Tracey Saunders
As the curtain comes down on 2014 it’s worth looking back at some of the productions that ensured that Cape Town retained its status as a thriving thespian hub.
The year began on a good footing with the return of The Things You Left Behind. Potgieter’s poignant and memorable play returned to the stage after being named as one of the highlights of the 2012 year. As with many other plays it was birthed at the much loved Intimate Theatre on the UCT Hiddingh Campus which closed its doors after 12 years leaving a void in the theatre community which will be difficult to fill.
Small theatres continued their popularity with audiences and theatre makers alike and independent theatres continue to produce a wide range of shows with the Alexander Theatre leading the pack in its second year by hosting 98 productions. The venue sold a remarkable 11 670 tickets for 407 performances during the year. Jon Keevy, manager of the Alexander Upstairs said that the most popular show based on audience response was The Epicene Butcher and Other Stories for Consenting Adults.
Jemma Khan has acquired a cult following with her quirky and provocative Kamishibai (paper drama ) production which will be returning in January 2015.
Another unusual show was 2092: God van Klank which was performed in the cellar of the PJ Olivier Centre on the Stellenbosch University Campus. Set in a post apocalyptic world where sound is forbidden Chris van Niekerk, an incarcerated musician is permitted to perform one final concert. The production was haunting and a fine example of site specific performance which utilised not just the physical space, but the sense of the space itself as integral parts of the piece.
Whilst not actually performed on a rugby pitch Balbesit, brought the field to the stage. The play which was a highlight at the KKNK festival finally made its way to the local stage and it was worth the wait. Written by Saartjie Botha and directed by Jaco Bouwer the cast of 21 delivered breath taking performances which laid bare the state of the nation using the analogy of rugby in one of the most original productions of the year.
Whilst one could not avoid feeling completely overwhelmed by the large cast of Balbesit many of the solo shows performed during the year delivered as strong a kick with a minimum of staging. Drive with Me(Megan Furniss), The Champion(Khayalethu Antony), Oscar and The Pink Lady(Sandra Prinsloo), Going Gooding(Malcolm Gooding) and Grounded(Mikkie Dene Le Roux) capitalised on strong scripts with deft directing and engaging and riveting performances.
2014 also saw the launch of the inaugural Cape Town Fringe Festival in September. Organised by the National Arts Festival of Grahamstown in collaboration with the City of Cape Town, the festival was not without its critics and teething problems. With more than 100 productions the festival offered a range of shows from comedy and musicals to riveting drama. The second iteration is set to join Infecting the City and Zabalaza as an annual fixture on the Cape Town festival circuit.
The UCT student productions in 2014 were of a particularly high standard and a cohort of students presented their productions on a professional platform in November. Curl up and Dye , Uhm and The Open Couple thrust the new graduates on to the stage and in to the limelight which they handled well. Earlier in the year students worked on The Titus Project, which was conceptualised by Jeffrey Sichel the Establishing Coordinator of the Unesco-ITI (International Theatre Institute) Unitwin Network for Higher Education in The Performing Arts. The performance of Titus Andronicus was a visual feast and a perfect example of interpreting current crises through the medium of classic texts.
Luke Ellenbogen, manager of the UCT Little Theatre complex said that “seeing the UCT class who were my first teaching class, blossom into a tremendous ensemble of talented and giving artists and theatre makers” was the highlight of his year. When asked about 2015 he said he was looking forward to “new and exciting upgrades and changes at the Little Theatre complex and would love to see The Pervert Laura have legs and see more runs elsewhere.”
Ellenbogen is not alone in hoping that Louis Viljoen’s dark psycho drama returns to the stage.
Mandla Mbothwe, the creative manager at Artscape expressed his delight at returning to Cape Town and said that the high point of his year was “ The Artscape Heritage Festival, and its program that reflected on how we should begin to build on Artscape being a place of emerging voices, of high art and creative buzz”.
Mbothwe has bought his signature style of authentic South Africa stories to the Artscape and his hope for 2015 is that “we could be more familiar with ourselves, to begin to tell more and more of our stories embracing our own ways of telling them. To tell South African and African stories in our own ways and to truthfully deal with our bleeding wound.”
Distinctly South African stories were told by two of Athol Fugard’s older plays Playland and Hello and Goodbye, which were performed in 2014. Albert Pretorius was phenomenal in the former while Marlisa Doubell brought a poignant honesty to her portrayal of Hester in the latter.
The Fugard highlight of the year however was the playwright himself performing his most recent play The Shadow of the Hummingbird. I say recent and not last as he was writing a new script while rehearsing for his semi-autobiographical role. The Fugard Theatre also hosted A Human Being Died That Night, written by Nicholas Wright and based on the book by Phumla Gobodo-Madikizela. The harrowing memories of Eugene de Kock were portrayed unflinchingly by veteran British actor Matthew Marsh. Another visiting production, War Horse by The National Theatre of London ended the year on a spectacular note with many an audience member left awestruck by the puppetry of The Handspring Puppet Company.
2015 is already promising to be an interesting year with Marthinus Basson’s adaptation of Macbeth Slaapeloos opening at the Baxter in February. This production stunned audiences at the Aardklop Festival and continues the trend of the best of the Afrikaans festivals returning to Cape Town stages.
In a lighter vein Matthew Wild will be hoping to replicate the success of The Rocky Horror Show, which recently celebrated its 400th performance, when he directs Cabaret at The Fugard in March.
As we bid farewell to the old year raise a glass to the many theatre makers, playwrights, directors, performers and unsung technical staff who ensured that 2014 was a year of theatrical delights.