COVID OPINION PIECE FOCUSING ON THE ARTS FROM DEBORAH LUTGE

(This article was revised on April 30, 2020)

Submitted by Durban University of Technology Drama and Production Studies HoD, Prof Deborah Arlene Lutge

From ivory tower education to entrepreneurial roots to alleviate poverty and unemployment through an idealistic “I have a dream…” methodology.

The dilemma in academia during the South African Covid-19 national lockdown inevitable lies in the institutional confusion determined not by the lack of policies and procedures but primarily by the lack of precedent. Nothing now relates to business as usual. As CEO of the Gauteng Market Theatre Ismail Mahomed said in an April 22, 2020 email to me: There is a need “to re-imagine” the reconfiguration of our futures. He adds: “In our time of despondency, despair and confusion it is from idealism that we may find some direction”.

Politics and economics have become key features in all aspects of industry and reach far into an educational system struggling to bridge historically inherent economic distress and the politics of educational inclusion in respect of those traditionally socially excluded from the privileges associated with ‘ivory tower’ education, namely: in respect of access to technology, devices and data. Therefore South Africa finds itself at an educational cross roads dictated by four pathways.

First it is important to understand the percentage of the student population with NSFAS funding and the percentage of this funding allocated to educational resources that may not in the present COVID-19 situation facilitate long-term sustainable internet access. Second it is imperative that we test transitional pedagogy in the transfer of practice-led arts campuses to remote learning virtual channels and platforms by retraining staff and students during a year of uncertainty and possible continual rescheduling with the promise of a 50% unemployment rate and a final Higher Education year that is less than satisfactory for the student who opted to learn via a completely different contact methodology. Third it is necessary to consider how residences, formerly representative of improved learning environments for many South African students, as isolation rather than communal living spaces, presuppose possible mini COVID-19 epicentres as in the current situation the prevention of visits home is untenable. Proposing family separation at a time of crisis becomes an isolation crisis of inhumane proportions rather than a distancing tool requiring resolution. Finally the possibility of a suspended year with government projects employing students under retiree mentorship, offers a gap year in order to guide the building of sustainable cities ‘for the people, by the people’. These cities potentially provide employment, alleviation of poverty, ownership of the future, achievement with dignity, industry with reward, and finally a working environments for all by building a Covid-19 city where co-conspirators, the potentially unemployed and an already poverty driven informal settlements work to uplift communities.

As an academic practitioner, engaging in conservatory-styled training in ‘live performance and theatre directing’, this opinion piece is framed as the final idealistic proposal/pathway, and thus it is in the transmutation from shanty to mini metropolis in which I invest my argument. Students that are living in cramped environments with unemployed family, frustrated by their inability to access university communiques, teaching and learning; accompanied by the struggle to afford to feed whole families on NSFAS loans, keep abreast of fast paced technology affecting future employment possibilities; and the challenge of bridging two worlds that levy unparalleled economic demands and urgent academic stresses, may find this option potentially life changing in that it allows for a positive option, driven by the promise of a regenerated future.

One of the detracting features of current sustainable cities is that high rise buildings are built with little consultation. Further inhabitants are provided with no skills development or socializing context that would allow for a deeper understanding of the functional needs, responsibilities and invested accountability of full communal engagement. The end result therefore does not equip the end user to become a positive, invested, contributing citizen, readjusted to accept a future derived from the final legacy of this community re-making. If the three biggest elephants in the room are unemployment and poverty and property then this proposed model addresses all three.   

In 2007 Dr. Kenneth Netshiombo our former FAD Executive Dean requested consideration be given to teaching classes in Lesotho. As my field is ‘live performance’ and there was at that time no equivalent Department at the Lesotho University with which the exchange was proposed, I looked further and found what I thought to be the closest link in a course in civilizations offered by the Humanities Faculty. This was the catalyst to begin thinking in terms of the effective governance in the ancient Greek polis studied in Drama History with its confined population numbers, responsible citizenry, and effective community engagement. This connection brought with it at the time notions on how disenfranchised environments could be positively impacted via an eco-friendly sustainable polis facilitating and facilitated by emerging research, and how a community after the initial development might ‘pay it forward’ ad infinitum to the next informal shanty town occupants, who would in turn ‘pay it forward’ in the same manner.

So my first thought was what would a city polis need? A small town municipality in charge of infrastructure affecting light, water, rates; schools; a bank; protection or policing to apply polis community rules; a clinic; a community arts centre catering to after-hours homework prep, extramural activities and aftercare facilities; IT experts assisting with access problems, call centres and laboratories; a civil and family court advocating a justice system; a mall or business centre focused on African entrepreneurship with an innovation centre and offices for professional accountants, architects, lawyers, medical practitioners, insurers, etc.; a hardware warehouse with offices above it for a plumber, a repairman/builders; a park or garden centre dealing with florists, botanists, gardeners and nature lovers; a small enterprises park housing crafts and markets at the very least.

