(Match Girl)
The production
selected to represent UKZN Pietermaritzburg at the annual Student Drama festival at the
National Arts Festival is a delightfully creative and innovative piece of
theatre called Match Girl. Other
shows on their way to Grahamstown are the acclaimed productions of Woza Albert! and The Island.
Pietermaritzburg
audiences will be able to see previews of Match
Girl and Woza Albert! at special
performances at the Hexagon Theatre on June 25 and 26.
A musical duo
called Acoustic Assassins, which is
also Grahamstown bound, will entertain in The Dive after the shows on the
Friday.
MATCH GIRL: Match Girl is a modern South
African adaptation of the Hans Christian Anderson tale of The Little Match Girl. The story is delightfully told through a
fusion of performance art, mask work, shadow play, puppetry and physical
theatre. The show highlights how society has become inured to suffering and
poverty, or simply don’t want to acknowledge it. The production retains the
innocence and sentiment of the original story through the use of highly visual
theatrical imagery combining modern technology with artistic simplicity. It is
directed by MA student Jessica Killerby, who was responsible for the beautiful
environmental piece Her Cradle, which
wowed audiences at the Hexagon and Hilton Festival last year. The cast includes
Nompilo Jili, Monique Schoeman, Bongeka Ngubane, Musa Shozi and Sabelo Cele.
WOZA ALBERT!: Woza
Albert! is one of the plays for which South African theatre is best known
internationally. Its style of storytelling has inspired and influenced theatre
companies around the world, and it remains one of the most vibrant examples of
satirical anti-apartheid South African Theatre. It demonstrates innovation and
creativity during a seminal period of theatre in this country.
This classic of
South African theatre asks what would happen if Christ (Morena) came back to
1980’s apartheid South Africa. The show is primarily a satire that highlights
the absurdities of apartheid and displays the talents of two dextrous actors -
in this case, TQ Zondi and Mpilo Nzimande - who play a range of ordinary
characters on the street. Directed by Peter Mitchell, the production is a high
energy explosion of creativity and humour with a dark edge as Morena's life is
relived in an apartheid context.
Bringing Woza Albert! to the stage honours the
creative genius of Barney Simon as South Africa celebrates 21 years of
democracy, providing a reminder of the tragic lunacy that was apartheid, as
well as the continued search for compassionate, intelligent and humane
leadership. This production looks back from a new perspective at what changed
the face of Poor Theatre worldwide.
Performances take
place on June 25 and 26 with Match Girl
at 18h00; Woza Albert! at 19h15. Acoustic Assassins will perform after the
shows on June 26 at 20h30. Tickets R40 (R25 concession) for each show, with a
special price of R100 (R60 concession) for all three. Boookings on email: hexagon@ukzn.ac.za
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