Dramatic voices take to great outdoors

Running scared: Nicola Hanekom stars in Wees.

Running scared: Nicola Hanekom stars in Wees.

Published Jan 11, 2011

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The Klein Karoo National Arts Festival (KKNK) to be held in Oudtshoorn from April 2 to 9 is the first of the big local arts festivals.

There’s not too much out there about this year’s festival with the launch happening in Cape Town on January 20, yet as with many of the Afrikaans festivals, drama dominates as a highlight.

Afrikaans theatre in Gau-teng has almost vanished and as a result theatre draws huge audiences at the different festivals.

In recent years the KKNK has also realised their environment lends itself to outdoor events. They call this site-specific genre Oraloor (everywhere), and one to watch out for is the drama, Hel Op Hemel-en-Aarde, which deals with serial killer Hansie Mowers, also known as “the phantom of the Overberg”.

The community believes Hansie has supernatural powers. During the day he hides in the mountains to steal, poach and plunder. At night, he turns into a black cat. This is when he silently slips into homes to capture the daughters in the valley. Hansie creates havoc in the Hemel-en-Aarde valley and mercilessly harasses this tightly knit com-munity.

This is one of those specta-cular site-specific events, which doesn’t happen simply on one stage, but moves around. As the story unfolds, the audience is taken on a journey of both the physical and mental kind.

With a text by author Francois Bloemhof, nail-biting tension is guaranteed. Others involved include the brilliant Schalk Joubert as music director.

Another production to watch out for is based on Dennis Kelly’s award-winning Orphans.

Translated into Afrikaans, Wees introduces you to Danie and Heleen. They are sitting down for supper. Suddenly they look up and see Liam. He is tense and his shirt is drenched in blood. And so begins this Afrikaans Hitchcock-infused thriller.

In spite of our obsession with high walls, alarm systems and barbed wire, what do you do when the evil is already inside your house?

The prolific theatre impres-sario Hennie van Greunen is responsible for the translation and production, with the lumi-nous Nicola Hanekom, André Weideman and Gustav Gerdener in the cast.

The festival promises more than 100 productions and exhibitions, a unique music programme, entertainment for the whole family, delicious food and wine and a majestic cultural experience.

Tickets will be available to the public from January 31. - Tonight

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