Second, how will this enterprise prove empowering? In The Great Depression roads such as the Durban esplanade were built by qualified professionals so if we combined the drive of those paid to use their newly acquired qualifications, seasoned retired experts, those in tertiary training and those willing to work, evolve and develop skills for a permanent place in the polis, then this combination may well be the collaborative jelly. Recent surveys have highlighted high unemployment rates in graduates. So is there a logical solution offered in career guidance testing with an initial questionnaire to ascertain the interests and potential areas of individual development needed or the appropriate polis training required, thus enabling informal sector inhabitants to be assigned to the appropriate skills development teams? A marginalised economically disempowered community, working under retired town planners, town engineers, business magnets, and educators, facilitated by students and graduates training or trained in these areas, would thus be trained to lay out the infrastructure of the polis assisted by retirees and research departments. The community may consult on the architectural framework of the polis which may be: Ndebele designed buildings with flat roof gardens; or comprised of contemporary concrete glass and chrome frameworks; or embrace an African Kingdom polis resplendent with columns of large tusks and metal wild life sculptures of rusted tin. The untrained builders, plumbers, electricians, carpenters and artisans would learn a trade under retired previously registered Master Builders, craftsmen and artisans. Further, registered SABS approved plumbers and electricians would train informal sector workers in laying down polis sewerage works and systems, polis electrical infrastructure, with construction teams building brick or concrete factories - perhaps made from reconstituted plastic bricks as well as constructing residential developments, buildings and hardware stores  - all built with experts specializing in waste materials and repurposed products. Some of the marginalized informal community would then be assigned to learning tools related to building this sustainable eco-friendly polis from the ground up, embracing fields such as architectural design centred on reconstituted waste materials or learning bricklaying skills with plastic bricks or how to fit electrical wiring. This could include areas from laying pipes to water distribution and redistribution, from becoming plasterers and painters with a knowledge of eco-friendly materials, to eco-farmers accessing communal gardens or individual roof-top gardens. In this eco-focused polis garbage collection sites would become repurposing sorting sites for say interior designers creating design notions informed by economic viability and environmentally sustainable considerations and fertilizer bagging companies would collect door to door using residential earthworm farms from which to create export fertilizing businesses – therefore all areas would run through environmentally friendly wind driven, solar powered, cost effective options: an example of which would be trash collection incorporating municipal delivery to recycling plants and residential worm farms where scraps would be collected in blocks and turned into a creative produce for a fertilizer bagging company rather than employing current quick fixes by dumping waste in landfill sites. A further field would train a group of financiers and accountants or bookkeepers to address production costs and balancing of the polis books who might later be assigned to municipalities, banks and business help-centres.

How would this be funded? The government after securing appropriate land would fund the initial project by paying trainees and learners a living stipend to turn zones of unemployment and poverty into a thriving, motivated, eco-friendly mini metropolis with an employed populace filled with dignity and respect, as these learners would be training a created job market in order to pay forward to the next informal settlements’ inhabitants, through the skills learned under the guidance of the original trainers and researchers assigned. Thereafter the initial incubator polis would make a living from operations conducted within the polis, contributing as rate payers to a mini-municipality and as tax payers to a national economy. How would the polis function with the initial trainers withdrawn? The community would vote in their experienced police chief, qualified judge, trained municipality workers and schools governing bodies for 5 years with re-election possible every five years so as to hold leaders accountable to the people they serve, minimize corruption, reinforce community-centred interactive ownership of the polis, and ensure sustainability.

How would community based organization facilitate the polis? Community Arts Centres would house galleries, private arts studios, theatre and sports complexes and facilities, school rooms and laboratories so once pupils finished schools eco-friendly transport would collect children and drop them at the Centre where homework would be completed under qualified teaching assistants. Thereafter pupils would select from a wide range of activities or classes offered in any of the following areas, including: sports; dance; theatre; fine arts; crafts learning hobbies; IT labs; etc. in order to fill in the rest of the afternoon until home-time when parents are transported through this same tram transport system to collection points for each activity. Once a semester the centre would hold a parent weekend to showcase work covered and keep the affirmation of the youth entrenched. This means parents do not worry about children while at work. The arts centre provides a structured activity academy, manned or controlled by graduates in the arts, sports and other fields. This might also house a mini clinic with graduates from medical fields to ensure safety for young people. Further graduates would be assigned to facilitate these community centres or health facilities, while engineering, science, and IT specialists as well as commerce students assist in annual municipal upgrades and in small business centres, malls, hospitals, banks etc. facilitating new applications and developments or driving youth programs in the Community Centre once at the end of tertiary training. This proposal enables people to return to their communities with the latest information and serve in these communities as a conscripted national service where graduates work for a stipend with the rest of the government pay-package used to pay back the student loans. After this initial undergraduate tertiary qualification the interns after a year of national service in their communities, would be free to study further or enter the appropriate field as a taxpaying citizens free to move nationally wherever employment calls. The polis would be surrounded by a ring road with taxi ranks catered for at points in the ring road, however internally there would only be eco-friendly transport that is offered free by the municipality who earn their wages from the polis tax compiled through monthly rates.

