Sharing numerous stages and
performance spaces with some of the best in the country, UJ put its best foot
forward at this year’s National Arts Festival in Graham’s town. There, Alice
Who? and SA Shorts made their mark amidst the vast creative spectrum by
being part of Student theatre and representing the new generation of performers
who are getting their first taste of the global stage by taking part this, the second largest festival in the world.
The student theatre festival
hosted strong pieces, full of many talented and trained performers who study
their art and dedicate their lives to this while UJ stood, an equal, with a
cast of volunteer performers who carry the heart and spirit for acting and
dancing, respectively, and who performed pieces which “reach out to new
audiences” said Christina Kennedy, South African theatre critic and arts writer,
about SA Shorts.
The Student Theatre was
adjudicated by four esteemed panellists of internationally recognised advisers
consisting of Christina Kennedy, Kathy Perkins, Gez Casey and Kemati Porter,
who were assigned to provide input,
adjudication and constructive analysis for four categories of competition which
included ‘Best student Theatre production’, ‘Most Promising Student Director’,
Most Promising writer’ and ‘Best Student Theatre Poster’.
Of the four categories that were
open for competition UJs’ SA Shorts walked away with the best poster which had
a great impact ‘artistically and as a promotional tool’ as was the criteria.
Featuring among the 16 other student productions at the festival, SA Shorts was
never at a lack of an audience and received great praise as well as
constructive critique from the panel.
“The student theatre advisors at
this year's National Arts Festival were extremely impressed with the level of
commitment and enthusiasm displayed by the UJ students in SA Shorts,
particularly bearing in mind that they are not studying drama and are
participating in such productions on a purely voluntary basis, giving of their
free time to enrich themselves and add to the burgeoning cultural renaissance
on campus. For this, the students and their supervisors are to be heartily
congratulated” added Kennedy and the panellists.
Hosted the Kingswood Theatre were
Alice Who? and 13 other pieces, but there was a lot of enthusiasm around Alice.
Sivu Situngu, who is a Rhodes student and worked for the festival, found Alice
to be one of two shows that stood out to in all aspects of professionalism and
performance quality for that venue and also added that it was worthy enough to
have featured in the Main stage rather than on the Fringe.
All the performers felt that when
it came to their craft they had a hunger to display with their love and passion,
and they put in all they had and wanted to keep their eyes on growing through
this experience in their respected styles and keeping to a high standard of
professionalism as well.
When it came time to perform SA Shorts did not have room for any
butterflies to intimidate them. They focused on staying true to the stories
that they were telling and doing justice to their talents and to themselves.
They felt that through the diversity and intention of their show, they had the
inspiration to participate in contributing to the celebration of theatre.
Nathanael Chanza explained the experience as “It’s like being in the Spanish La
Liga yet, we’re only just in the PSL”.
Alice found that the National
Arts Festival is not just a platform to showcase the arts as any other form of
entertainment but it holds a vast array of skills, talents and meaningful
lessons also tackling social issues through individual performance pieces. “The
Arts are there to educate people, to send a message and to change lives”
commented Jacob Nofemela (The Mad Hatter) from Alice Who.
After seeing different pieces
from other performances at the festival, it became a more eye opening
experience, not only as a display of the rich talent which is held in our country
but also as a source of inspiration, admiration and provoking aspiration within
the performers. “Their technique, energy and skill, to not only dance but to
perform, showed us that we need both passion and dedication in our craft and
the versatility and creativity of this sparks a new appreciation and respect
for dance” continued Jacob.
SA Shorts felt this experience
was one of immeasurable value. Being on the road together gave them a chance to
conceptualise each other’s energy and personalities so to better understand one
another and this only aided their on-stage dynamic. Being among likeminded
people in the midst of the festival also aided in their growth as performers
and finding their drive intensified through the commonality and likeminded performers
whom they interacted with.
The results of this years’ Arts
Festival only holds a brighter future in the development, stimulation and
growth of the arts community and more so among young performers. Proving to be
a beacon of hope and a source of inspiration and growth, the array of exhibitions,
performances, workshops and other offerings held by this festival, is an
encouragement to embrace our reality and explore our creativity, to grow
personally and learn from our humanity. Oscar Wilde (Irish Poet, Novelist,
Dramatist and Critic) also said “I regard the theatre as the greatest of all
art forms, the most immediate way in which a human being can share with another
the sense of what it is to be a human being.”
