THE 39th National Arts Festival (NAF) came to a close on Sunday, com- memorating another year of local and international collabo- rations as well as excellence and development in the arts.
We caught up with the festival’s artistic director, Ismail Mahomed, for his thoughts on this year’s event. He said they were incredibly excited at the success of the fest and looked forward to planning their 40th pro- gramme for next year.
A prominent feature at NAF was a strong contingent of works that dabbled in history and socio-political issues. We asked Mahomed about this.
He said: “South Africa is going through an interesting time. As we move towards commemorating 20 years of democracy, I think artists are already starting to latch on to this and express it in their work.”
The festival did not go off without some drama, if you’ll excuse the pun. In one incident a chicken was slaughtered live on stage during a production and there were a few plays with quite a bit of nudity and sexuality expressed on stage.
Of course, as soon as the chicken incident presented itself the NAF organisers were quick to address the matter, ensuring no other chickens were harmed.
With regards to the nudity and sexual simulation in some shows, Mahomed said “artists will always push boundaries”.
“We need to create a space for that kind of expression, but we also need to have a certain amount of respect for the audience. Producers need to be very clear in their blurbs about what their shows are about. There will always be nudity in shows, it is part of artistic expression, but nudity requires clear communi- cation between the producers of shows and the audience.”
A host of productions at NAF this year walked off with awards acknowledging their excellence. Award winners were announced on the final day.
In a statement, convenor of the Standard Bank Ovation Awards panel, Adrienne Sichel, described the works presented on the Fringe programme this year as “courageous and inventive, explaining that themes of renegotiation of history and heritage, and remapping identity, featured as a strong thread through the productions”.
Festival officials also said the only Gold Ovation awarded this year was to musician Dan Patlansky for his acoustic performances at the festival, while his collaboration with Karen Zoid left the sold-out crowd mesmerised.
Below is a glance at some of the award-winning productions Tonight saw in Grahamstown:
THE BRAM FISCHER WALTZ
Writer and director Harry Kalmer has produced a moving story about Fischer – the Afrikaner communist and lawyer who saved Nelson Mandela from the gallows and chose to sacrifice his freedom to serve the oppressed.
The strength of this play is in its well-rounded reflection of who Fischer was. We mostly know about his political and activist days, but just who was this man who, because of the colour of his skin, had the world at his feet during apartheid, yet he chose suffering?
The Bram Fischer Waltz is well known among Afrikaans festivals, having garnered a few accolades. But this is the first time it staged at the National Arts Festival and the first time the play’s English translation was staged.
Kalmer deserves kudos for a well-researched product and his efforts to meet with Fischer’s family and friends to gain more insight into this Struggle hero’s life have definitely paid off.
As a result, the audience learns that Fischer is a passionate commu- nist; a man who loved his wife, Molly, and their children greatly; who sacrificed his life and family for a better, equal South Africa, driven by his passion to see this dream of equality realised in the country one day.
We come to experience all of these aspects of Fischer’s life through a series of monologues and flashbacks while Fischer is still in prison. David Butler put on a great performance, bringing Fischer’s story to life. He is in touch with the character, particularly during scenes that depict Fischer’s passion for communism, his deep love for Molly and his anguish over her death, in a car accident.
He will bring you to tears.
Hopefully, this production will get a chance to tour the country, so everyone can get to know the real Bram Fischer.
BITTERSWEET
“Tell your story; if you can’t tell your story, dance your story; if you can’t dance your story, sing your story… just tell your story!”
These words were uttered in the opening segment of Bittersweet, a Cape Academy of Performing Arts production which really had the audiences going at this year’s NAF. And these sentiments later proved to be the backbone of this production.
Using a mix of different dance forms, a cappella, rap and spoken word, Bittersweet is an honest reflection of the issues one faces in the pursuit of a dream.
While this production is set in the arts industry with the cast of 32 taking on different characters who share their personal stories, the underlying issues are universal and as an audience member it is easy to relate to and you could possibly even see your story play out on stage.
The characters who emerge through monologue, song and dance, present an honest reflection of some of the challenges facing artists in the pursuit of a dream: their ambi- tions for the cut-throat industry, their insecurities, rivalries in the industry, the fears of becoming a forgotten artist, and more. But as I said, very universal themes, very relatable.
Kudos to directors Debbie Turner and Nathalie Vijver for an amazing accomplishment in the presentation of this show. The audience gets to enjoy ballet, break-dancing, contem- porary dance, rap, the spoken word, drama, angelic a cappella performances and more in a production that has been well planned and executed.
Think Fame, but in a modern setting, addressing relevant issues for any person pursuing a dream, against a backdrop of true-to-life stories. Bittersweet is by far one of the best, most accessible pieces I have seen.
