Two months for Fringe entries

Artists, musicians, singers, dancers, performers and other creatives from South Africa and beyond are invited to submit their work for the 2019 National Arts Festival Fringe programme.

The festival programme comprises largely a curated and selected main programme, and an open, experimental Fringe.

These two key elements are supported by numerous special programmes, projects and performances that make up the entire festival featuring hundreds of shows and thousands of performances. The Fringe is marked by independence and freedom of expression.

As a buildup to the 45th arts showcase event in Makhanda (formerly Grahamstown), theatre makers for experimental, innovative entertainment, fam- ily theatre and crowd-pleasing shows are invited to submit their applications on the NAF website by December 31.

National Arts Festival Fringe manager Zikhona Monaheng said: “We are looking for bold, exciting and interesting work. The Fringe is always unexpected and even unpredictable. It’s always exciting to watch these plays come to life through the audience’s reaction.”

She said the 2019 Fringe programme would focus on being accessible to artists, producers and theatre outfits that work with disabled people. “We aim to create opportunities and encourage artists living with disability to showcase their talent. We will waive the application fee for these production companies. However, there are a limited number of performance spaces available.”

Tiisetso Mashifane, 2018 fringe writer, director and producer and Standard Bank Ovation Award winner, described her Fringe experience as “a huge learning curve. I enjoyed it so much, but putting on your own show is really tough and requires you to be determined. Being an independent theatre maker was really hard. The logistics are crazy, but winning the award for my play made it all worth it.”

We are looking for bold, exciting and interesting work. The Fringe is always unexpected Zikhona Monaheng