Deadline
for submissions: August 15, 2018.
For the second consecutive year, the
National Arts Festival's Student Festival was integrated into the Fringe,
giving students a realistic experience of performing at the Festival. This
year's work affirmed that students from across South Africa are grappling with
the politics of gender.
Motlatji Ditodi from the student advisory
panel said, “One student spoke about his experience of devising a play about
manhood and explained that he hadn't yet figured out what it means to be a man
in the 21st century, but that he knows it has something to do with being a
human first – this seemingly simple statement sums up the hope I have that
young artists are continuing to use theatre to wrestle with gender inequality."
Greg Homann added, "Almost all the
work we saw over the Festival tackles the issues of gender dynamics in
courageous and unflinching ways."
There were nine entries in total from
higher-learning institutions across the country. The work presented included
seven new works written and / or devised by students, one dance work, and one
adaptation of a world-drama classic into a South African context.
Only productions created by students were
eligible for the Student Festival awards but all the student theatre work was
eligible for Standard Bank Ovation Awards. Tracey Sunders from the Standard
Bank Ovations Committee said, "This year, the student work that was staged
alongside other Fringe productions held its own and a number of works presented
by recent alumni of tertiary institutions were deeply satisfying and highly
entertaining". The Dead Chant In
Death from Tshwane University of Technology was not eligible for a Student
Festival award but was acknowledged by winning a Standard Bank Ovation Award.
Love
In The Time Of Revolution (also not eligible for
Student Festival awards) from the Moving Assembly Project & Nelson Mandela
University Department of Arts, Culture, & Heritage and Devil At A Dead End from the University of the Witwatersrand which
both received a Standard Bank Ovation Encore Award which recognised the merit
and potential for these works to be developed further.
The Student Festival Awards went to -
Award for Best Ensemble: The Cast of Seeing Red from Rhodes University Drama
Department. This dynamic and impressive all-female-cast created a fictional
village of characters through which they explored social and cultural taboos
associated with the menstrual cycle.
Award for Best Director: Kashifa Sithole
for Devil At A Dead End from the
University of the Witwatersrand. This production used simple staging devices
and well-pitched performances to deliver a delicately crafted work that told
the moving story of a woman who is dealing with having been sexually assaulted
on a train.
Award for Best Production: Marose from The Market Theatre
Laboratory. Here a strong ensemble cast created a stylistically bold and
hard-hitting work that uncompromisingly asked the question, "What is a
man?"
Award for Best Stage Manager: Not awarded
in 2018
Award for Best Marketing & Publicity
for a Student Theatre Production: Not awarded in 2018
Special mention was also made of the design
of Lebitso, a work created by
students from AFDA Johannesburg and Østfold University College / Norwegian
Theatre Academy. These students collaborated to create a visually rich physical
theatre work.
The Student Festival’s advisory panel this
year was Motlatji Ditodi and Greg Homann, with additional input from Tracey
Saunders and Nobesuthu Rayi.
The 2019 National Arts Festival will take
place from June 27 to July 7, 2018.
The Call for Proposals for 2019 National
Arts Festival Main programme is now open. See this link for further details.
Deadline for submissions is August 15, 2018.
To link direct to the NAF site click on the
large banner that runs across the top of this blog or visit https://www.nationalartsfestival.co.za
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