The National Arts Festival’s Exec Producer and its Artistic Committee have finalised their selections for the 2018 event – and shows headed for the Main Programme stages are being announced as details are confirmed.
“We received an overwhelming number of high-calibre proposals for consideration. Whittling these down to match the available space and resources at our disposal was no mean feat, but the Artistic Committee tackled this gargantuan task with gusto. I feel confident audiences can look forward to a bold, but balanced programme of work that will both entertain and provoke,” says Exec Producer Ashraf Johaardien. “
Among the confirmed works that are
Steven Cohen’s performance art piece put your heart under your feet… and walk! / to Elu is an intense meditation on loss, grief and absence, following the death of Cohen’s partner and artistic collaborator, the choreographer Elu. This work takes the form of a performance, a two-screen projection and an installation of sculptural objects. A myriad pointe shoes invoke his absence and are collaged with other found objects embedded with histories, beliefs, many of them recurrent images in Cohen’s artistic lexicon.
Mary Watson’s JUNGFRAU will be presented in partnership with Festival Theaterformen (Germany). Directed and designed by Jade Bowers, 2017 Naledi Award Winner for Best Director and the 2016 Standard Bank Young Artist for Theatre, and adapted by Ameera Patel. This piece of theatre is based on the Caine prize-winning short story from Watson’s collection Moss.
“…poetic revolt: raw, confronting, iridescent, antisocial …” is how Boris Nikitin’s HAMLET has been described. Presented in partnership with Pro Helvetia, Johannesburg, performer and electro punk musician Julian Meding takes on the role of a contemporary Hamlet rebelling against reality. Supported by a baroque ensemble assembled by last year’s NAF Featured Artist Neo Muyanga, Meding embarks on a tour de force in which he reveals himself, his body and his biography to the eyes of the audience.
STAGED is UJ Arts & Culture’s all-new play development platform, a public-facing extension of the hugely successful UJ Can You? Programme that actively identifies and develops talent from amongst UJ’s 50 000 students. STAGED similarly seeks to nurture new plays and professional talent for the stage by creating a national platform to showcase selected works to local and international producers and presenters. Featured productions for 2018 National Arts Festival programme include Wynne Bredenkamp’s AT THE EDGE OF THE LIGHT (SA), Joakim Daun’s THE INCIDENT (Sweden/Zimbabwe/SA) and Greg MacArthur’s A CITY (Canada/SA).
Presented by the Market Theatre Laboratory and Windybrow Arts Centre Youth Drama Company in collaboration with Art of Synergy Circus School and supported by the French Institute of South Africa (IFAS), Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s THE LITTLE PRINCE is the story of a grown up meeting his inner child. It’s a philosophical contemplation of loneliness, friendship, adulthood and authority retold for the stage.
The National Arts Festival has also secured the rights to screen the UK National Theatre’s live theatre recordings which include ANGELS IN AMERICA, WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? and HAMLET.
NAF Featured Artist for 2018 Mamela Nyamza will present her work on the Main programme. Confirmed dance works include HATCHED (a retrospective piece about becoming a mother) and PHUMA-LANGA, which looks at the revival of language, art and culture. Mamela’s third work as Featured Artist will be revealed soon.
The Gala Concert will take place on the first weekend of the Festival this year. THE EASTERN CAPE PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA conducted by Richard Cock is set for 1 July at the Guy Butler Theatre. Details about the ballet performance, also be on the first weekend, will be announced.
Dates to diarise
2 April – A select range of must-see shows will go live for booking
7 May – Full NAF Festival programme www.nationalartsfestival.co.za, shows open for booking
Mid-May – Printed programme at select Exclusive Books, Standard Bank branches, some theatres across SA
28 June – 8 July – NAF presents a packed programme of incredible shows, discussions, public art, entertainment, more
About the main programme
The Artistic Committee (experts in various disciplines) selects the content of the Main programme. Work from both within and outside South Africa is considered, with these in mind: the artistic merits of any submission; the creation of a varied and balanced programme and the costs involved.
What: National Arts Festival 2018 (NAF 2018)
NAF 2018 Programme: www.nationalartsfestival.co.za
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Instagram: @nationalartsfestival, use hashtag #NAF18
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