed by Bheki Mkhwane) To Be Like This Rock from Umsindo Theatre Projects. This is the harrowing story of five girls who come together working in a quarry breaking rocks. Taken from their homes and into human trafficking, their stories are all different but their lives 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. (Written by Neil Coppen based on a workshop production, and directed by Debbie Lutge)

The festival is supported by Twist Theatre Development Projects, KwaZulu Natal Department of Arts and Culture, and Pentravel. For more info / to book tickets contact the Catalina Theatre on 031 305 6889. Full programme available at www.mushofestival.co.za. Tickets can be purchased online at www.strictlytickets.com or at www.goingplacessa.co.za / www.goingplacessa.com