In this short opinion piece we have merely skimmed the surface of all the possibilities from international research funding and contributions from wealthier corporate bodies with a perceived conscience. It is my hope that thirteen years after the initiating idea and breakdown, this paper will prove as interesting to read as it was to conceptualize back then. Perhaps the notion of shelving 2020 while working on a productive proposal such as this might go a long way to moving forward a more equitable South African society. The past is gone. Long live the future.

Professor Deborah Arlene Lutge - HoD, Durban University of Technology Drama and Production Studies.

BILLY SUTER Q & A WITH FRANK GRAHAM

(Article courtesy of SoSuterBill - https://sosuterbill.com/2020/04/22/radio-teaching-accents-trains/)

Billy Suter chats to seasoned Durban radio and stage performer Frank Graham about his fun solo show, The Golden Days of Springbok Radio, in which he reminisces about his heyday on air. The fun show glances back at everyone from Inspector Carr and Sir Gregory Pitkin to Mildred Murfin and Humbert, Lolita Snetherswaite, Able Seaman Johnson, Percy Snodgrass and Kenneth Wibley.

It is now available for online screening to raise funds, during this time of the Coronovirus, for Graham and Durban’s Rhumbelow Theatre, where the show was staged to great success. For details on how to be provided the online streaming link for the show, for a minimum donation of R100 per person watching, call Roland at 082 449 8636 or mail roland@stansell.co.za.

WHAT CAN RADIO FANS EXPECT FROM YOUR SHOW?

A welter of anecdotes about radio personalities and programmes, peppered with a variety of soundclips of well-known voices and well-remembered signature tunes.

WHERE HAVE YOU PERFORMED THIS PRODUCTION?

The show has been performed several times at the Rhumbelow Theatre in Durban, Maritzburg and Umkomaas. It was also a popular feature in 2015 and 2016 at the Knysna Arts Festival.

WHERE AND WHEN WERE YOU BORN – AND HOW DID YOU GET INTO RADIO?

I was born on November 3, at the Florence Nightingale in Hillbrow, Johannesburg, and lived in Rivonia, north of the city, until I was 16… when my dad was transferred to Durban. I had my last two years of schooling here, followed by three years at Durban Teachers’ Training College.

Three-and-a-half years into teaching at Northlands Boys’ High School I was invited by friends to accompany them to a recording of Men From the Ministry. I was transported and instantly felt an ache to be part of it all. Tom Meehan advised me to go to a formal English Service audition and I got in.

WHAT MARKED YOUR FIRST BIG BREAK ON RADIO – AND HOW DID IT HAPPEN?

I had only done one play for the English Service when I got a call from Tom Meehan saying he had something for me.

He was starting his second comedy on Springbok and wanted me for one of the principals. This was an exciting leap of faith because I’d never done anything for him before.

The other members of that cast, from whom I learnt so much down the years and who were destined to become much-loved friends, were Tommy Read, Maureen Adair and Margaret Logan, with Tom himself making an occasional appearance as the vicar.

(Right: Blast from the past… Frank Graham in his heyday on Springbok Radio)

It was absolutely the right time for me to get into radio as an actor. The prospect of TV starting in this country in about four years time led the big studios in Johannesburg losing a certain amount of interest in Springbok and, as slots became available, Durban snatched a lot of new time.

Towards the end of 1971, the Meehans were suddenly doing Friends and Neighbours and then, in 1972, The Navy Lark – and I was a full member of cast in both.

The one programme which gnawingly stayed out of reach was Men from the Ministry – but that changed when Pat Simpson suddenly died mid-year… and I was in. A hugely heady, exciting time!

GIVE SOME IDEA OF THE MANY VARIOUS SHOWS AND CHARACTERS YOU HAVE PLAYED ON AIR OVER THE YEARS  – AND WHAT HAS BEEN A PERSONAL HIGHLIGHT?

Far too many for me to be able to recall, but I was involved in every comedy that Tom and his son, Barry Meehan (known on air as Brian Squires), ever produced.

