The Playhouse Company is ready to host another exciting arts festival that will see a number of community arts groups take centre stage.
In its fourth year, the annual “Community Arts Festival” is set to take place over two weekends in Novembe. There will be stage performances and dances as well as workshops on script writing, directing and arts administration.
Linda Bukhosini, the Playhouse Company’s chief executive and artistic director said the aim of the festival was to focus on skill sharing while honing the skills of participating community arts groups.
“As an agency of the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture, a vital part of The Playhouse Company’s programming focuses on skills sharing. This includes mentoring and offering a platform for community arts groups to work with professionals while honing their creative and administrative skills while developing their own productions,” Bukhosini said.
She said since the start of the festival, it has grown from strength to strength.
“To facilitate our work in this area, we launched our ‘Community Arts Festival’ four years ago. The initiative met with great support and has gone from strength to strength. Today our ‘Community Arts Festival’ is our flagship project in this sector of our work,” she said.
In addition to the performances, there will also be workshops on script writing, directing and arts administration.
Well known South African performing practitioners Mbongeni Ngema and Jerry Pooe will mentor groups and deliver productions and business arts workshops.
The first two days of the festival will feature performance groups: Sala “The Prayer”; Impucuzeko; Umkhonto Wamashinga and Getting Tested.
The line-up for the following week comprises the next five groups: The Bay is Crying; Umlabalaba; Women Knows; Earth Extinction and Camdeboo.
The “Community Arts Festival” takes place at The Durban Playhouse and runs over two weekends, on Friday and Saturday, November 4 and 5 and November 11 and 12. Admission is free.
JOBURG
“Aloota Continua“
Where: Joburg Theatre.
When: November 4 at 6pm.
The staged reading of “Aloota Continua“ deals with the 2021 uprising organised by supporters of ex-president Zuma after he was jailed for contempt of the Constitutional Court.
The loss of life and damage to shops, factories and infrastructure were unprecedented in post-1994 history, and despite the gains for some from looting, the widespread theft and arson caused great economic hardship for hundreds of thousands of working-class people in KwaZulu-Natal and, to some extent, Gauteng.
By taking various situations “Aloota Continua” presents arguments for and against Zuma’s jailing and for and against the actions taken by his followers.
Many different characters appear, including jail warders, Zuma’s children, Zuma himself. Each 20-minute episode is broken into three or four scenes featuring these characters and all perspectives are put forward.
Tickets available at Webtickets at R60 per person and student and pensioner are R35.
CAPE TOWN
“Hold Still”
Where: The Baxter Flipside.
When: November 7 –19 at 7pm with Saturday matinees at 2.30pm.
Acclaimed playwright Nadia Davids and director Jay Pather, once again team up for the world premiere of her latest play, “Hold Still”.
The production tells the story of a family shaped by different generational traumas who must confront their own histories to get through a single, life-changing night. The multi-themed play focuses on a long-term marriage and through it, examines the limits of middle-class empathy, the complexities of an inter-racial, intra-cultural family living in the shadow of catastrophic political histories, and what we’ll do to protect those we love.
“’Hold Still’ comes out of an ongoing argument I’ve been having with myself about my own limitations in this regard, about wanting safety in an unsafe world, about the impulse to withdraw when what’s needed is engagement,” said writer and theatre-maker Davids.
The production also brings together a stellar cast starring Andrew Buckland and Mwenya Kabwe, with Tailyn Ramsamy and newcomer Lyle October.
Booking is through Webtickets or at Pick n Pay stores. For blocked bookings contact Leon van Zyl on [email protected] or call 021 680 3972. There is an age restriction of 13 years.
DURBAN
“A Tribute to Icons”
Where: The Globe, Suncoast.
When: November 5 at 7pm.
Panache International and Drisha Music Academy will bring musical fans a night of non-stop nostalgia, featuring the favourite hits of late icons Lata Mangeshkar, Bappi Lahiri and KK. Lataji and her amazing renditions will be sung by the melodious Maithili Shome, a playback singer who is eloquent in 20 different languages.
Kushal Paul who is a two time “Sa Re Ga Ma Pa” winner on Zee TV and Zee TV Bengali, and who is mentored by legendary music composer, Pritam Chakraborty will render the music of Bappi Lahiri and KK. Musicians from India will accompany these leading young SA stars. Tickets are R120 at Computicket, at any Shoprite, or participating stores. Call 0861 915 8000 for more information.
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