(Ben Voss & John van de Ruit appear in “Mamba
Republic”)
Arts and entertainment lovers should keep their
eyes peeled for a series of early booking opportunities for this year’s
National Arts Festival. For the first time, popular shows will enjoy a limited
release ahead of the May 9 online box office opening and full programme reveal.
This will allow Festival-goers a chance to secure some top shows and start
shaping their Festival experience. Details will be released on social media.
To date the Festival’s main programme has been
announced and fans are currently digesting numerous reasons to make 2017 a big
Festival year.
SERIOUS ABOUT COMEDY
The National Arts Festival is tearing up the
comedy stage this year, starting with international comedian Stephen K Amos on the opening
weekend. The globe-trotting laughter master will perform his new show World
Famous on July 2 and 3 only. Tickets are now available so
fans should grab them while they’re hot.
Together with the Brighton Fringe, the National
Arts Festival has brought It’s Only Birds to the 2017
Festival; Louise Reay’s trail-blazing
language experiment in non-verbal communication. “You’ll understand it but
won’t know why”, says Chinese-speaking Reay, who was recently won awards in
Brighton and at other World Fringe Alliance events in Adelaide and Edinburgh.
Home-grown talents John van de Ruit (Spud) and Ben Voss (Beauty Ramapelepele) are reunited for a
savagely funny look at all that is wrong with the ‘Rainbow Nation’ in Mamba
Republic. Topics such as fees must fall, state capture, online
dating, the economy, sport, technology, casual racism, an alternative national
anthem, and even the most unusual football match in living memory, are given
the once over by the duo. Succeeding its predecessors Green Mamba (2002)
and Black Mamba (2005), the show will run from July 2 to 8.
Trailing endless accolades and endorsements from
international festivals– including the Brighton and Cape Town Fringe 2016, the
UK’s The Pretend Men will present Police Cops; an action-packed hour
of adrenaline-fueled physical comedy, cinematic style and uncompromising facial
hair. Runs daily throughout the Festival.
There’s also the return of the ever popular Very
Big Comedy Show (July 5), a one-night only comedy gala evening,
produced and emcee’d by Rob van Vuuren.
This year’s show will include Loyiso
Gola, Tats Nkonzo, Mojak Lehoko, Alan Committie, Louise Reay, Nik Rabinowitz
and Virgil Prins. Expect to see plenty more exciting comedy reveals and
familiar names as the Fringe programme goes online.
MUSICAL GENIUS LIVE
It’s an exciting year for music on the
Festival’s Main stages as Featured Artist, Neo Muyanga, leads the charge through a programme filled with
tradition, innovation and experimentation.
Muyanga’s solo work, Solid(T)Ary Work,
promises a survey of the tradition of protest song in the global south: moving
swiftly between the chanted chorales of Soweto and Salvador to the laments
around the squares of Tahrir and Meskel, the presentation is a musical
contemplation of modes of resistance in a world hit by flux. Muyanga will also present a collection
of songs and music through a trio comprising Andre Swartz, Peter Ndlala and Eastern Cape-born artist Msaki.
Msaki, recently nominated
for a South African Music Award (SAMA), also performs with her band the Golden Circle in Platinumb
Heart, an exploration of trauma and its ability to ossify, alienate
and elude one into thinking one is coping. “The heart merely becomes numb as we
move on to the next #trending issue without a chance to mourn or the time to
heal,” says Msaki.
The Standard Bank
Young Artist for Music in 2017, Abel
Selaocoe, celebrates a much-anticipated return visit to South Africa
after an extended time spent playing on top international stages. Abel’s Festival offering will explore
the virtuosity of the cello and his diverse musicianship ranging from Debussy's
poetic and vivid Cello Sonata to James Macmillan's spiritual reflective
music - ending with foot stomping klezmer and African style inspired pieces.
Catch him on July 5 and 6 only.
Off the back of the release of their debut number
1 charting collaboration, Kahn Morbee
and Karen Zoid will
present one concert only (July 3) of We Could Be Divine their new
collaboration and a song writing process Kahn describes as “organic and effortless”. Festival audiences are
well advised to book now for what is sure to
be an early sell-out show.