In only one did I ever get to play the lead because I was of far more use to them as a character actor, using different voices and accents – sometimes playing three or four characters in one show. My record was seven in an episode of Friends and Neighbours. That was what I loved doing best.

Oddly, perhaps, my radio highlight was on Radio South Africa in a Don Ridgway-produced programme called Short Story. Don used me to read stories in which there were characters, and I did all the voices and accents of the characters in them. I received a lot of compliments for my efforts and it felt very good!

WHAT  MARKED YOUR LAST TIME ON RADIO? AND WHAT MEMORIES OF THAT EXPERIENCE?

It was probably the last recording of Men from the Ministry, though I don’t really remember. There are no particular memories because it was just more of the same. But it was a poignant time.

WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR MOST EMBARRASSING AND/OR AMUSING MOMENT ON AIR?

At first I found reading the News on Radio Port Natal a very definite strain; my nerves were shattered because, of course, it was live. I remember pronouncing the Afrikaans word “nuus” as “nuis” and I cringed at that. It got easier!

The most amusing incidents never happened on air – there were plenty of them because they were all recorded and mistakes could be edited out.

In a heavyweight, one-and-a -half-hour production, a play on the life of Christ, we were moving towards the finale… and we were all exhausted, no-one more than the actor playing Christ.

As he was laboriously hauling that enormous cross up to Calvary, he loudly broke wind – and the tension was gone. We roared!

WHAT ARE YOUR VIEWS OF RADIO SHOWS AND PRESENTERS TODAY?

There are no shows like ours anymore. Radio drama died after 1994/5 with some drama coming from Johannesburg but none in Durban.

To me, today’s presenters are a disgrace. There are no standards anymore, and the accents and pronunciations are appalling. I have always been very conservative on this point. No-one who can’t speak English properly should be allowed anywhere near a public microphone.

TELL ME ABOUT YOUR TEACHING – WHERE AND WHEN, WHAT DID YOU TEACH?

I only ever had one posting – to Northlands Boys’ High School in Durban North, where I stayed 17-and-a-half years before resigning. I was burnt out.

I turned to an enlarged radio career – because I was then available during the day – as well as cabaret; my comedy gigs taking me all over the country.  Later came films, TV and stage.

(Left: Frank Graham when he was a popular cast member of Springbok Radio’s “Men from the Ministry”)

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN A STAGE ACTOR – AND WHAT HAVE BEEN HIGHLIGHTS FOR YOU?

My first show was in Durban’s Playhouse Cellar, where we did British Music Hall. Great fun.

After that came Amadeus, Cinderella (great fun again, but exhausting because of all of the running around in heavy costumes), Charley’s Aunt, Fiddler on the Roof, My Fair Lady (two productions) West Side Story and, most recently, The Sound of Music – all at the Playhouse.

I also took part in two productions of The Guitar that Rocked the World at the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre, and appeared in Boogie Wonderland at the Barnyard, Gateway.

WHAT WERE THE MOST RECENT STAGE SHOWS YOU WERE IN?

West Side Story (2013) and The Sound of Music (2016). My favourite stage role ever was as Colonel Pickering in the 2006 production of My Fair Lady. I had a ball, and have never had so many nice things said about me on stage.

TELL ME ABOUT YOUR LONGTIME HOBBY REGARDING MODEL TRAINS.

I’ve loved trains all my life. I started collecting in about 1989 and have never stopped.

I purchased the apartment opposite the one I live in and, with considerable help, started building a huge layout (it must be about 65m²) which runs through three rooms.

The emphasis has always been the finest detail and it gives me great pleasure. Pure therapy.

WHAT PLANS FOR THE REST OF THIS YEAR – AND BEYOND?

Apart from another showing of The Golden Days of Springbok Radio at Tina’s up in Kloof, nothing. There’s not a lot available for an actor in his 70s. I take it as it comes and give it my best shot.

WHAT FIVE WORDS BEST DESCRIBE YOU?

Loving, loyal, neurotic, impatient – and pedantic, when it comes to spoken and written English.

WHAT ARE FIVE THINGS ABOUT YOURSELF (HOWEVER TRIVIAL) THAT PEOPLE ARE UNLIKELY TO KNOW?

I am a first-generation South African… and for many years I wore a hairpiece (oh, the vanity of the young actor, appalled at what was happening to his scalp! I hated the thing and was glad to get shot of it).

I hated Durban for the first five years (several reasons) and only settled down when I started teaching.

Outside of the Durban North community it is not widely known that, though I studied to teach English and History, I taught nothing but Afrikaans for which, not unreasonably, I’m proud to tell you, I gained a good reputation.

I have a tiny family: just one cousin and her four offspring.

THE MOST FAMOUS PERSON YOU HAVE MET  – AND WHO WOULD YOU GIVE GOLD TO MEET?

