Eclectic & Uncurated: The Critter’s guide to drama & theatre at NAF ’18

The National Arts Festival is properly here.

Like, PnP is super busy. GP number plates are racing around ‘coz five minutes to any destination hasn’t quite sunk in yet, and CA number plates are finding unique ways and places to park. Neon coloured fun fair rides have been assembled on the old Village Green (now Fiddler’s Green). Bunting adorns the façades of what usually serve as dreary school halls. And hordes of hyped-up hipster youths are patrolling the streets, ready to alternately judge and embrace all that is artsy.

There is action!

The Critter is ready for this action and has slaved over the mammoth programme for weeks on end purely to assist you, good festinoes and you newbies-soon-to-be-festinoes-too, in whittling down the impressive and extensive fringe choices. (Do read our guide to all things movement on the fringe.)

118 productions make up the fringe this year. They are – as always – an eclectic mix of themes and styles and (dare we say) quality. It’s uncurated. Anything goes! Anyway, to see them all you’d have to watch 10.7 a day (not possible) and experience nothing else at the NAF (not recommended).

We know there’s an eager handful of you with colour coded excel spreadsheets arranged down to the half hour… good for you. To the rest: get your green highlighter and programme in hand and organise your fest life. Starting here:

Tswalo
Critter Steve called Tswalo an “extraordinary accomplishment” and the “mystical made manifest” – not compliments he throws around willy-nilly (read his review here). It’s directed by Mahlatsi Mokgonyana, and written and performed by Billy Langa. We other Critters generally trust Steve’s judgement and we’re excited to see Tswalo for ourselves. You should too, and because the Edge crew has it on their billing, it’s on daily throughout fest so no excuse to miss it.

Black
Black is “a wrenching tale, underscored with many South African conundrums of race, class, politics, and shot through with themes of betrayal, treachery, love and jealousy” (according to Critter Mike, read more here). It’s brought together by the rather impressive team of Jade Bowers (directing), Ameera Patel (performing) and Penelope Youngleson (who adapted the script from CA Davids’ The Blacks of Cape Town). We recommend.

Curl Up & Dye
At the end of the Apartheid 80s, Sue Pam-Grant’s play Curl Up & Dye was an instant hit. For many a year, it’s been a student theatre staple across the country’s drama departments, and seen the lights of the stage many, many a time since it’s penning… This year Wynne Bredenkamp revives it for audiences once again. We’ve been partial to Bredenkamp’s creative directing before (read here) so we’re keen to see what she does with this iconic piece of SA theatre.

The Room with Three Windows
I watched Avant Guava Productions’ In Whorefish Bloomers at the Cape Town Fringe last year, calling it sassy and slick (read the review here). It was excellent and I liked Kei-Ella Loewe’s directorial style. This year she directs The Room with Three Windows and has also written the work… about a woman living her life in (self-created?) shadows, paralysed by the fear of what’s ‘out there’. I think there’ll be adventure and humour and another slick show from Loewe and her cast. (side note: ‘Avant Guava’ is a cool name).

The Blue Period of Milton van der Spuy
Greig Coetzee’s play. Peter Mitchell directs, and Francis Mennigke performs as the tragi-comic Milton. It’s good, trust me. But aktchelly… you just gotsta read what Critter Steve said (here) about it at last year’s Cape Town Fringe. Then you’ll know why you gotta go.

Fire House
Back again is Fire House by the Hijinks Theatre crew. We praised the cleverness of their physical theatre style, the excellence of the cast’s ensemble, and the manner in how they dealt with the topic of civil service in SA. Read our reviews here and here. Director Kirsten Harris is directing another show called Born Naked – which we reckon will be hot stuff too.

Selwyn & Gabriel
A couple of respected critics have said this is brilliant. It is directed by Tara Notcutt who people in the know, know is good. And written by Richard Kaplan, who wrote The Finkelsteins Are Coming To Dinner which went down well with Critter Steve a coupla years back (read here). Selwyn & Gabriel promises to be “intriguing”, a “magical modern mystery” – yes please. And anyway, alliteration always appeals to me.

Those Contagious theatre makers are here again to spread their addictively good stuff:

It’s hard not to be impressed with the stage skills of James Cairns, who returns with three solo shows which have been moerse popular at previous fests: El Blanco, The Devil and Billy Markham, and James Cairns Against Humanity – read what we’ve had to say about these shows here, here, and here.

The Old Man and The Sea
The stellar performance team of Taryn Bennett, Jaques De Silva and James Cairns, directed by Jenine Collocott, are delivering a “theatrical reimagining” of Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea. If you loved The Snow Goose a few years back, brought to us by the same team (sans De Silva), you’re sure to love this one too. You should pack some tissues just in case.

Silkworm
I think I first saw Taryn Bennett perform a decade ago in Janet Buckland’s Doctor Collinger’s Funeral Service, alongside Daniel Buckland. It was one of the best things I’ve ever seen on stage, and I’ve been a fan of hers since. But I’ve never witnessed Bennett solo on stage. Silkworm is about a “woman who’s guarded inner world threatens to materialize in her real life”. I’m sure we won’t be disappointed.

And now…

Using my divining skills developed over years to identify by blurb alone, theatre that ‘should be good’… here’s a short list of shows I’m confident will be worth a watch (even if it’s just to join Long Table conversations about them):

Seeing Red
Billed on the fringe and also Rhodes University’s student theatre production, directed by Mmatumisang Motsisi. RU regularly produces winning works on the student theatre platform, theatre that deserves its awards. As an alumnus, I’m not biased in any way whatsoever nah-ah not here no sir. But sjoe, RU students (and the many, many graduates who appear annually at NAF) have a magical touch to their theatre-making. Seeing Red is going to shake some foundations and I’m keen to watch the walls come tumbling down.

Tinstuff
We’ve got a feeling this is going to be one of those hits of the fringe. Directed by Hayleigh Evans (of the innovative POPArt Theatre in Maboneng, Jozi) and written and performed by Lebogang Mogashoa who we’ve only heard good things about… the story is about same sex “black teen romance in Africa”.

Medusa Incarnate
“She’s a bad bitch with snakes for hair … and her Wikipedia needs a serious update”. You’ll already have a laugh with the programme blurb. Kate Pinchuck, who has written and stars in Medusa Incarnate, is quite snaaks – besides watching this show, I’d recommend following her Instagram account for regular doses of self-deprecating piss-taking observations on the arts ‘industry’ machine, and lots of other stuff, neh. Dara Beth directs. I think we can look forward to a crisp, smart, and ruthlessly honest piece of theatre.

Woolworths
Who isn’t sold by this: “A dark, mesmerising and hilarious satire on middle-class South Africa”? We certainly need it. And The Critter is eagerly anticipating this work. Juliet Jenkin is well-known for her multi award-winning play The Boy Who Fell From The Roof, and I’ve no doubt Woolworths will be as excellent.

Thanks for reading, festival people. Curtains down for now until tomorrow dawns on Day One of the National Arts Festival 2018.

p.s. Guys, The Critter’s guide is just a small snack, the kind that makes you realise how hungry you are for more. So please dig in to the programme and get messy… you’ve got to be spontaneous and take some risks! We can’t do all the work for you.

Enjoy #NAF18 and we’ll see you on the streets and in the theatres.

Check out the full programme here.