At the end of the show I attended at the weekend it was as if the audi- ence jumped out of their seats in unison for an ovation, as though they couldn’t wait.
It’s that good.
THE THINGS YOU LEFT BEHIND
In his slice-of-life offering, Jason Potgieter’s The Things You Left Behind offers a refreshingly different take on love.
Described as a story around a life story, the production is a take on relationships and break-ups, but looking at those around the lovers and how they are also affected by the break-up between the two.
Through a series of monologues, the audience is introduced to five characters who all share a bit of their lives. We soon learn that although world’s apart, they are each connected by a car accident and this love story, although they may not know it.
A mother trying to loosen the grip on her adult children, a car guard, a drag queen from Delft, somebody’s “ex” who is now committed to another and a philosophical paramedic: as the characters share some of their world with the audience, not only do we uncover their common connection, but we also get a taste of the very true-to-life issues people face today. A taste of humanity.
There is another aspect to this piece which also taps into matters around homosexuality – tackled from different perspectives.
A funny yet very real exploration of the things that connect us in life and how these happen daily without us even realising it.
Kudos to director Kim Kerfoot and his cast, Potgieter and Alicia McCormick, for bringing this very human and beautiful story on to the stage and into our hearts.
In terms of any issues around the festival, some local media had reported on crime at the NAF this year. We asked Mahomed about this.
“Every city has its little issues, but nothing that brought major disruption to the festival was brought to our attention.”
According to a press release, the 40th edition of the National Arts Festival will take place from June 26 to July 6 next year.
For more information in this regard, visit the website www.nationalartsfestival.co.za, or the National Arts Festival Grahamstown on Facebook, or Tweet them at @artsfestival.
Here’s a look at some of the 2013 National Arts Festival award winners:
• Silver Ovations were awarded to:
Comedian Rob van Vuuren for pushing the boundaries of stand-up comedy in his show WhatWhat; musician Julian Redpath; The Bram Fischer Waltz; The Things You Left Behind, directed by |Kim Kerfoot and starring Jason Potgieter and Alicia McCormick.
• Joanna Evans won a Silver Ovation for her production The Year of the Bicycle – supported on the Fringe |this year as part of her prize as Best |Up-and- Coming Director of last year’s Student Festival.
• A Special Silver Ovation Award presented to Steven van Wyk and |Thalia Laric for the creation of Skoonveld, in the production Plastic.
• Encore Awards were made to A Day in the Desert and Skierlik, recognising their potential for professional develop-|ment.
• Following the recognition of their production Wintersweet last year, an AHA Award was made to Horses Heads productions for Scrape, as a production that surprised and delighted the judges.
• In recognition of their long-standing and varied contributions to the industry, two Standing Ovation Awards were announced this year – to consummate performer and educator Andrew Buckland and actress/director Nomhle Nkonyeni, both of whom have made invaluable contributions to industry internationally, nationally and though reinvestment in the Eastern Cape.
• The festival’s inaugural Short Sharp Stories competition has seen the publication of some of the best submissions in a crime anthology entitled Bloody Satisfied. The winner |of this year’s competition for the Best Story was awarded to Dawn Garish.
• The South African Post Office reaffirmed their investment in the culture and heritage of the country through their support of the Student Theatre Awards, through which winners receive various levels of support to present productions at next year’s festival.
This year two institutions featured prominently. The Market Theatre Lab received kudos for the poster design |and overall marketing campaign of their production of Milk and Honey, and UCT took the honours for Most Promising Student Director (Mira Sydow), Most Promising Student Writer (Mathew Baldwin, Wynne Bredenkamp and Taryn Wyngaardt), Best Student Theatre Production, and the floating Cape Triangular Trophy, for their production entitled Behind Every Yawn There is a Silent Shout.
• Merit Awards were presented to |Jess Harrison from Rhodes University, recognising promise in directorial conceptualisation and design; to The Market Theatre Lab’s production of Milk and Honey as the production with the greatest viability for a professional run; and to Oakfields College’s Journey, the South African Post Office choice for showcasing creativity and innovation.
• It was also announced that some productions had been invited to participate in the Brighton, Prague, |and Amsterdam fringe festivals, through the World Fringe Alliance network. These include Crazy in Love, Three |Little Pigs, Stuart Lightbody’s Unreal, Thom Pain (based on nothing) and |The Epicene Butcher and other Stories for Consenting Adults.
• Julian Redpath was chosen as the singer/songwriter to be showcased |this year through a new partnership between the National Arts Festival and Oppikoppi. – Supplied by National Arts Festival, for more detailed info visit www.nationalartsfestival.co.za.