The most highly profiled – big deal! – was probably David Hasselhoff (Knight Rider). All the people I’d really love to have met are no longer with us: Laurence Olivier and others. But, I guess: Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Tom Cruise and the Queen, of whom I am a big admirer.

WHAT FIVE THINGS WOULD YOU LIST UNDER ‘VASTLY OVERRATED’?

Celebrity, reality TV (I hate it), some “arty” films and modern music (what passes for music). Also, modern stand-up comedy, so much of which involves people screeching and going frantic on stage, and finding something funny in snot or abortions (I’ve heard ’em).

WHAT HAS BEEN THE MOST SURPRISING THING SOMEONE HAS SAID OF YOU?

Actor-director Themi Venturas once said to me a number of years ago: “What I like about you (as an actor) is that you get on with it”. He meant that I didn’t need to be directed every inch of the way. I have the courage to improvise, change scripts (not always appreciated) and generally solve my own problems.

WHAT IS THE WORST TROUBLE YOU HAVE EVER BEEN IN?

I can honestly say I never have been in any trouble of note. I got crapped on by a production manager of a TV serial for sneaking home to Durban over a weekend, but it was a storm in a teapot.

(Right: Frank Graham today)

THE MOST FRIGHTENING THING THAT EVER HAPPENED TO YOU?

Being stopped at a road block when I was over the limit… but relief was instant. One of the cops pushed back his helmet and said: “Hello, Mr Graham! Thank you… on your way…” More relief than Alka Seltzer. An appreciative ex-pupil.

WHAT THINGS WOULD YOU LIST UNDER ‘ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS’? AND UNDER ‘ABSOLUTE NO-NO?

Fabulous: Educated English with a cut-glass accent; kindness; loyalty; the magnificent voice of Jussie Björling; modern sport: T20 cricket and 7s rugby.

No-nos: Saaaff Effrican eccents on the ê; loud noise of any kind; bitchiness; cruelty to animals; undisciplined children.

PHANSI ARTISTS' ONLINE AUCTION: COVID-19 RELIEF FUNDRAISER

KZN based artists have come together to raise funds for people and families in need during COVID-19 lockdown. Phansi Museum is sharing this auction to its audiences in the spirit of ubuntu.

The auction of all pieces will happen online via the participating artists' social media platforms (see below). The bidding process will open on April 24, 2020, at 08h00 and close on Monday April 27, 2020, at 08h00. The highest bidder for each piece gets the artwork. People are more than welcome to donate without bidding.

Contact Thobeka for more information on 081 804 0350.

Artists facilitating and auctioning work:

Selloane Moeti - @blk_peach twitter and Instagram

Mthobisi Maphumulo - @BrianMthobisiM1 twitter and Mthobisi Maphumulo Instagram

Thalente Khomo / Thalente Lama Khomo - @ThalenteKhomo twitter and @Thalente_khomo Instagram

Thobeka Dhlomo - @Teabk twitter and @TheRealNinjaX on Instagram

Aim of the Auction:

- With this particular initiative of an online auction, aims to use art to raise funds for struggling people/families during this difficult timhttps://www.instagram.com/TheRealNinjaX/e.

- Artists are aware of the realities of the majority of the people in this country. In a normal situation in South Africa, a majority of people, especially black people struggle to eat. The effect that the lockdown has had and will continue to have on the majority of people is what inspired this concept. The artists aim to do what they can to assist where possible.

- Artists have had great responses on social media. The media is also responding well. The aim is to raise as much awareness as possible via the media to get a number of participants for the online auction this weekend.

- The Artists have identified a number of organisations and individuals who will receive proceeds but suggestions are welcome.

NB: The artworks to be found on the artists’ contact details are only examples of their portfolio. Official auction pieces will be posted on their social media platforms on Friday.

Donations:

Phansi Resource Centre

Bank: Nedbank

Account Number: 1160617732

Branch Code: 198765

Swift Code: NEDSZAJJ

Phansi Museum is situated at 500 Esther Roberts Road, Glenwood, in Durban. Contact the museum on 031 206 2889 or email admin@phansi.com or visit www.phansi.com

STREAMING OF "MASTER HAROLD"... AND THE BOYS

(Production photo by Claude Barnardo)

The Fugard TheatreLike Page

The Fugard Theatre in Cape Town has released the following information:

Due to an overwhelming response to our free online stream of Athol Fugard’s Master Harold... And The Boys, we are now extending the free stream until May 20, 2020, exclusively for Friends of The Fugard members.

