CELEBRATING heritage month, Artscape Theatre is presenting a festival of productions which commemorate and reflect on our history and heritage.
Artscape creative manager, Mandla Mbothwe, said Heritage Month is a time to reflect on what we have inherited, the gifts and burdens of yesterday. At the same time as we are asked to engage with the past, we are also asked to evaluate the legacy we are making for future generations.
“It is time for us to remember, to redress, to build and celebrate our own special aesthetics of telling stories,” said Mbothwe.
The productions which will be showcased as part of the Artscape Heritage Festival have been chosen to show how we tell “our own stories in our own way, reclaiming the stolen memory and returning it to the community”.
There are two double bills planned for the Artscape Theatre, which pit archival productions which look back in time with works set in the here and now.
Andile Vellem’s dance piece, Unmute, is based on his experience as a deaf dancer. Through his choreography he communicates what he believes in, offering a true collaborative piece which integrates performers with different dance backgrounds to work together.
Unmute is paired with a musical production based on the life of Vuyisile Mini, They Died Singing. Mini was a unionist, Umkhonto we Sizwe activist, singer, dancer and poet and the production highlights his journey in the union movement, detentions he suffered and takes us up to his execution in 1964.
These productions will run as a double bill at the Artscape Theatre from September 24 to 27.
In the half-hour between productions Mbothwe said the audience will be entertained by performances outside the theatre, based around storytelling.
Mike van Graan’s Rainbow Scars and Jazzart’s Biko’s Quest is the other double bill at the Artscape Theatre, which runs on September 29 and 30. While Rainbow Scars looks at the effects of 20 years of democracy on one particular family unit with regards to issues of identity, exclusion and privilege, Biko’s Quest is a multi-media song and dance performance which explores the life and ideas of Steve Biko, which makes it the piece that looks backwards.
Rainbow Scars and Biko’s Quest leave for The Netherlands (October 8 to 12) and the UK (October 13 to November 8) on October 5, for a touring schedule as part of an European focus for the presentation of contemporary performing arts from South Africa entitled the Afrovibes Festival.
“Artscape is very fortunate to have two productions invited on to the (Afrovibes) Festival. The productions mean quite a lot because they are a reflection of our festival and they’re good productions which represent who we are as South Africans,” said Mbothwe.
Earlier in the week, the Arena Theatre will host community theatre performances in partnership with community- based arts organisations. Lingua Franca is an exploration of inheritance through poetry, featuring a leading spoken work movement and a musical base.
Toe Ravensmead nog Tiervlei Was comes to Artscape courtesy of the Tiervlei Community Arts Development Organisation and is based on a factual forced removal that happened in 1958 in the area formerly known as Tiervlei (Arena Theatre on Thursday and Friday).
Mbothwe sees this particular community organisation as one of the Artscape Resource Centre’s development programme success stories as they are learning the ins and outs of technical support and organisational structure so that they can develop their own new work and become a self-sustaining organisation.
Their play embodies the idea that art (and in this case theatre) is intertwined with both education and heritage.
“This organisation is trying to incorporate that into their landscape and community by telling their own stories in their own ways,” said Mbothwe.
• The Artscape Heritage Festival runs from Thursday to September 30. Tickets are R100 per double bill, or R50 for Toe Ravensmead nog Tiervlei Was. Full schedule and bookings: www.artscape. co.za or call 021 421 7695.