Another Festival favourite is the Gala Concert; taking place on the
closing weekend of the Festival this year (July 8) it will feature the Cape Town Philharmonic, conducted by Richard Cock, with soloists Abel Selaocoe (cello) and Luis Magalhães (piano).
Double platinum selling a cappella group The Soil will present two
concerts on June 30 and July 1. Defined as ‘Kasi Soul’, their music is a blend
of contemporary township style and an eclectic mix of urban contemporary,
fusing beat box and soul. This show has been opened for limited bookings, visit
the box office to check
availability.
Ragtime Plus (July 1 & 2) is
an informative and highly accessible programme about ragtime music. Presented
in France and Switzerland to great audience and critical response, it’s an
ongoing and ever-evolving project, which changes as creator Liza Joubert finds different
pieces and new information to present to different audiences.
The debut production by the award-winning Charl du Plessis Trio, Baroqueswing, returns from sold-out
tours in Europe and the Far-East, to perform in a series of Grahamstown
concerts with famous melodies from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, Bach’s Air
on a G String and Musette and Minuet from Notenbüchlein für Anna
Magdalena, amongst others (June 29 and 30).
The Children’s Concert is a great way to introduce children to music and the
orchestra with a relaxed and interactive concert of popular classics and South
African favourites – children can meet the musicians in the National Youth Wind Orchestra, and a
few familiar (or unfamiliar) instruments. Catch it on July 7.
Another inspiration to children – and adults –
everywhere is Pendo Masote, a
13 year old violinist who will play with a small string ensemble. Born into a
richly musical environment, Pendo is
proof that classical music has a bright future. See him perform on June 29 and
30 and July 1.
Jimmy Nevis whose hit songs
include Elephant Shoes, Heart Boxing, Balloon, 7764, Misscato, All About It,
and his breakout new single Don’t Wanna Fight will perform on June 30 only.
A journey through time and place, exploring new
genres for the violin such as film and gaming music, is how Naomi Tagg describes Neolektra.
“I wanted to break away from classical ideas of the violin and to present it in
a light that was accessible to many more listeners than just the classical
world,” says Tagg. Made up of 5
string players, a DJ/synthesist and a percussionist, audiences can expect a
dramatic show that pushes boundaries, and disrupts ideas of where instruments
traditionally fit in. Two concerts only on July 3 and 4.
Together with the Standard Bank Jazz Festival,
the National Arts Festival 2017 presents Desmond and the Tutus and Opposite the Other in a double bill. Desmond and the Tutus have been
touring their infectious shape-shifting brand of kwela-indie-punk for just on
ten years. The band’s latest album Enjoy Yourself won the SAMA for Best
Rock Album in 2016. Other highlights on
the Jazz stage include Judith Sephuma,
James Morrison Quintet (Australia),
Estafest (Netherlands),
Michael Pipoquinha (Brazil), Marcus
Wyatt’s Bomb Shelter Beast, Africa
Mkhize and Kyle Shepherd among
others.
While front man Sam Burger has, over the past years, established a solid YouTube
following with over 200,000 hits, the band Opposite the Other was only founded in late 2015. Since then their
star has risen fast. Their performance at Rocking the Daisies 2016 saw them
voted one of the Top 20 acts at the festival and their first single Ride
Away organically reached the Top 10 on the Spotify Global Viral 50 Chart
(peaking at #8). Notably, it also made its way into the Top 10 in the US and
Top 5 in both Australia and New Zealand.
The double bill with Opposite the Other is on June 29, whilst Desmond and the Tutus play their own gig on June 30.
Early bird shows now open for booking can be
found at https://www.nationalartsfestival.co.za/events/
The National Arts Festival is grateful to: the
Department of Arts and Culture, Eastern Cape Department of Sports, Recreation,
Arts and Culture and the Office of the Premier, and Standard Bank of South
Africa. Media partners include MNET and City Press.
NB: To link direct to the NAF site click on the large banner that runs
across the top of this blog
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