To stream the production visit https://thefugard.com/master-harold-fof-stream/

You will need a password to access the stream. This password is already in your inboxes if you are already a Friend of the Fugard in our latest newsletter. If you aren't a friend, you can sign up on our website: https://thefugard.com/#friends-of-the-fugard

We chose this particular work of Athol Fugard’s to mark our 10th anniversary because it holds a mirror up to us as people, and forces us to question the humanity behind our thoughts and our actions. There is no better time to be reminded of that than now.

If you wish to make a donation to the Fugard in lieu of your ticket price, you can find details at https://thefugard.com/donate/

NB: This production carries an age restriction of PG for language and prejudice and the recording contains a racial slur. The Fugard Theatre does not condone the use of the slur in any way.

THE AUTHENTICITY PROJECT: REVIEW

I can imagine this book being made into a delightful, feel-good romcom movie, in the genre of “Love, Actually” and “Notting Hill”. (Review by Fiona de Goede)

“Our lives aren’t always what we make them to be.

What would happen if we told the truth instead?”

This is the premise that forms the core of The Authenticity Project, the debut novel by new kid on the block, Claire Pooley.

Monica’s Café is where the story starts and where most of it unfolds. Six strangers with no connection to one another become intricately involved in one another’s lives. When Julian sits down in the café and writes the truth about his life in the notebook, he has no idea what will happen. Deliberately leaving the book in the café, he sets the ball rolling.

Monica, the owner of the café, finds the notebook and adds her truth. Further characters that become involved are Hazard, Riley, Alice and Lizzie. Each one of them feels the need to include their truth – whether it is addiction to alcohol and drugs or being unhappily married and feeling inadequate as a new mother, everyone hides behind a facade.

I really looked forward to this book as I found the topic of “telling the truth” to be quite intriguing. In this day and age where we airbrush and photo-shop our lives, where many of us put on a show of all being perfect, the thought of characters stripping back and revealing their innermost truths, warts and all, excited me.

The first half of the book delivered – albeit a tad saccharine and on the verge of clichéd, I enjoyed the tempo and pace of the story unfolding. However, the latter part of the book came across, in my opinion, as a bit forced and almost as if the author was trying to tie up all the loose ends. I also felt the final two characters introduced into the story, Alice and Lizzie, were perhaps clumsily inserted and verged on being too stereotypical to be believable.

I can imagine this book being made into a delightful, feel-good romcom movie, in the genre of Love, Actually and Notting Hill. In fact, as I was reading the book, I could almost visualise certain scenes as if it was a movie – Hazard getting to grips with his addiction on Koh Samui in Thailand, the wedding which Monica attends with Hazard, Monica showing Riley the sights in London and his excitement at seeing snow for the first time…I would certainly dash out and purchase a ticket to watch it!

Despite my seemingly not so flattering comments, I enjoyed the book –a cute and utterly charming story that nowadays is in short supply. - Fiona de Goede

The Authenticity Project is published by Penguin Random House. ISBN 978-1-787-63178-6

MUSIC REVIVAL REQUESTS SUPPORT

(Right: Christopher Duigan)

Owing to the current Covid-19 crisis Music Revival is unable to present any of its live performances.

Music lovers can help by:

-donating funds. Consider paying in the equivalent of the tickets you would purchase monthly.

-purchasing a Music Revival voucher. You can redeem at a later date for concerts tickets.

-making a donation if you have enjoyed the video and audio content. Music Revival has made available over six hours of music at LISTEN (https://www.musicrevival.co.za/donate)

-purchasing CDs for yourself or as gifts at R150 (plus R100 courier charge to any PostNet outlet in South Africa)

Available CDs are Christopher Duigan plays Chopin, Indigo and Midnight Blue, both with Christopher Duigan and David Salleras (saxophone).

The live sessions take place at 18h00 every Thursday and Saturday.

“We have invested in a new system ensuring distribution across multiple platforms and websites, explains Christopher Duigan who runs Music Revival. “This means that all live-stream sessions can be viewed at our website!

“In addition you can view them live at VIMEO (now our primary host) as well as YouTube, and on our various Facebook pages. If for some reason one is not working, please try one of the other links!

All live sessions are retained for viewing at your leisure at www.musicrevival.co.za

Banking for donations: Music Revival Nedbank, Hayfields 134025  Acc 1340436582

AFH ARTIST SOLIDARITY FUND

AfH Artist Solidarity Fund is a project created by Art for Humanity, Durban University of Technology, City Campus, in Durban.

The AfH Artist Solidarity Fund is a short-term intervention set up to provide relief to artists, art students and creative practitioners in the Durban area in the context of the COVID-19 crisis.

