(One
of John Meyer’s artworks: Mandela)
Booking for KZN’s premier arts
festival: the 26th annual Hilton Arts
Festival which will be hosted on the campus of Hilton College from September 14
to 16, 2018, has opened nationwide.
The festival invites the most interesting
offerings from the creative industries in South Africa: theatre; dance; comedy; musical theatre;
family theatre; classical music; music revue; big band and contemporary music;
visual art and crafts, as well as a series of mindscape lectures, events and discussions.
This year in honour of Mandela’s centenary
commemorations, the three-day event has a strong Mandela feel – two massive
outdoor exhibitions, the first being the thought provoking THINK bench
encouraging patrons to think differently. The second will be based outside the
Chapel: T.O.L.E.R.A.N.C.E is a monumental public art sculpture consisting of
nine letters in bronze by international artist Guy Ferrer. Inspired by the life
and character of Nelson Mandela, pianist, composer, arranger, Burton Naidoo has
transcribed some of Mandela’s most iconic speeches and created a musical
backdrop to them entitled Our Song.
Also, a collection of John Meyer’s artworks Mandela:
A Life’s Journey will be on display and making its second appearance at the
festival is the wonderful participative initiative, 67 Blankets for Mandela.
(Gideon
Lombard in “Die Reuk van Appels”)
Confirmed productions include as always a
much-anticipated programme of quality drama. Some of the highlights are: the
award-winning Die Reuk van Appels.
Gideon Lombard stars in this stage adaption of the acclaimed 1993 debut novel
by South African author Mark Behr, telling the coming-of-age story of Marnus
Erasmus, 11-year-old son of a South African Defence Force (SADF) General.
International award winning South African playwright, Mike van Graan's
brilliant drama Green Man Flashing is
a fast-paced political thriller written in a filmic style and features an all-star
cast; Suddenly the Storm written by and
starring the multiple award-winning, prolific playwright, Paul Slabolepszy,
Charmaine Weir-Smith and Renate Stuurman, it is directed by Bobby Heaney, and
boasts a stunning Greg King set design. Selwyn
& Gabriel by Richard Kaplan, is a magical modern mystery about two
strangers with secrets. Silkworm is a
2018 Standard Bank Ovation Award winner which weaves a beautiful cocoon around
reality, created and directed by Jenine Collocott, performed by Taryn Bennett. Narrative Dreams is a play written by
Lereko Mfono and directed by international award-winning director and actor,
Omphile Molusi.
(Bryan
Hiles in “Jakob”)
Jakob is an interesting mélange of mythology, folk tale and rural
narration exploring the life of an unusual little boy based on a short story by
lighting designer, Michael Taylor-Broderick, adapted for the stage by award
winning actress, Clare Mortimer, it stars Bryan Hiles and is directed by Michael
Taylor-Broderick. Similarly, The King of
Broken Things is a wild and magical excursion into the rehabilitation of
broken and discarded objects, hearts included. Written and conceived by Michael
Taylor-Broderick.
The
Ugly Noo Noo rocked the theatre world in 1988,
featuring the infamous Parktown Prawn. This version performed by physical
theatre actor, Mpilo ‘Straw’ Nzimande. You
Suck and Other Inescapable Truths
is an interdisciplinary play which tells the tale of the spirited misadventures
of a Grade 9 Afrikaans pupil/underdog, Prettina, and her crucial
survival-advice as a minority in an Anglophile high school.
For those in search of a laugh – there is
an extensive comedy line-up featuring the talents of John Vlismas, Rob van
Vuuren Aaron McIlroy, James Cairns, Jem Atkins, and Masood Boomgaard.
Mentalist, Brendon Peel makes his first appearance with his show Hocus Pocus at this year’s fest.
There is an extensive musical theatre line
up looking at the legends of Eric Clapton, Paul Simon, the Rat Pack, Frank
Sinatra, Bruce Springsteen and Miriam Makeba; as well as concerts looking at
love in its many guises and life as a performer.
(Chiffonnade)
An interesting piece for lovers of dance: Chiffonnade is a dance performance
specifically made for toddlers and young children, created by French
choreographer Michelle Dhallu of Carré Blanc Cie which has toured extensively
internationally. Also Ash and Brad Searle AKA The Big Boys with Vanessa Harris and friends are back with three
different dance-themed shows.
There is a particularly strong music
programme on offer this year. Other musical concerts include Classic Blast
presented by the KZN Youth Orchestra; The Drakensberg Boys Choir in Concert;
The KZN All Stars Big Band; A gypsy journey for voice and piano; Last Night of the Hilton Proms; The
Durban Symphonic Choir performing Dvorak Mass in D; concerts by Andrew
Warburton (solo piano and with a quartet); Myfanwy Price (oboe) and Liezl-Maret
Jacobs (piano); acoustic duos, Digby and the Lullaby; and Guy Buttery and
Kanada Narahari.
Recognising one of South Africa’s greatest
landscape artists, the Hilton Arts Festival will host a retrospective
exhibition of the works of Errol Boyley to honour him - 100 years after he was
born. The exhibition travels up from the Ramsgate Art and Books Festival to the
walls of the Normand Dunn Art Gallery in the main Grindrod Theatre at the
festival. This historic exhibition features a large body of work of
Pietermaritzburg born Errol Boyley and is simply titled, Boyley’s World.
There is a strong art feel this year. 100
artists’ work will be on display all around the festival grounds.
Other programme highlights include a talk
by Sonja Kruse, also known as 'The uBuntu Girl'; in conversation with
playwright and actor Paul Slabolepszy; and various talks on music by Richard
Haslop – who also appears in Michael Cross’s documentary, The Fun’s Not Over about the life and music of James Phillips.
Strauss & Co will be hosting fun and informative mock auctions; there will
be living art demos; Janet Solomon’s documentary on the plight of whales, Becoming Visible will be screened; a
workshop presented by Assitej facilitated by Lereko Mfono; the ever innovative
TWIST Theatre’s Novel to Script project will present variations on Hunger Eats a Man, and the annual
interactive murder mystery dinner this year is The Strange Case of the Beaujolais Venus.
There are two mini festivals embedded in
the main programme: The Jongosi Festival embedded in the main festival, takes
place on September 14, 2018, and has a specifically, carefully-selected
age-appropriate programme aimed at Grades 6 to 10 and Assitej hosts a programme
of theatre and creative projects for young audiences.
The 26th annual Hilton Arts Festival will
take place on the beautiful grounds of the Hilton College from September 14 to
16, 2018.
The festival would not be possible without
the generous support of Hilton College, Tiso Black Star, Grindrod Bank, Black
Coffee Design, DWR Distribution, Extreme Events, Bidvest Car Rental, KZN Dept
of Arts & Culture, Redlands Hotel, Assitej South Africa, Loud Crowd,
Sappi, BASA, Corona and Capital Media.
For more information, visit
http://www.hiltonfestival.co.za/ or like the Facebook page, Hilton Arts
Festival. Follow on Twitter @HiltonFest
All enquiries on 033 383 0126 / 7 or
tickets@hiltoncollege.com The full programme is on www.hiltonfestival.co.za and
programmes are now available from various outlets in Pietermaritzburg and
Durban
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