Fringe programme in Grahamstown offers unexpected viewing delights this year
ANY thespian will tell you that it is often the Fringe component of an arts festival that also offers its most unexpected viewing delights. But with a free-for-all format when it comes to The National Arts Festival ( NAF) in Grahamstown’s Fringe programme, it can be difficult picking the most bang for your buck. Here are 10 picks, consisting of both past favourites and debuts. Blue (Dance)
No trip to NAF is complete without seeing a production by the Cape Dance Company (CDC). Under the artistic direction of Debbie Turner and consisting of four pieces, Blue is recommended for fans of both the company’s signature neoclassical style, as well as for those interested in exploring contemporary dance trends. Detritus For One (Physical)
Dancer and lecturer Alan Parker has been interested in the notion of the archive for a while. In 2013’s Detritus I watched a group of dancers, under his direction, emphatically re-enact a series of pieces that they had seen the previous year at NAF. This time around Parker will browse through his own mental archive, and the results should be very interesting to see. Kafka and son (Drama)
While Franz Kafka and existentialism are often referred to in the same sentence, it is the author’s knack for the surreal that I find myself drawn to. Adapted from Kafka’s Letter to His Father by Mark Cassidy (director) and Alon Nashman (actor), this was one of the most memorable productions for me last year. Nashman delivers a deeply felt, yet intellectual performance. Piet se optel goed (Physical)
Living in some kind of post-apocalyptic wasteland, the macabre antiheroine in Liezl de Kock’s Piet se Optel goed has a dark tale to tell. Rooted in mime and physical theatre, this tale of adaptation, trauma and, ultimately, survival, was the best production I saw at last year’s Cape Town Fringe Festival. Tobacco, and the Harmful Effects Thereof (Drama)
What more reason do you need than Andrew Buckland and Sylvaine Strike teaming up? It is both an exercise in linguistics as well as in the poetry and movement of the human body. Don’t miss this opportunity to see why these two theatremakers are in a league of their own. Undone (Drama)
You’ll struggle to find anyone who has seen it who isn’t raving about Wessel Pretorius’ Undone. Kicking off with a splendid rendition of CJ Langenhoven’s Liefdesonsin: ’n wiegeliedjie, the protagonist takes the viewer on an evocative mythological pilgrimage through transformation from boy to man. Return of the Ancestors (Drama)
In 2014 the spirits of struggle icons Steve Biko and Neil Aggett travelled from the afterlife to see what the South Africa they fought for looks like today. What they found seemed to go against the grain of what the ANC originally stood for. Written by Mike van Graan, their sobering journey to the foot of Nkandla continues. Un Mute (Dance)
Choreographed by, and starring Andile Vellem alongside Nadine Mckenzie, Themba Mbuli and Zama Sonjica, Un Mute is a physical piece in which disabled performers aim to overcome the limits of their own bodies. It’s a beautiful, athletic, fearless and captivating production. Vaslav (Drama)
Presented in the form of a fragmented narrative, Vaslav revolves around Russian ballet dancer Vaslav Nijinsky’s 30-year battle with paranoid schizophrenia. The script was compiled from Nijinsky’s own diaries and journal entries. We didn’t come to hell for the croissants (Poetry)
Subtitled Seven Deadly New Stories for Consenting Adults, all you need to know is that it’s made by the same people behind The Epicene Butcher and Amateur Hour! This time Jemma Kahn has roped in some collaborators so the literary festivities should be all the merrier.