Ismail Farouk, Director: Art For Humanity at the DUT Faculty of Art and Design explains:

Through centralising relief efforts by arts-based organisations in Durban, and through generous donations by individuals, institutions, faculty members, the private-sector and beyond, we hope to respond to the needs of vulnerable artists and the families they support who are facing the dangerous loss of income resulting in a variety of difficulties from food and housing insecurity to an inability to purchase basic needs for survival.

The Fund seeks to centralise efforts to help lessen the burden of various financial insecurities caused or aggravated by the current crisis. In this process we aim to create a database of working artists and creatives, as well as arts-based students and graduates based in the wider Durban area.

AfH, our partners and other stakeholders are currently gathering data and impact stories through this survey link. The survey will capture the personal details of applicants as well as narratives related to the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on artists, and to establish what some of their most pressing needs might be.”

Who can apply?

This fund is specifically designed to serve artists, art students, graduates and creative practitioners. This includes, but is not limited to, performing artists, designers, technicians in creative industries, musicians, composers, choreographers, visual artists, filmmakers, craft artists, teaching artists, dancers, writers, photographers, etc. Creatives facing food and income insecurity or not having the means to acquire essential items for survival need apply.

How can artists apply?

Those who which to be eligible for the financial assistance must:

1) Fill out the survey link.

2) Attach a copy of ID or passport (email: admin@artforhumanity.co.za)

3) Attach CV (if you have one).

How will the funds be prioritised and used?

Funds will be equally distributed as a once-off payment to verified applicants, which is dependent upon the amount raised and the number of eligible applicants.

How will this work?

AfH has established a Working Committee that will ensure the information captured through the survey link above is processed with urgency and transparency (the information will not be shared with third parties, without prior permission.) All references provided will be contacted and applicants will be verified through this vetting process. As there is much uncertainty surrounding the crisis and the ongoing lockdown, the idea is to continue to gather funding and resources, so that verified applicants may receive repeat payments in following months, if deemed necessary. Applications will be approved or not by the working committee and their decision will be final.

Who is on the working committee?

● Ismail Farouk (Art For Humanity/AfH, Durban University of Technology/DUT)

● Tasneem Seedat (AfH Board Member)

● Angela Shaw (KZNSA Gallery)

● Russel Hlongwane (Substance Point, AfH)

● Mario Pissara (Africa South Art Initiative/ASAI)

How to donate to the Fund?

You can make a direct deposit to the following account:

Account Name: Art For Humanity

Bank: Nedbank

Brach: 130126

Account Number: 1301289353

Account Type: Cheque/Transmission

Reference: ALP

AfH PBO Status

AfH is a public benefit organisation (PBO No. 930020636). Donations are tax deductible.

Arts Lives Project (ALP)

DUT’s Faculty of Arts and Design (FoAD) is involved with different projects as part of its Arts Lives Project (ALP). AfH is one of the Faculty's Community Engagement Projects. FoAD communities (staff,

students, graduates, partners and other stakeholders) are encouraged to include ALP as part of the

donation reference.

Farouk continues: “We’re all in this together. Our purpose is to extend our solidarity and support, making sure artists and creatives who are vulnerable during this crisis not feel alone or abandoned. A longer term goal of having a growing database of artists allows us to facilitate ongoing solidarity and mutual aid work, towards a more resilient and supportive local arts community in the wider Durban area.”

Art for Humanity is situated at the Durban University of Technology, City Campus, in Anton Lembede Street, Durban, 4001. Phone 031 373 6610, email: admin@artforhumanity.co.za or visit https://artforhumanity.co.za/

COVID-19 FOOD ASSISTANCE FUND FOR ARTISTS

The Theatre Benevolent Fund is a registered South African charity that year-round provides aid to people from the performing arts industry when they become incapacitated due to illness, injury or infirmity.

With COVID-19 many people from the theatre industry are finding themselves unemployed and hence destitute. The Theatre Benevolent Fund has created a special response plan to ensure that such artists have at least the basics —- food!

The Theatre Benevolent Fund is a registered Public Benefit Organisation with full income tax exemption. This means that you can use your receipt to claim back your donation when you fill in your income tax forms.

Please support the Fund by making a donation directly to the Fund. (Details above)

VIRTUAL NAF IN Q&A WEBINAR ON APRIL 21, 2020

National Arts Festival CEO Monica Newton will be joined by her colleagues from the engine room of the Virtual NAF in a Q&A webinar tomorrow (Tuesday, April 21, 2020) on the how, what, why and when of this new iteration of the Festival.

Rucera Seethal (Artistic Director), Nobesuthu Rayi (Executive Producer), Zikhona Monaheng (Fringe Manager) and Nicci Spalding (Technical Director) will be on hand to answer your questions in a panel discussion facilitated by Ashraf Johaardien, CEO of Business and Arts South Africa (BASA).

Festival organisers comment: “Commonly asked questions will be addressed by the panel before taking questions from a live digital audience.

