The Fringe at the National Arts Festival is always a vibrant,
diverse collection of performances because participation is open to all and no
selection criteria is enforced. As South Africa’s‘most democratic Festival, if
you have the will and a way, you can apply to find yourself ‘on the Fringe.
This year there are more than 400 shows and exhibitions on
the Fringe encompassing children’s theatre, film, music, comedy, drama,
physical theatre, dance, cabaret, visual art, performance poetry and musical
theatre; all supported by the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund.
The 2014 programme promises
firm favourites and, of course, some bold newcomers. The Abangani Theatre returns after the
success of last year’s controversial Money
Maker made them one of the most talked about productions at the Festival.
This year they’re staging Sunset Blues. As
the play unfolds, we learn that marriage is the only war where one sleeps with
the enemy, making the argument that your marriage can be a better marriage, or
it can a bitter marriage - the choice is entirely up to you. Catch ‘the best of
Cape Town’ at Artscape and Cape Town Edge’s curated venues, including the premiere
of Mike van Graan’s newest script, Return
of the Ancestors, KBT Productions’ Undermined – at 10h00 daily – a mash up of comic book and African story
telling; Salt, a combination of
physical performance, drama and fantasy about a long time psychiatric patient,
lost between reality and hallucinations, lying forgotten in her ward until a
young doctor arrives, intent on curing her; and the Rust Co-operative’s Siembamba - a multi-lingual memory play
exploring two very different people, a black domestic worker and the white
child she raised, forging an intimate mother-child bond at a time when they
were socialised to hate one another.
The Epicene Butcher and Other Stories for
Consenting Adults has developed something of a cult following.
Since its premiere on the Fringe in Grahamstown in 2012, where it won a Silver
Standard Bank Ovation Award, the show has travelled to the Amsterdam Fringe,
the Edinburgh Fringe, the Musho Festival, Fringe World Perth, and Adelaide Fringe
– amassing a string of awards. This year will be your last chance to catch it
on the Fringe. Jemma Kahn brings a brand new production to fill the gap – Amateur Hour! promises not to disappoint ‘butcher’ fans.
Returning to Grahamstown to perform on the Fringe after it premiered
last year on the Arena Programme, Hinterland
by Duncan Buwalda and directed by Caroline Smart is an intriguing and
thought-provoking “what if” situation were Cecil John Rhodes and Sol Plaatje
ever to have had a working relationship.
The Three Little Pigs also
toured to acclaim, nabbing third place in the ArtRage Theatre Award at Fringe
World Perth, sustaining a month-long run at the world’s biggest Fringe Festival
in Edinburgh; and appearances at the Amsterdam (where they won a Silver Award
for Best International Production) and New York Fringe Festivals. It’s also
been nominated at home for Fleur du Cap Awards for Best Actor, Best New South
African Script and Best Director. It too is taking a last turn on the Fringe
programme, along with popular productions Boet
‘N Swaer, Mix Tape, Pants on Fire, and The
Brother’s Streep. So don’t miss out!
Serious drama and hard-hitting commentary is
not the domain of the Main programme exclusively. A number of productions in
the Fringe drama and comedy sections engage with themes that reflect on South
Africa’s history, 20 years of democracy, and our society’s everyday struggles. Born Free is a funny, hard-hitting, satirical commentary on our twenty years
of democracy. In an election year that will have politics coming at us 24/7, Born Free will provide a cathartic
antidote as popular stand-up comedian Siv Ngesi takes us through the A-Z of the
Rainbow Nation, where apartheid only gets blamed once. Or twice.
Agreed is directed by 2014 Festival Featured
Artist Sylvaine Strike and performed by Lionel Newton. The production comprises
of a trio of monologues, genially underscored by the emotive voice of the
cello, played on stage by the renowned Kutlwano Masote. Democrazy is a depiction of the thriving contrasts in our country.
When the Rainbow Nation is in a state of emergency from what it should be,
here’s how it is... “Here, dem fail to come together and divided in our plans,
let them live without any freedom in Mzansi, deep in the sand”. What is to
become of our nation’s song, which calls us to reclaim our nation’s dream?
