(A
scene from “Ukuzinza”)
The Playhouse Company’s 2018 New Stages
season features a heady mix of arts genres, running in the Playhouse complex
between May 16 and 27, 2018.
“The annual New Stages Festivals presented
by the Playhouse Company have long offered front-line entertainment for our
various audiences, as well as providing exciting performance opportunities for
the wide range of artists who get appear on our stages,” said Linda Bukhosini,
the Company’s Chief Executive and Artistic Director. “In curating the festival
roster each year, we are mindful of the brief we hold as an Agency of the
Department of Arts and Culture, to uphold our obligation with regard to
contributing towards a healthy nation building ethic, and to follow principles
that encourage social cohesion through the shows we present to our public.”
Touch
My Blood
A mainstage production on this year’s
Playhouse Company New Stages roster is Touch
My Blood. Part of The Playhouse Company Actors’ Studio incubation programme
and directed by Matjamela Motloung, this plays in The Grand Foyer from May 16
to 20. The work focuses on a tale of a young man growing up in Hammarsdale
Township, just outside Durban. Through him we are taken back to the vibrant 80’s
– when every young man worth his salt had the Afro, the bell-bottom trousers
and platform shoes that went alongside a time of fear and madness, and the
division (both political and radical) that shook that part of Durban. Touch My Blood allows you to heal; it
rewinds the tape, allowing you to witness some of what happened in South
Africa. You are not only left with anger but shake your head and laugh.
Ukuzinza
It is said that when you are born in
Africa, Africa is born in you. A continent of great promises, it is the place
where we can be ourselves and the place where we can remake ourselves in the
image of our dreams, Africa. It is a land full of rich culture, traditions,
beliefs and hopes. Africa is our home. This is the premise that underpins Ukuzinza, an in-house Playhouse Company
production created as part of the Playhouse Dance Residency programme.
Choreographed by Mzo Gasa, it runs in the Playhouse Drama Theatre from May 23
to 27, 2018.
Whistle
Stop
Playing in The Loft from May 24 to 27,
2018, is the two-hander Whistle Stop.
Under the meticulous direction of Frances Slabolepszy, it features the
award-winning duo and real-life couple Ameera Patel and Jaques de Silva who
unpack the dynamics of a single meeting between a man and a woman on a park
bench. Conceived as a tribute to the work of the legendary British playwright
and actor Steven Berkoff, the piece sensitively and charmingly explores modern
urban relationships. Through a combination of cutting, rapid-fire dialogue and
intense physical embodiment, the text explodes off the stage and takes the
audience on a comedic rollercoaster ride through past, present, and future
possible relationship dilemmas.
Dialogue:
Disrupting Patriarchy
A Dialogue session focusing on the theme Disrupting Patriarchy takes place in the
Playhouse Drama theatre on May 25, 2018, at 12h00. To understand and challenge
the ways in which patriarchy (male dominance) privileges males and
disadvantages females, this session aims to stimulate a debate examining how
men and woman in relationships and work places, as well as boys and girls in
schools and higher education, engage with each other in these spaces, but are
polarized in so many ways. Chaired by UKZN Gender Education Specialist, Dr
Bronwynne Anderson, the panel will include: Ubuntu Community Chest Social
Worker, Zama Mabaso; UKZN Masters Student, Nkonzo Mkhize, a Research Assistant
at the Centre for Visual Methodologies for Social Change; Wendy Augustine, a
Trauma Councillor at the Victim Friendly Centre; Pinkie Mtshali, Music Director
at Emmanuel Cathedral; and Mduduzi Majola of the South African Police Force.
New
Stages Fringe
The Playhouse Company’s 2018 New Stages
Fringe comprises eight community theatre productions playing in The Loft. On May
11 and 12, 2018, at 12h00, the first of four double-bills features Lost Bundle and The Last Chapter. A drama performed by Intuba Arts Development
group, Lost Bundle revolves around
the trials a young woman who lives with her disabled mother. iThubalabasha
Theatre Company’s The Last Chapter is
a coming-of-age story about an 18-year old youth facing his father’s spiritual
legacy.
The second double bill, comprising shows
titled My Journey and World, plays on May 11 and 12, 2018, at
15h00. Performed by the Siyathuthuka group, My
Journey depicts a girl who grows up not knowing her identity but knowing
her dreams. World, an Edgy Drama Mix
Production, depicts challenges youth face growing up in a harsh environment.
The third double bill plays on the Fringe
on May 18 and 19, 2018, at 12h00. This features The Secret Box and Umsuka.
The Secret Box, an Unyezi theatre
project, depicts two people trapped in the walls of hope, while aiming to
confess what they have done in the past. Umsuka,
a Siwela Sonke dance piece told through powerful movement, music and images,
tackles the issue of old family secrets when the new generation starts
questioning.
The final double bill is to be seen on the
Fringe on May 18 and 19, 2018, at 15h00 and includes Ubambo Lwami and I Married My
Father. Ubambo Lwami, a Phakama
Dance Theatre production presents three characters struggling to stay open-minded
as they face what is foreign to them; I
Married My Father, performed by Dannhauser Active Rural Women Ensemble,
portrays a young woman whose chance of happiness is compromised by her mother’s
involvement with a married man.
Africa
aLive: Pop-up Fashion Installation
Curated by Creative Director Derrick
Mhlongo, Africa aLive: Pop-up Fashion Installation will showcase a high-end
couture extravaganza of “A” List South African designers. This runs on May 26,
2018, from 17h00 to 17h45 in the Grand Foyer. By way of a sneak preview to the
event, Pop Up stalls with Mannequins will be set up in the Main Foyer on May 25
from 16h00.
New Stages 2018 also features a series of
arts and crafts exhibitions in the Main Foyer, with openings on May 11 and 12,
May 18, 19 and 20 and again on May 24 and 25.
Complementing the festival line-up are a
Test Drive session on May 25 at 10h00 where upcoming local bands get to show
their paces: a Sundowners concerts on May 25 at 17h00 for established bands,
and another Sundowner’s concert on May 26 at 17h00 for established bands and
poets.
For further particulars, booking details
and performance times with regard to all New Stages shows, log onto
www.playhousecompany.com or call 031 369 9540 (office hours).
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