|
|
|
|
|
Amazing? You bet your arts
|
July 15, 2009
By Charlotte Fairfax
Picture gallery
Send us your festival pictures
The 35th National Arts Festival in a busy, vibrant and spruced-up Grahamstown did indeed deliver on its promise of "10 Days of Amazing".
Attendance numbers were up, the weather was uncharacteristically balmy, the vibe was good and the selection of arts experiences on offer was nothing short of breathtaking.
The festival saw a 13,21 percent increase in overall attendance this year, with 170 045 people attending the various events on offer - which, despite recessionary pessimism, continues the growth trend experienced in the past six years.
"Overall, it was good!" enthuses National Arts Festival director Ismail Mahomed.
Festival chief executive Tony Lankester says the figures confirm that South Africans are still prepared to support the arts in tough economic times.
"We were braced for a tough year but should have had more faith in the festival and our audiences. They came through for us," he said.
The combination of Mahomed and Lankester is evidently good for the repositioning and evolution of the festival. Both have pragmatism, foresight, focus and a heartening "can-do" attitude.
Their vision encourages entrepreneurial spirit and meaningful partnerships.
The festival's formal objectives are to deliver excellence; encourage innovation and development in the arts by providing a platform for both established and emerging South African artists; create opportunities for collaboration with international artists; and build new audiences.
They both spent much of the festival engaging with service-providers, sponsors, media, arts practitioners and partners, endlessly brainstorming ideas to grow and develop the festival, especially with next year's festival being arm-in-arm with the national flurry around 2010.
There is a tangible sense of building on what is good, keeping abreast of international trends, embracing useful technology like Facebook and Twitter and thinking of new ways of marketing. The combination of these two extraordinary personalities and their visionary yet participatory approach bodes well for the crucial next few years of the festival.
One could not help but feel hugely proud of Durban's presence.
Although not as strident as in previous years, Durban had a meaningful presence at the festival this year with some much-applauded productions. Top of the heap is KickstArt's Wit.
Wit was invited onto the main festival this year - a huge honour and a rarity for a Durban production. The rewards were sold-out houses, great feedback and rave reviews.
Christina Kennedy opened her review in festival daily newspaper, Cue, with, "Talk about ending the festival with a theatrical bang… this is theatre of the highest order that engages both the head and the heart, no question about it.
"(Clare) Mortimer's performance will leave you reeling, Wit will leave you stunned."
With Wit, KickstArt have made their mark on the national industry in no uncertain terms. To add value to the production, the US embassy brought playwright Margaret Edson to Grahamstown to participate in various public forums at the main and schools festivals.
For Wit to be on the main stage at the festival is a huge feather in our civic cap, but for it to be way up the list of the best-of-the-fest among the theatrical landed gentry from around the rest of the country is an honour indeed.
Also making the trek to the Eastern Cape from KZN were Jacobus van Heerden and Liam Magner with Tokoloshe Come Again, Spun and Catch.
"We have had a good festival," said Magner, while handing out fliers outside the ticket office. Others who enjoyed a high profile were Ben Voss with his Beauty and the BEE, Annie Robinson with her Strange Case of Hester Cilliers, and Ellis Pearson who was at the festival with his Black Out. Musically, Guy Buttery, Nibs van der Spuy, Farryl Purkiss and Busi Mhlongo all appeared on the programme.
The KZN flag flew high with the youthful presence of pupils from Eden College, and university drama departments.
As well as the dance, theatre, comedy, exhibitions, performance art, films, jazz, music, street theatre and craft, a variety of workshops, lectures and discussions were on offer.
The festival offered a fabulous ThinkFest programme to replace the old Winter School concept. Fascinating subjects fell under the spotlight - including grappling with the role of the humanities; spirituality and sexuality; legends and legacies; and surviving the global economic crisis. Of particular interest from Durban were Ewok (Iain Robinson), who delivered a lecture on graffiti and urban identity in addition to performing Spitfire, and Nanda Soobben, who spoke about the cartoonist as social activist and opinion maker in Graphic Crusaders.
Across the hall from ThinkFest was the celebration of the written word, WordFest. There was also a beefed up Hands On! Masks Off! series of practical networking workshops and seminars.
Some astonishing experiences were to be had: Brett Bailey's Blood Diamonds, an installation side-show at the now-derelict 130-year-old Grahamstown railway station, presented intimate harsh vignettes of the settler city. Another watershed piece was the South African premiere of Doug Wright's Pulitzer prize winning drama I am My Own Wife with Jeremy Crutchley in a much-talked about role as a German transvestite.
A surprise mainstream hit was Edinburgh festival regular, stand-up comedian Jimeoin. On the Fringe, comedy dominated the list of biggest-selling productions.
"Amazing" indeed. A taste of new ideas, new trends, new productions. A thoroughly stimulating 10 days. A selection of the top shows will be making their way to Hilton for the annual festival in September. We will be spoilt for choice.
The National Arts Festival is sponsored by Standard Bank, the Eastern Cape Government, the National Arts Council, the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund, Sunday Independent and M-Net.
[Email this story...]
[Easy Print...]
|
|
