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Thursday, August 4, 2022

AMAWETHU FOR SAWAF


(Above: A striking moment from “Amawethu”. Pic by Val Adamson)

The Playhouse Company, an Agency of the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture, celebrates its annual SA Women’s Arts Festival in Durban’s Playhouse complex between August 2 and 13, 2022. Featuring a stellar roster of cultural icons, this lynchpin event on South Africa’s Women’s Month calendar has long been one of the flagships of the Company’s yearly Arts Plan.

“Over the years, our role in underlining the great value women bring to bear on all aspects of South Africa’s national life has become one which we cherish with pride,” says Lynda Bukhosini, Playhouse Company’s Chief Executive and Artistic Director. “This year, we have once again curated a programme for our SA Women’s Arts Festival audiences that highlights the gravitas, creativity and joy our women contribute to the well-being of our Society, not least through their wide-ranging impact on South Africa’s cultural landscape.”

The SA Women’s Arts Festival will see an enticing series of events and productions being presented in venues across The Playhouse complex. Headlining the Festival roster are three productions running in The Drama Theatre. These comprise a cutting-edge Dance programme of historic identity exploration, an A-list Gala Concert of Music and Song, and a dazzling evening of high-end Comedy.

Amawethu, the dance production, runs in the Drama Theatre on August 4 at 10h30, with repeat performances on August 5 at 10h30 and 18h30, and August 6 at 14h30 and 18h30. Choreographed by Luyanda Sidiya, this riveting piece features a troupe of ten dancers, accompanied by five musicians, on a quest to find their true identity as they portray a human a story that seeks to rectify, more so, to reclaim who we are as people who have been separated from our cultures and customs.

The production lays bare the distortions that predate the African slave trade that led us to believe that our own spirituality had a demonic, pagan, uncivilized, barbaric and godless origin.

Tickets R90 booked through WebTickets.