“If you have a burning question, please send it to faq@nationalartsfestival.co.za and we’ll add it to the pile. If we don’t get to it in the live event, we’ll email you directly.

“Active participation is limited to the first 100 people to register but there is unlimited capacity for you to watch the event as it happens."

The webinar takes place at 16h00 on Tuesday April 21, 2020

Register on Zoom at https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_ueiOWAbWQYe085FWf5gJQA?utm_source=National+Arts+Festival&utm_campaign=267004119b-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_3_5_2018_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_d2398227f0-267004119b-259175121

Send questions in advance by emailing faq@nationalartsfestival.co.za

(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 or visit Facebook: www.facebook.com/nationalartsfestival; Twitter: @artsfestival or Instagram: nationalartsfestival)

CENTRE FOR JAZZ SOCIAL DISTANCING ONLINE CONCERT: APRIL 22, 2020

The Centre for Jazz’s next Social Distancing Online Concert will take place on April 22, 2020. The concert will feature McCoy Mrubata, Nosihe Zulu and Musa Mashiana.

This is an exclusive broadcast of the pre-recorded concert. Tickets R30 (email zamat1@ukzn.ac.za)

One of South Africa’s favourite saxophone players, McCoy Mrubata presents unique material from his performance at The Chairman in Durban that took place in May, 2019. It is a vibrant performance with repertoire consisting of old favourites and new songs.  Besides the South African influences, Mrubata’s new material is full of songs with beats and rhythms from North- and West Africa. Joining Mrubata on stage were an all-local line-up including Neil Gonsalves on keys, Dalisu Ndlazi on bass guitar and Riley Giandhari on drums.

Nosihe Zulu brings a mix of video’s from different performances featuring some of her older works, but also brand new compositions that are featuring in her recently released raw footage experimental MIXTAPE, which can be ordered for FREE by sending on email to nosihe.zulu@gmail.com. The vocalist has organically grown in her artistic expressions to be an eclectic soulful power force, solidly centred in her environment to interpret and translate through songs and its imagery.

Some may liken her bold deposition in imaging to avant-garde styling of Grace Jones combined with the modern day haunting melodies of Laura Mvula. One can describe her sound as soulful and emotive, her songs are flamboyant and filled with her vibrant persona. She is drawing from classical, jazz and gospel tapestry of rhythms. This artist is known for always looking for collaborations with other artforms, such as fashion, photography and design.

Band members include Freeman Gumede (bass), Lesedi Thloloe (drums),Okay - featuring Caleb Frow on drums and Obakeng Thamage (keys).

Musa Mashiane was born in Witbank, Mpumalanga, the same town and province that gave birth to the great Hugh Masekela. So it is not surprising that he is following footsteps and soon winning hearts of many music lovers with his phenomenal vocal renditions that portray both talent and great vocal technical abilities. At only 33, this young Ndebele boy’s music oozes with maturity and sophistication. He is the voice that blends influences of African music, abstract African, funk and world. He pulls his inspiration from international singers like Victor Ntoni, Lokua Kanza, Gerald Toto, Oumou Sangare, Steve Wonder and Bobby McFerrin but delivers it in a truly original African signature .

To watch the concert there is a charge of minimum R30 and once sending the Proof of Payment, the audience will receive a link to the concert. The full contribution of the audience will go straight to the artists in an effort to support and sustain South Africa’s beloved musicians through this testing time.

Tickets

Make your weekly payment to:

iSupport Music Business

FNB

62276064137

Reference: your email address

Send your POP to: zamat1@ukzn.ac.za

And you will receive the link before 16h00 on Wednesday.

THE FAMILY CHASE SERIES 2

(“The Family Chase” presenter Bradley Walsh. Photo ITV Choice)

ITV Choice (DStv 123) continues with The Family Chase series on April 24, 2020, at 20h00.

Hosted by Bradley Walsh, each episode of The Family Chase features a different family trying to stay one step ahead of their chaser for the opportunity to win a cash pot worth thousands of pounds.

The four contestants each answer a series of general knowledge questions as they attempt to get their tactics right and make it into the final chase and the chance to walk away with the cash prize.

INSIDE THE RITZ HOTEL FOR ITV CHOICE

ITV Choice (DStv 123) will screen Inside the Ritz Hotel on Wednesday, April 22, 2020, at 20h00.

A behind-the-scenes look at how one of the most famous hotels in the world stands out from the rest, as we get special access to its inner workings.

Famous faces to watch out for include actors Richard E Grant and Jim Broadbent, and Vogue editor Anna Wintour.

Enjoy two back-to-back episodes from 20:00 and learn how staff prepare the hotel's world famous afternoon tea.