1976 – the
year that changed South Africa forever. Roles were scrambled: students became
adults, adults felt like children, families were polarised and action overtook
reason. Adapted from the Diary of Maria Tholo, 1976 reveals the fear, confusion,
pressure and determination of the age. Nothing is certain – except there is no
going back. Corner Madiba and Nelson
Mandela is a play based in a busy intersection of Pretoria. It explores the
given circumstances of post-apartheid in the eyes of two ordinary South African
citizens. This story unapologetically mirrors the uncensored thoughts and
incredible events that have occurred post-1994.
The programme also features some of the
country’s most beloved performers, writers and directors – plus a host of shows
returning to the Fest after their successful debuts last year. Crazy
In Love is back. The Standard Bank Ovation-winning, top-selling show on debut
at NAF 2013, returns matured, developed, and looking to break your heart with
its tragicomic father-daughter story of love, loss, and skin. Andrew Buckland
and Liezl de Kock are phenomenal and bound to be one of the hottest Fringe tickets
again this year. An adaption of Paul Gallico’s classic novella, The Snow Goose, played out on the
desolate Essex marshes and against the background of the miracle of
Dunkirk. A wounded, storm-tossed snow
goose brings a young girl, Fritha, and the recluse Philip Rhayader together in
a moving story about love and courage.
Roland Perold returns to Grahamstown with
his hit one man show Musical Theatre
Memory Lane after performances around the country and in the UK. Perold
entertains from the piano, breathing new life into show-tune favourites, while
paying homage to composers from The Golden Age of Musical Theatre. Standard
Bank Ovation Award-winner 2013 underwater adventure Get Kraken! returns - expect
the unexpected, and big belly laughs. Directed by Christopher Weare, Lynita
Crofford performs in the Standard Bank Ovation Award-winning production of Tony
Jackman’s one-hander An Audience With
Miss Hobhouse about the campaign against conditions in Britain’s Boer War
concentration camps. Also look out for Ghost
Story; Rob Van Vuuren’s What What,
Bittersweet, The Unexpected Man, and the next instalments of the
ever-popular series, Raiders: The Great
War and Butlers & Bryl Cream plus
many more top returning shows.
If stand up comedy, farce and parody tickle
your fancy, look out for Big Boys Ii (and their new show Big Girls); I Came, I Taught, I Left; Single
Dad Ii; Wacky Wizard and Lord of the Flings which pokes fun at hit movies like Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Twilight, Star
Wars and more! For those who like a side of the magic with their
entertainment, there’s Illusive
(Previously “Unreal”), Think Twice and Curious
Things: A Sleightly Different Display of Magic.
Film fans can catch the Fringe Film
programme at The Atherstone Room, including the full length feature films The Heart of the Who, Ukhamba and Outcast.
Be sure
to check out the 95 Mandela Poster
Project Travelling Exhibition, a collection of 95 posters submitted by
graphic designers worldwide and curated by the Mandela Poster Project Collective.
The Posters - representing Mandela's 95 years - are on a global journey and
will eventually be auctioned by the Nelson Mandela Children's Hospital Trust to
raise funds. There are an additional 60 visual art exhibitions on the Fringe
covering all manner of media from fabric art to lino, sculpture, photography,
paintings, drawings, graphic art and installations – a visual art lover’s
heaven!
The Chairperson of the National Lotteries
Distribution Trust Fund, Prof Alfred Nevhutanda congratulated the National Arts
Festival on their 40th anniversary and reiterated their commitment
to the arts, and in particular the platform for development that the Festival
provides. “We are proud to be associated with the National Arts Festival Fringe
programme this year in particular, and salute the country’s biggest open access
fringe. We see the importance of arts and culture in South Africa as a vital
thread in our cultural economy.”
The 2014
National Arts Festival takes place in Grahamstown from July 3 to 13. Booking is
open and tickets can be purchased through the website – click on the banner
advert above or visit www.nationalartsfestival.co.za
or 0860 002 004. Programmes can be obtained through selected Exclusive Books
and Standard Bank branches.
The
National Arts Festival is sponsored by The National Lottery Distribution Trust
Fund, Standard Bank, Eastern Cape Government, Department of Arts and Culture,
City Press and M Net.
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