NEW DIRECTIONS

New Directions is a festival of four short plays directed by postgraduate directors to take place at the Hexagon Studio Theatre from May 6 to 7.

Decadence by Steven Berkoff is directed by Wesleigh Hall. This dark comedy about the decadent and frivolous differences of social classes is a story about two couples, their greed-fuelled lifestyles, addictions to power, sexuality and overly spoilt living that can induce crippling results. So, join Helen and Steve for a journey of over-indulgence and blissful ignorance, and see if the cuckolded Sybil and her detective Les can be successful in their plot of vengeance on the upper class or will they too fall victim to their own decadent desires?

The Dumb Waiter by Harold Pinter directed by Vyonne Hohls. They've sent back the tea. Maybe it isn't tea time. In this comedy-drama by Harold Pinter, two hit men patiently wait for orders for their next job in an isolated basement room, when something strange and potentially threatening confronts them. Are they not the only two there?

Crave by Sarah Kane directed by Laikin Govender. This is a play about the fragility of human kind. This play deals with the themes of love and loss under the pressures that arise from the all-consuming, quintessential passions and desires of our cravings in life. Written as a piece of work described as 'In-yer-face Theatre', Crave ultimately strips down human existence to its ornate core which is ruled by our emotions, and in doing so reveals the effects it has on the disintegration of the soul, body and mind.

No Exit by Jean-Paul Sartre directed by Kirsty Geldart. “We’re in hell, my pets; they never make mistakes, and people aren’t damned for nothing.” A modern rendition of the 1944 existentialist French play by Jean-Paul Sartre. The play is set in hell where three dammed souls discover that they are to spend the rest of eternity together alone, with the sarcastic butler keeping a close eye on them.

New Directions runs at the Hexagon Studio Theatre at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, from May 6 to 7 at 18h00. Tickets R40 (R20 students) for all four plays - available at the door only. Enquiries: hexagon@ukzn.ac.za