The Artscape New Voices 2018 programme features four very new, very fresh, very different chosen productions. The event will run in the Artscape Arena from October 2 to 27 2018.
Scriptwriters and storytellers were invited to submit their texts or concepts or synopses, or even an invitation to a showcase/teaser of their work as early as February. From these, only four newly-written South African and African works by South Africans/Africans are chosen. Works this year are in English, Xhosa and Afrikaans as well as a mixture of the three languages.
Says Marlene Le Roux, CEO of Artscape: “The Artscape New Voices 2018 programme seeks to give an opportunity to young writers with work that aims to reclaim and restore marginalised aesthetics, content and language in arts and performances with stories that deal with issues of a social, cultural, heritage, identity, gender or language nature, reflecting our diverse society.”
Artscape New Voices 2018 line-up
From October 2 to 6 Nicola Moerman’s The Third Force, directed by Rafiek Mammon will open the season. The Third Force takes a look in between the cracks of the words we speak, and explores what reality means to different people. What happens within a person’s mind whilst experiencing the many pressures and burdens of everyday life? The Third Force is a creative and artistic depiction of life and its many complexities and repercussions – who wields power and over whom, and why? Using various theatrical devices, The Third Force explores the actual experiences of an anxiety attack sufferer, ultimately aiming at giving a voice to those who struggle to express how they really feel in a world that clearly favours extroverts and alpha personalities.
Next up is No Further Questions, written by Zinobulali Goduka and directed by Fatima Dike from October 8 to 13. A student is shot dead during a protest. The air turns sour when it is discovered that it is the president of the SRC and leader of ‘Fees Must Fall’, Khanyisa Ngxekani, shot by her policeman boyfriend. Concealed truths come out as the court hearing proceeds. Billed as a psycho-political-thriller, the plot thickens as the tension builds up and the question on everyone’s lips is: Will justice be served?
Then from October 15 to 20, Korreltjie Kop Klong is my Dood, written by Herschelle Benjamin and directed by Sandra Temmingh hits the Arena stage. Korreltjie Kop Klong is my Dood is a story about matriarchal love, struggles and strife. Somewhere in Mitchells Plain a single mom awaits the return of her son from yet another rehabilitation centre. After all the sleepless nights, countless hospital visits and neighbours’ jeering, she finds herself alone, yet again, in a constant battle between a mother’s love and a son’s debilitating affliction. This personal story offers a fresh take on the theme of the drug scourge that is often the devastation of families on the Cape Flats.
And closing the season will be The Widow, an adaptation of Dr Nomfundo Mali’s support group reports, directed by Siphokazi Jonas from October 22 to 27. The Widow is a series of monologues representing a platform to investigate how widows cope after the loss of their husbands and loved ones. The monologues aim to create dialogue towards healing and recognising the pain that comes with loss.
What: Artscape New Voices 2018
Where and when: Artscape Arena from October 2 to 27 2018
Book: Computicket
WS
