July 12, 2006
By Emmanuel Mulaudzi
DIDN'T make it to Grahamstown this year? The 969 Festival brings seven top shows from the National Arts Festival to Johannesburg from Tuesday, 18 July.
"The festival is wonderful because it gives people who could not get to the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown the opportunity to watch some of the productions that took place there," says publicist for Wits Performing Arts, Cathy Pisanti.
Now in its third year, the 969 Festival is on from 18 to 29 July at the Wits Theatre complex. It is sponsored by the City of Johannesburg.
969 Festival logo
The festival provides a platform for the seven selected Joburg-based productions, with a variety of performances from dance to drama.
On the programme
Amphitheatre
The play
We Shall Sing For The Fatherland, on at the Wits Amphitheatre from 25 to 29 July at 8.30pm, is about power and collective responsibility as opposed to personal struggle.
Written in the 1970s by Zakes Mda, this production is directed by Michael Matsie, a fourth year drama student from the Wits School of Arts.
Matsie, who stage managed for Love Crime and Johannesburg at Wits Theatre andI Mike what I Like at the State Theatre in Pretoria, worked in Finland on Beyond Stereotypes. He has also been the lighting designer for the Shakespeare Festival at the Actor's Theatre in Braamfontein.
In the cast are Thabo Mongane, Tshepiso Konopi and Wesly Makgamatha.
Also at the Ampitheatre is Hero, in which the "fris four, led by Captain Bliksem" track down the evil attacking the City of Gold.
Hero, created by Stuart Stobbs, Craig Morris and Andrew Buckland, is on from 18 July to 22 July at 8.30pm.
Nunnery
Ecce Homo! charts "the sexual, spiritual and political topography of contemporary gay identity".
On at the Nunnery at 8pm on Friday, 21 July for one performance only, Ecce Homo! is "lyrical yet edgy and sparkles with beautiful word and striking imagery", according to the festival press release.
The play, by US writer Tim Miller, is directed by Neville Engelbrecht and performed by Ashraf Johaardien.
Also at the Nunnery is Salaam, a tale which weaves humour, politics and the history of the Cape Muslim community into exciting theatre. Written and performed by Ashraf Johaardien, Salaam is on at 8pm on 22 July.
Other performances at the Nunnery are The Very Next Breath and the double bill of Sunday and From Nowhere …, which was the Wits School of Arts' official entry into the National Festival of Students Drama in Grahamstown.
The Very Next Breath, a workshopped production by students at the Market Theatre Laboratory, is on from 24 July to 29 July at 6pm. Described as "a contemporary morality tale", the play is directed by Paul Noko of Soweto.
Sunday and From Nowhere … are on from 25 July to 29 July at 8.15pm. From Nowhere … , "a simple tale with a big heart and a magical soul", was conceived and directed by fourth year student Jayne Batzofin, while Sunday, a look at the complexities of relationships, was written and directed by Gordon Lindsay, also a fourth year student.
Downstairs Theatre
Coupe, on at the Downstairs Theatre, recalls the sound of the trains - the experience of a journey.
Directed by Sue Pam Grant, the cast includes the 2006 winner of the Standard Bank Young Artist Award for Drama, Sylvaine Strike, Brian Webber, Gerard Bester and Toni Morkel.
The music is composed by Philip Miller.
On from 18 July to 29 July the opening night performance is at 6.30pm with the rest of the run at 7pm. There is no performance on Sunday 23 July.
Tickets are available at Computicket.
Coupé, Hero and We Shall Sing For The Fatherland cost R50, but cost R30 for students, scholars, pensioners and block bookings of 10 or more.
Tickets for Ecce Homo, Salaam, The Very Next Breath and the double bill From Nowhere… and Sunday cost R30 - R20 for students, scholars, pensioners and block bookings of 10 or more.
For more information, contact Cathy Pisanti on 011 717 1376.
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