As is their tradition, the hottest stages at this year's KKNK will be serious heatre for fanatics who can't get enough soulfood during the year.
Shakespeare is a hot item at this year's festival, but in a different guise. Old Shakespeare hand, director Marthinus Basson, will no doubt gloriously send temperatures rising with an Afrikaans translation of The Tempest, Die Storm. He has gathered a cast of note with Antoinette Kellerman as Prospero and Jana Cilliers as Ariel, including veterans Neels Coetzee and Gerben Kamper. (Unfortunately this work is probably too big and too costly to travel, which is often the case with Basson's masterpieces).
On the other side of the spectrum, there's the wonderfully titled Macbetta - Lindie Wikkel Willem, in which comedienne/Kwela presenter Lindie Stander uses her sharp tongue and ability to improvise as she runs through the characters of Macbeth while making comment on the world around her. (Stander usually brings her work to Aardklop as well.)
As a bumper prize for theatre buffs, the KKNK has come up trumps with the world premiere of Athol Fugard's Victory directed by another of our top artists, Lara Foot Newton, designed by Jaco Bouwer and starring Cobus Rossouw, Ameera Patel and Wayne van Rooyen in a story that deals with a troubled country and its people. The playwright looks at a world without hope, a world that is overrun by druglords and criminals and people with shattered dreams. It's the first time since 1994 that Fugard is dealing with the reality of this country now. (This will be at The Market in May).
Harking back to some early Fugard, Ivan D Lucas and Vinette Ebrahim have brought director Clare Stopford on board as director of Boesman en Lena, a production they have been trying to get off the ground for a few years now, but it has recently been doing the rounds at festivals and this is obviously their time. (This will probably tour the country).
Here are some more highlights:
- Brief van die Harlekyn: Veteran actor Louis van Niekerk directs Paul Eilers in this Langenhoven text which has been reworked by Thijs Nel in celebration of the Afrikaans poet/writer. (This one will probably travel nationally).
- Johnny Boskak is Feeling Funny: The Greig Coetzee piece (starring the playwright), which won awards at last year's Edinburgh Festival, features the Syd Kitchen music (live) in a story that sounds like the local version of Natural Born Killers. (The possibilities of seeing this nationally are premium).
- Translations are popular this year and another titled Paulus (Howard Brenton's Paul) has been reworked and directed by Henry Mylne in one of his all-male TV casts with Deon Coetzee, Theodore Jantjies, Blaise Koch and Tertius Meintjies leading the way. (In the past, Mylne has played his productions at Joburg's Civic following festival runs).
- Die Hart van die Smeltkroes: An earlier text of Peter Hayes (Hearts and Eyes Collective), The Alchemist Heart has been translated by the brilliant Saartjie Botha and this magical 11-minute production which deals with the cosmos like a grain of sand.
- Hennie van Greunen (playwright) and Heinrich Reisenhof (director) have combined forces to stage Festen (a translation of the Danish dogma film Celebration) starring Neil Sandilands, Nina Swart and Pedro Kruger. (This will probably do the festival route and should play Aardklop).
- If you saw the Emma Thompson's television production, Wit, you will know what to expect from Skerp-sin, which is a translation of the Pulitzer prize-winning play by American Margaret Edson. Gerben Kamper translated and directed this piercing play that will star Hillétje Möller and playwright Nico Luwes.
- Teer is written by Germany's most promising playwright, Marius von Mayenburg, and will be presented by the same team who did the magical Altyd Jonker. Saartjie Botha translated and produces with Nicola Hanekom again starring for director Jaco Bouwer.
Audience favourite Chris Barnard's Twaalfuurwals, Juliet Jenkin's The Boy Who Fell From the Roof, the acclaimed student production directed by Marthinus Basson Slaghuis as well as a translation of Everybody is F*****g Perfect ... titled Is Almal Dan F****n Volmaak?, the Aardklop-winning text Weg, written by and starring Leon Kruger, have played at other festivals and will take a second bow here.
This is just the tiniest taste of what is on offer at this festival, which has a fantastic record for discovering new talent and plays. So watch out for more information in the run-up.