Top awards for ‘The Fall’
ON AUGUST 11, the highly acclaimed University of Cape Town-rooted production The Fall was honoured as the Fringe First at this year’s Scotsman Awards, while on August 13 it got a second award, The Stage Award for the cast.
Presented weekly and designed to encourage performers to bring new work to Edinburgh in the spirit of adventure and experiment, the Scotsman Fringe First Awards celebrate the best new writing on the Fringe.
The Fall, produced by the Baxter Theatre, is a frank workshop theatre play devised by the original cast of seven UCT drama graduates who shared their experiences during the #RhodesMustFall, #FeesMustFall and subsequent student movement demonstrations in 2015 and 2016.
The production was facilitated by Clare Stopford and curated by Ameera Conrad and Thando Mangcu, two members of the ensemble. The cast includes Conrad, Mangcu, Oarabile Ditsele, Zandlie Madliwa, Sizwesandile Mnisi, Sihle Mnqwazana and Cleo Raatus.
Presenting the award, Joyce McMillan, the Scotsman’s chief theatre critic, said: “What makes this show exceptional is not just its energy, not just the live footage that we see of this very recent, and indeed, continuing revolution in South African higher education, and not just the fantastic musical and movement content, which is just completely mind-blowingly beautiful, but also the density and the seriousness of the political arguments which these young people are being forced to address at such an early age.”
She was joined by a special guest, acclaimed Scottish playwright Zinnie Harris, who this year has three major productions on at the Edinburgh International Festival.
Lara Foot, the chief executive and artistic director of the Baxter, explains the events that led to The Fall: “On April 9, 2015, the iconic statue of Cecil John Rhodes was removed from the UCT campus. This was the result of tenacious and brave protests from the fallist movement, driven to decolonise education in South Africa.
“In June that year, the Baxter Theatre Centre presented the work Black Dog/ Injemnyama, as a tribute to the 20th anniversary of the passing of legendary writer/director Barney Simon, co-founder of the Market Theatre. A number of the cast members in Black Dog/Injemnyama were due to graduate later that year. They were also leaders of the student protest movement. It seemed fitting to commission a work with these fine actors – who were also brave and articulate activists, in the same docudrama style as Simon’s plays.”
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