(Appearing in “Boy
Ntulikazi” are Thobani Nzuza & Nhlanhla Zondi)
The Playhouse Company will be supporting various theatre
practitioners to help them stage their work at the National Arts Festival in
Grahamstown from June 30 to July 10. The eight productions receiving support
will all be staged on the National Lottery Fringe at the Festival.
“We at The Playhouse Company strongly believe in supporting
artists and assisting them to showcase and develop their work in a professional
context,” said The Playhouse Company CEO and Artistic Director, Ms Linda
Bukhosini. “This is why we are supporting a number of artists to take their
work to the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown this year, a golden
opportunity to showcase their work to a national and international audience.
Before they leave for the Festival, we are also giving them the invaluable
opportunity of using the Playhouse as a platform to test out their works on
local audiences.”
Aspire Arts, an exciting new Durban-based theatre
organisation, is being supported for three productions: Denuded Thoughts, Boy Ntulikazi and Asazi.
Denuded Thoughts
is a new, daring and energetic play that tackles the problems faced by people
with mental problems. Written by Samantha Sameinstein Tobela and Wanda Zuma,
this fun, quirky and lively production focuses on a psychiatrist who is waiting
for patients to book consultations at his small, private practice. As it becomes apparent to him that potential
patients are not going to come, he starts talking to the audience. As the
conversation with the audience continues, he starts interacting with imaginary
characters who enter his office. These include a sexually-excited priest, a
suicidal and jittery drag queen, and a prisoner who holdsthe psychiatrist
hostage in his own rooms. All these characters are as engaging as they are
highly comical.
The second production is Boy
Ntulikazi, a one-hander written and performed by Thobane Nzuza and tells
the story of a young man kept in a mental hospital. As he sits on his hospital
bed, he tells the audience of how he went looking for his father and how
finding him changed him forever. The production did exceptionally well at the
UHURU festival in Wushwini, and took audiences on an exciting journey of
emotions and intrigue. Nzuza is a formidable stage performer with a powerful
stage presence. His finely-crafted physical performance is accompanied by live
music played by musical maestro, Nhlanhla Zondi.
Asazi, a new piece
of experimental theatre by the young writer, Mnqobi Msimamgu, sees Msimamgu
play an old man travelling through the desert with his grandson, played by
Anele Nene. The old man has left the so-called civilized world that he views as
corrupt. The production showcases the prowess of the performers who play these
two characters separated by two generation gaps. They use voice and body to
defy their real ages in creating a parable about not forgetting how insightful
old people are. This piece is suitable for schools and young audiences.
Umsindo Theatre Productions will present 10 Days in a Shebeen, a play written and
directed by twin brothers Musawenkosi Shabalala and Bongumusa Shabalala, and
starring Kwenza Ngcobo, Buhle Nkomo, Xolani Simelane and Nomusa Mzobo. Set in a
shebeen somewhere in Umlazi township, a shebeen queen narrates the story which
revolves around a young boy who, with his friends, plans to rob his father, the
father who left him, the father who never did anything for their family, the
rich father. They succeed in breaking into his safe, but end up killing him. In
a shebeen they are scared, fear rules them, they drown themselves in alcohol,
spending this blood money. Told through powerful monologue, with images playing
a pivotal role, the story sees the culprits turning on each other because of
conflict and greed.
The musical Maluju
Zulu will be presented by Isikhwili Creative Productions. An Afro-centric
tale of love, war and reconciliation, this celebration of Zulu culture focuses
on faction war (impiyombango) and tells its story through music, acting, poetry
and powerful Zulu dances. The word Maluju is usually said when an opponent wants
a ceasefire. Maluju Zulu is written and directed by Bonginkosi Shangase.
Eager Artists Productions, under the directorship of
playwright and director Jerry Pooe, will present 1976 Musical, which utilises multimedia, dance, music, poetry, hip
hop and monologues to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Soweto Uprising
in 1976 and to tell the story of the youth of then, and the youth of now.
Copy Dog will present Sweetie
Darling, a one-man stage comedy by multiple award-winning
playwright-director Clinton Marius (Lollipop
Lane, The Fantastical Flea Circus, B!*ch Stole My Doek) and starring
popular Durban actor, Bongani Mbatha. This romantic comedy about a young man who
goes all out to prove himself sees the performer set up a picnic in the park
for his sweetheart, while he recounts the ups and downs of his journey to
happiness. As he finds himself, and
love, he also finds his path to spiritual growth. Mbatha made his professional
debut in 2000, performing in The Playhouse Company’s New Stages production, Nomalizo by Bonginkosi Shangase.
Subsequent hits include, among others, the award-winning Maluju Zulu at the Market Theatre (2003), Ngicelauxolo (2008), Kudela Owawziyo
(2009), Sophiatown (2013), All Gone and Skungpoomery (2014).
The Playhouse Dance Residency/Phakama Dance Theatre will present
If The World Was Listening,
choreographed by Company member Sandile Mkhize. Through contemporary dance, the
dancers embark on a journey of discovery in an episodic-styled piece that is
based on the personal stories of the dancers, their transformations, hardships
and triumphs.
Six of the productions will be presented in the Playhouse
Cellar on June 24, and entrance is free. The performances are scheduled as
follows: 10h00: Sweetie Darling;
11h30: Boy Ntulikazi; 12h45: Asazi; 14h30: Denuded Thoughts; 15h50: 10
Days in a Shebeen; 17h15: Maluju
Zulu.
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