(Gold Standard Bank Ovation
Award winners and panel)
(Pic by Jan Potgieter)
With more than 100 productions premiering on the Fringe at
the 2018 National Arts Festival, this year’s winners of the Standard Bank
Ovation Awards have emerged as being among the best of the best. The awards
recognise stand-out performances, innovation as well as successful challenges
to the boundaries of creativity and were announced at a ceremony at the
National Arts Festival on Saturday night (July 7, 2018).
“From the solo performers, carrying their set in a hold-all,
to the epic four-dozen strong cast of the Amandla Danca Teatro ZA company for Emathongeni, with their van laden with
instruments and costumes, the Fringe had it all and continues to be the largest
platform in South Africa for artists to share their wealth of talent and
audiences to bask in the magic and wonder of it all,” says Tracey Saunders,
convenor of this year’s awards.
Because of the emphasis on excellence, the Ovation Awards
help audiences – and producers – to identify quality work on the Fringe. The
awards also act as a bridge between the Fringe and the Main programme, with all
winning productions invited to put forward proposals for the Arena programme.
Saunders works with a panel who, between them, see almost
every new production on the Festival Fringe. “As has been evident in recent
years, the Fringe reflects the zeitgeist of the nation and one was left with
very little doubt that we are a country reeling under the tyranny of male
violence and sexual assault. Theatre and even dance productions addressed these
themes, some more successfully than others. There were those who simply
mirrored our society back at us, an uncomfortable experience for 60 minutes in
a darkened theatre. Others presented causes, motives and possible solutions and
one walked out of the venue with a faint glimmer of hope.”
Since the awards’ inception in 2010, there have been 167
Standard Bank Ovations awarded, with the majority of those – 105, in fact –
being for theatre. A total of 57 Silver awards and only 17 Golds have been
awarded.
This year’s Gold Ovation Winners reflect the success of art
forms that fall outside the traditional definitions of theatre, says Saunders.
In J Bobs Live, Jefferson
Tshabalala presents “a game show style, interactive, hilarious and
thought-provoking event, which encourages self-reflection and a deeper
appreciation of the challenges that South Africans face”.
Medumo Ya Borwa celebrated
the history of the monarchy in a feast of song and dance with an aesthetic that
made use of South African traditional attire, and Sullied, which although primarily a dance piece, wove poetry and spoken
word in between the carefully choreographed movements, stitched with pain and
wrapped in kangas.
“One of the characteristics of work that struck a nerve was
that it wasn’t presented exclusively in English. Xhosa, Pedi, Sotho, Tswana,”
says Saunders. “Each and every one of the official languages resonated across
the stages and if you were looking for a whirlwind tour through the regions of
South Africa, a ticket on the Fringe would have guaranteed you that.”
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 .
“While awards are essentially a subjective measure of an art
form which is essentially immeasurable, they are not infallible. But given the
continued success of various award winners over the years, the Ovations are as
a reliable predictor as any of who and what to watch.”
Gold Standard Bank Ovation Award
winners:
Medumo Ya Borwa (The
best African Song and Dance thriller)
J. Bobs Live: Off The
Record – Jefferson Tshabalala
Sullied –
Kirsti-Leigh Gresse
Silver Standard Bank Ovation Award
winners
Blue Period Of Milton
Van Der Spuy – Hexagon Theatre
The Revlon Girl –
Search for Productions
Emathongeni –
Amandla Dança Teatro ZA
Marene – Marene
Hachetman
Standard Bank Ovation Winners
Andy Ndlazilwana
Deceptive Delights
With Stuart Lightbody – Stuart Lightbody
Duo KP
Gary Thomas: Moodship
– Gary Thomas
Gaslight – Laine
Butler
I’m HIV And Living
– Thando Mbulelo Mbanjwa
Letters With Ma’Sisulu
– FMA-Neo Motsatse
Medusa Incarnate –
Kate Pinchuck in collaboration with The Furies
Nomabotwe Sings
Phokwane Chronicles
– Galeshewe Theatre Organisation
Sainthood –
Tiisetso Mashifane wa Noni
Silkworm –
Contagious
The Dead Chant In
Death – Tshwane University of Technology
The Island –
Paxinos Productions & CYBTT
Tswalo –
Theatreduo
Unono Obuyile –
Lumunyano Dance Group
ENCORE AWARDS
Standard Bank Ovation Encore Awards recognise merit and potential
in works that can be developed.
Best Friends/Worst
Enemies
Choir Boy
Ingoma
Lift Club
Love In The Time Of
Revolution
Motswadi
New Year’s Resolution
Satanic Dagga Orgy
Udaka
Merit
Devils At A Dead End
OVATIONS PANEL 2018
The festival thanks the judges of the 2018 panel for the
time, dedication and robust debate: Tracey Saunders (convenor), Alon Nashman,
Amelda Brand, Andrew Mulenga, Gopala Davies, Greg MacArthur, Hugo Theart,
Kiroshan Naidoo, Lesego Chauke, Luvuyo Yanta, Marcus Desando, Motlatji Ditodi,
Namisa Mdlalose, Octavian Siau, Phemelo Helleman, Rafiek Mammon, Reggie
Danster, Temba Ncetani and Thulani Nongogo.
Previous winners of The Standard Bank Ovations include:
2018 Featured Artist Mamela Nyamza – Okutya Phantsi Kwempumlo/The Meal (2012)
2018 Standard Bank Young Artist for Music Guy Buttery – Gold
Ovation Award (2010), plus five Ovation Awards
2018 Standard Bank Young Artist for Theatre Jemma Kahn – Two
Silver Awards (The Epicene Butcher and
Other Stories for Consenting Adults in 2012; We Didn’t Come to Hell for the Croissants: 7 Deadly New Stories in
2015)
Gavin Krastin (#OMNOMNOM)
Artscape Theatre – fifteen productions; one in partnership
Kalk Bay Theatre – seven, including four in partnership
ExploSIV Productions – six, with one in partnership
FORWARD TO #NAF19
The 2019 National Arts Festival will take place from 27 June
to 7 July.
The Call for Proposals for 2019 National Arts Festival Main
programme is now open.
See https://www.nationalartsfestival.co.za/2019-festival/naf19-call-for-proposals/
Deadline for submissions is August 15, 2018.
To link direct to the National Arts Festival site click on
the large banner that runs across the top of this blog or visit www.nationalartsfestival.co.za
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Twitter: @artsfestival or Instagram
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