(Ron Barbour; Caitlin Kilburn in “Your Hand in My Pocket”)Craig Eisenstein walked away with the PANSA / NLDTF Festival of Reading of New Writing 2012 in Durban.
Craig Eisenstein’s charming, funny and profound love story with a twist, Your Hand in My Pocket, walked away with the top honours for the national finals of the PANSA/NLDTF Festival of Reading of New Writing.
Regional events for the festival took place in Cape Town for comedy, in Johannesburg for One and Two hander plays, and in Durban for Drama. The national finals were at the Catalina Theatre in Durban on June 3.
The aims of this festival, run with the support of the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund (NLDTF), are to generate original South African theatre works. Productions were all staged as play readings by actors under the guidance of a professional director.
“Once again we received an incredible diversity and predominantly high quality of scripts into the competition,” said Brian Heydenrych, Festival Manager, “A testament to the depth of creativity we have in the theatre writers in our country. Every time we run this competition, new faces pop up and it is profoundly rewarding to see these exciting new writers breaking through into the industry”
Three productions were candidates for the grand overall prize of R30,000: Peter Hayes who walked away with double honours in the Cape Town regional festival with his new play, Suburbanalia, about a not-so-regular family Sunday lunch, which won both the Jury award and the Audience award in the Comedy section.
Second candidate was Ludolf Parker’s poignant Saying Goodbye to Amelia which tells of the journey a woman undertakes on the day of her friend’s funeral – which won the One and Two hander section at the Johannesburg leg of the festival at the University of Johannesburg.
The third production came through the process in Durban, winning the Drama section earlier in the weekend. Craig Eisenstein’s Your Hand in My Pocket ultimately won the overall prize.
The Catalina was the scene of much jubilation, as it was a home-game win with director and cast from the top production, Your Hand in My Pocket, all hailing from KZN. Director, William le Cordeur, and the cast of Ron Barbour; Caitlin Kilburn and Avi Maistry – are all from greater Pietermaritzburg.
“My week (preparing for the Durban finals) was as awe inspiring as an amble through the Elysian fields amongst theatrical titans,” enthused Eisenstein. “I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to the Performing Arts Network of South Africa (PANSA) and the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund (NLDTF) for providing this week of wanton and uncensored artistry and creativity; being given the opportunity to spend a week working on this theatre production has formed a series of memories, which I can quite adamantly state, I shall never forget for the remainder of my life; it couldn't have been a better festival. As to my production, it is my hope that I can take it further, and I dare say it, but I would love to see my play go into a full production in some form.”
The full complement of award winners from all regions are:
Cape Town: Comedy: PANSA/NLDTF Jury Winner - Suburbanalia by Peter Hayes; PANSA/NLDTF Jury Runner Up - Song and Dance by Megan Furniss; PANSA/NLDTF Audience Winner - Suburbanalia by Peter Hayes, and PANSA/NLDTF Jury Director Award - Ntombi Makhutshi: Song and Dance. Judges: Lara Bye, Tess Fairweather, Mzwamadoda Vava
Johannesburg: One / Two Handers: PANSA/NLDTF Jury Winner Saying Goodbye to Amelia by Ludolf Parker; PANSA/NLDTF Jury Runner Up - Reoca Light by Ashwin Singh; PANSA/NLDTF Audience Winner - Veil by Zwai Mgijima, and PANSA/NLDTF Jury Director Award - Lynne Maree: Own. Judges: Dorothy Ann Gould, Mpho Molepo, Paul Savage
KZN: Drama. PANSA/NLDTF Jury Winner - Your hand in my pocket by Craig Eisenstein; PANSA/NLDTF Jury Runner Up - Hinterland by Duncan Buwalda; PANSA/NLDTF Audience Winner - Hinterland by Duncan Buwalda; PANSA/NLDTF Jury Director Award - Caroline Smart Hinterland. Judges: Christa Biyela, Clinton Marius, Kobus Moolman Independent Finals Judge: Richard Finch
All national enquiries to 021 448 3513 or info@pansa.org.za
Posts
