(Bongani Mbatha
appears in “Sweetie Darling”, one of the Durban productions on the Fringe. Pic
by Val Adamson)
Many of South Africa’s foremost
performers, producers, directors and choreographers are returning to the stage
where they were first noticed – the National Arts Festival’s Fringe – to take
advantage of the opportunity to experiment with their craft and be part of the
unmatched energy and camaraderie it generates.
The event gets a boost this year with
the announcement of a partnership between the National Lotteries Commission
(NLC) and the National Arts Festival that will see R10-million invested in the
Grahamstown event this year. The sponsorship will contribute to the logistics,
overheads, artistic budget and marketing of the event, and sees the NLC get
naming rights to the “National Lottery Fringe”.
As part of the agreement, Fringe
artists will receive a R1,000 rebate on their venue hire costs.
Festival CEO Tony Lankester says: “It
is important to us, apart from the ‘beneath the skin’ investment the Lottery is
making in equipment, marketing and so on, that their contribution sees a direct
financial benefit flow to Fringe artists who take the risk of bringing their
work to Grahamstown. This rebate will, hopefully, make it a bit easier for them
to realise a profit from their Festival run.”
Says Prof Alfred Nevhutanda, National
Lotteries Chairperson: “The National Lotteries Commission is committed to
making a positive change. At the 2016 National Arts Festival, we welcome the
opportunity to see South Africa’s artists perform on new stages and we want to
see SA talent being nurtured through these opportunities.”
Among the 369 productions on the
National Lottery Fringe, which runs from June 30 to July 10 in Grahamstown, are
plays about politics, identity and sexuality, tales of triumph and tenderness,
as well as stories that have arisen from history, circumstance, pain and
belief. There’s also plenty of fun to be had with a roll call of fantastic
comedy and pure entertainment as well as a wide range of music, dance, visual
and public art.
Here are just a few of the highlights
of the 2016 National Lottery Fringe:
ALL THE LAUGHS AND
SOME SERIOUSLY GOOD SATIRE
Hot tickets for this year include Rob
van Vuuren with a trio of one man shows: Dangled,
Life and the Best of Rob van Vuuren. He
has also helped put together The Very Big
Comedy Show, that features big name Fringe artists such as Mark Lottering
and Tumi Morake. Stuart Taylor returns with Bespoke,
Mojak Lehoko wonders irreverently How
Did I Get Here, and Tim Plewman (alongside Russel Savadier and Mike
Huff) muscles up for his new show, Gym
and Tonic.
Tyson Ngubeni takes a few swipes at
xenophobia in The Dark Ages,
while Thenx presents Aza-Nya
is Five-To. Copy Dog’s Bitch
Stole My Doek returns to the Festival along with new show Sweetie Darling. Catch
Lynita Crofford in Violet
Online, a play about online dating, while Aaron McIlroy and Lisa
Bobbert will be Defending
the Planet.
Written by Mike van Graan, Siv Ngesi’s
production Pay Back the
Curry slices and dices everything from the Zuptas to zombies and
sparrows to statues. Politrix
Kurup sees Johnnie Campher extending his range across 30 characters
in a rollercoaster-ride of social satire.
ENDLESS OPTIONS ON
THE THEATRE FRINGE
Independent Johannesburg theatre
company POPArt hope to build on the success of their 2015 debut with the return
of Jemma Kahn’s crowd-pleaser We
Didn’t Come to Hell For The Croissants, and the brand-new UnFairLady, a satire of
the content in women’s magazines.
Klara van Wyk delivers “laugh-out-loud
pop-com for the YouTube generation” in You
Suck: And Other Inescapable Truths, while Tumi Morake shares the
stage with Vanessa Frost in
Tease, a tale about sex, love and life set in a hair salon.
Community-based theatre groups are
abundant on the programme, and many productions reflect on the gritty
complexities of township life. Umsindo Theatre presents 10 Days in a Shebeen, a
tale of abandonment and greed. Clues
On The Sand by Moagi Modise is brought to the Festival by the
Galeshewe Theatre Organisation in the Northern Cape, while Narrative Dreams is
directed by rising theatre star Omphile Molusi.
Sibikwa Arts Centre’s Chapter 2 Section 9 tells
the stories of persecution suffered by lesbian women in South Africa, and
Wushwini Arts and Culture and Heritage Centre presents 1976 the Musical, a story
told through the eyes of a young man who questions the responsibilities of
South African youth.
