(The city of Grahamstown)
Arts lovers will be
spoilt for choice as tickets for the annual feast of theatre, dance, music,
public art - and more – in Grahamstown are now live for booking at www.nationalartsfestival.co.za
The 2016 National Arts
Festival (June 30 - July 10) offers the full programme goes live on its website. Hot ticket
shows such as the world premiere of Lara Foot’s new play, The Inconvenience of Wings and Janni Younge’s The Firebird are expected to sell out fast.
Responding to user
feedback and ongoing research, the website has been redesigned to make it
simpler to find shows and book for them, says Festival CEO Tony Lankester. “The
look of the site will largely be familiar but we have carefully analysed our
users’ experiences and made subtle tweaks to the process of registering and
booking,” he said. Another online innovation is the introduction of
print-at-home tickets to reduce box office queueing time, and the introduction
of some new payment methods online, including the increasingly popular Snapscan
app.
In terms of the
programme, celebrated performer, Sello Maake kaNcube will play Can Themba in The House of Truth, whilst Abrahamse and
Meyer productions, Ruth First: 117 Days
and The Day on Which a Man Dies are
sure to draw a crowd. Perennial Festival favourite Pieter-Dirk Uys returns with
his autobiographical piece The Echo of a
Noise and Alan Committie brings his hilarious one-man comedy, Love Factually.
Hot theatre talents
will add plenty of energy to the Solo Theatre programme, where the alluring
Jemma Kahn will present In Bocca Al Lupo.
Penny, starring Zethu Dhlomo, tells
the story of a young woman’s struggles to make it in the arts; and Fiona Ramsay
is a treacherous victim in Blonde Poison,
a tale that questions the most difficult forms of forgiveness.
This year’s
Festival showcases a diverse number of music genres. Apart from the country’s
favourite jazz offering, the Standard Bank Jazz Festival, other genres share
the spotlight as Prime Circle and the African Prince of hip hop, AKA, get
featured along with a host of other exciting talents including Caiphus Semenya,
Ringo Madlingozi, The Muffinz and Asanda Mqiki.
Keeping it in the
family, the accomplished Standard Bank Young Artist Award winner for Music,
Avigail Bushakevitz (violin) will be joined in concert by her brother, Ammiel
Bushakevitz (piano). Uruguayan multi-instrumentalist Mateo Mera vies for the
rhythm spotlight with Colombia’s Vallenato King, Avaro Meza, in a focus on
international music and Kathleen Tagg brings that focus right back home in a
programme of piano pieces from African composers.
Performance artist
Gavin Krastin will present Pig Headed,
whilst an intriguing Visual Arts programme includes exhibits by Moses Thladi (Unearthed) and Standard Bank Young
Artist Award Winner, Mohau Modisakeng with his exhibition, Lefa La Ntate, a poignant moment of grieving and catharsis and a
critical response to the historical legacy of exploitation and current living
experience of many black South Africans.
Think!Fest – a
series of panel discussions on topics ranging from the #fallist movement and
the plight of refugees in migration to decriminalising marijuana and
decolonising the arts – promises additional brain food for Festival-goers.
The energy of the
Festival is as much on the streets as on the stages and this year promises
plenty to fuel debate, discussion and celebration around the tables of
Grahamstown’s permanent and pop-up bars and restaurants.
(To link direct to the
NAF site click on the large banner that runs across the top of this blog)
For more see Facebook:
www.facebook.com/nationalartsfestival;
Twitter: @artsfestival and Instagram: @nationalartsfestival
Posts
