The Siyasanga Cape Town Theatre Company, which has over the past two years been working with new South African playwrights to develop new plays, will be producing two of these plays this year.
The first new play is Three’s a Crowd and Fatima Dike, production director for Siyasanga, says: “It is yet another delightful comedy dealing with black gay issues from Pfarelo Nekamonde. Also, another first for our company is that we are staging it at Guga S’Thebe Arts and Culture Centre in Langa in the stunning new theatre there. Soweto has got its theatre, now Langa has its own. As a Langa resident, born and bred, this really thrills me.”
This is the second play from playwright Pfarelo Nekamonde whose first play, Chomi, was produced with great success when Roy Sargeant, artistic director for Siyasanga, was running the Artscape New Writing Programme.
Dike directs this new play with a cast of four young actors, Ntokozo Majozi, Yanga Mkonto, Inga Sikweyiya and Nicholate Nongoshe. Designs are by Paul Regenass.
Supporting new writing
Artistic director, Roy Sargeant says: “We are particularly grateful to our funders, the Percy Fox Foundation and the Mauerberger Foundation, for their support of this development initiative which has allowed us to develop eight playwrights and plays since 2015. Providing guidance and firm support for playwrights within an ongoing playwriting programme is important for South African theatre. Fatima Dike and I have been working together for over ten years supplying editorial support and expertise to writers and giving playwriting workshops. The two new full productions for 2017 have been made possible with funding from the National Lotteries Commission.”
The recently revamped Guga S’Thebe Arts and Culture Centre in Langa, housed in a brightly coloured building, is dedicated to the empowerment of the community.The centre is equipped with an amphitheatre, conference room, meeting rooms, exhibition areas, art studios, a resource centre, an Internet café and also a Cape Town Tourism Visitor Centre. The new theatre has been creatively constructed largely from recycled materials. In one of several studio spaces here you can watch pottery being made and then buy samples from the centre’s shop. Performances by local groups are often staged in the outdoor amphitheatre.
What: Three’s a Crowd
Where and when: Guga S’Thebe Arts and Culture Centre, Langa from 5 – 13 April
Book: Tickets at the door. Block bookings: dike.fatima@gmail.com
WS