The FEDA Award winning play Eclipsed, written by Tony
Award nominee Danai Gurira, presented by St Mary’s School and the runner-up Born Naked, presented by
Lebone College, will be showcased at the National Lottery Fringe. Both
productions received rave reviews throughout the competition.
FROM PHYSICAL THEATRE
AND POETRY TO DANCE
Physical theatre piece Giftig (Matchbox Theatre
Collective) has recently returned from the Prague Fringe Festival. A
two-hander, it features Micia de Wet and 2012 Standard Bank Young Artist for
Dance, Bailey Snyman – who also choreographed this piece along with If These Bodies Could Speak.
Prince Lamla, another former winner of the Standard Bank Young Artist Award
(2013), directs To 4RM,
a piece workshopped with AFDA students to deliver a powerful presentation of
four harrowing life stories.
Grahamstown’s own Via Kasi Movers, top
10 finalists in the 2013 e.tv Step Up or Step Out dance competition, present Loxion Story: Umavusana,
and Rhodes Masters students present no less than three physical theatre
productions: I Am…
Dedanizizwe, Finding Upright and
Ga(y)me(n)Play.
Extended choreopoem, For Colored Girls Who Have Considered
Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf, is directed by Khutjo
Bakunzi-Green and Youth in Trust return to the Festival with the Standard Bank
Ovation Award winning piece, 1606,
which reflects on the events leading up to the 1976 Soweto Uprising.
Vibrant and energetic Pantsula dance
pieces will super-charge audiences at performances of The Best of Gauteng II ,
while Moving into Dance celebrates 38 years with the powerful production, ‘...feathers’, directed by
Mark Hawkins and a choreography team that includes Oscar Buthelezi.
Indigenous dance weaves through the
programme with The Isingqi Sakwa-Ntu Cultural Group exploring the process of
becoming a traditional healer in Intwaso.
The Kopano ke Matla Youth Group showcases Tswana dance and music in Ngwao Ya Rona and Nkwekhwezana Cultural Group celebrates
our shared destinies within our own cultures and traditions.
FOLLOW THE TUNE TO
CLASSICAL AND CONTEMPORARY
Classical performances on the National
Lottery Fringe include a concert by 16-year-old violinist, Neo Motsatse; the
Baobab Trio in concert; and performances by the Chisipite School Orchestra and
Afro-Jazz Ensemble from Zimbabwe. Choral enthusiasts are spoilt for choice with
the 100-voice Hoerskool Randburg / Horizons Project Choirs, the Seshego Choir
and the St Paul’s Choir, while six-voice mixed a cappella group, The Boulevard Harmonists,
return once more.
Contemporary music fans have a feast
of music to choose from with Bianca Wood, Blaqseed, Nombasa, Hatchetman and
Matthew van der Want on the bill. Not to be missed are Samthing Soweto, Msaki
and the Golden Circle, Poeticsoul, Guy Buttery, and Chris Chameleon.
The Fringe Club in the Steve Biko
Building will host a different band every hour between 11h00 to 20h00 every day
of the Festival. For just R30 cover charge festival-goers can grab a bite to
eat or have a drink while enjoying the best of the Festival music line-up.
Snippets from Fringe shows can be
enjoyed at the free SAfm
Sundowner Concerts in the Monument Foyer at 17h00 daily. All the
visual art exhibitions – of which there are more than 40 – are open free of charge
to the public and offer an astounding array of technique, talent and subject
matter.
Numerous shows on the Fringe offer
free and special discounts (marked in colour on the programme) and the Half
Price Hut announces a selection of shows that offer half-price tickets. Keep an
eye on the Festival newspaper Cue or enquire at the Box Office for specials and
Fringe updates. The daily Standard Bank Ovation Award nominations are also a
good indication of the critics’ favourites, and can tip a show to sold-out
within hours.
For up-to-the-minute news on tickets,
nominations and for audience shares on the best of the National Lottery Fringe
follow the hashtag #NAF16 on Facebook: www.facebook.com/nationalartsfestival;
Twitter: @artsfestival and Instagram:@nationalartsfestival
The programme can be downloaded from
the National Arts Festival website – click on the banner advert at the top of
this page.
The
National Arts Festival is grateful to the National Lotteries Commission, the
Department of Arts and Culture, Eastern Cape Provincial Government, M-Net and
Standard Bank of South Africa.
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