NAF DRAMA

The 2012 Main Theatre programme boasts two world premieres and a list of world-class productions at the 38th National Arts Festival, which runs from June 28 to July 8 in Grahamstown this year.

Athol Fugard celebrates his 80th birthday in June, and the National Arts Festival joins in celebrating the life and work of this iconic playwright by presenting, with the Fugard Theatre and Mannie Manim Productions, the world premiere of his newest play, The Blue Iris. A love story of tender and personal revelations with layers of emotional exchange, this glimpse at ghosts of the past reflects true Fugard brilliance. Directed by Janice Honeyman, it promises not to disappoint.

Hitting the Grahamstown stages before whizzing off to Austria, is the other world premiere, Trapped. Princess Zinzi Mhlongo (2012 Standard Bank Young Artist Award -SBYAA winner for Drama), whose skills as a strong director have won her several accolades, will make her debut as a writer at this year’s Festival with this, her first play-script.

2011 SBYAA winner Neil Coppen continues to challenge the boundaries of contemporary South African theatre. He will collaborate with writer Craig Higginson and director Malcolm Purkey in the creation of Higginson’s latest play, Little Foot. A multi-media event that promises to be a unique piece of storytelling, Little Foot will go on to be performed at the National Theatre in London prior to the 2012 Olympics.

Italian-based company Scarlettine Teatro takes their audience into the world of the comic book. Actors interact with the characters and become part of the story in the South African premiere of their multi-award winning production Manolibera.

From Durban, independent theatre company KickstArt (by special arrangement with the Creative Artists Agency, New York) will present the South African premiere of John Logan’s 2010 Tony Award winning play, Red. Directed by Steven Stead and featuring Michael Richard and Jeremy Richard, it explores the fascinating creative process and inner conflict of the famous American artist, Mark Rothko.

Sex, lies, class, race, shame and guilt take centre stage in the Playhouse Company’s production of David Mamet’s fast-paced play, Race. Acclaimed South African-born director Yael Farber bares contemporary South African struggles in her explosive new adaptation of August Strindberg’s classic Miss Julie, set in the remote, bleak beauty of the Eastern Cape Karoo.

Voices Made Night, adapted from short stories by Mia Couto and directed by Mark Fleishman, will reflect Magnet Theatre’s orientation as a creative, innovative and sophisticated African theatre company. In I Love You When You’re Breathing, the Handspring Puppet Company will give audiences the unique opportunity of seeing a puppet deliver a meta-theatrical address, using comedy and generous amounts of self-reflexive humour to give insight to the nature of puppetry, the process of creating life in the object, and the role of the audience in making meaning.

Abrahamse & Meyer Productions achieved international recognition for their two previous Shakespeare productions presented at the Festival – The Tragedy of Richard III (2010) and Shakespeare’s R&J (2011). Bringing Shakespeare’s most romantic of romantic comedies to life on a luxury African game lodge, their new production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream is sure to be the sort of dramatic treat audiences have come to expect of this duo.

Bookings for this year’s “11 Days of Amaz!ng” open in May with booking through Computicket. Booking kits will be available from May at selected Standard Bank branches, selected Exclusive Books and Computicket branches. For more information on the programme, accommodation and travel options visit www.nationalartsfestival.co.za or click on the banner advert at the top of this page.

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The National Arts Festival is sponsored by Standard Bank, The National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund, The Eastern Cape Government, The National Arts Council, City Press and M Net.