{"id":19155,"date":"2013-04-10T10:54:36","date_gmt":"2013-04-10T08:54:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/gearing-up-for-grahamstown-festival\/"},"modified":"2013-04-10T10:54:36","modified_gmt":"2013-04-10T08:54:36","slug":"gearing-up-for-grahamstown-festival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/gearing-up-for-grahamstown-festival\/","title":{"rendered":"Gearing up for Grahamstown Festival?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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On the eve of the National Arts Festival\u2019s 40th anniversary, the Festival programme continues to push boundaries, and presents a thought-provoking line-up in Grahamstown, from the 27 June to 7 July 2013.<\/p>\n

As always, the backbone of the main programme is comprised of the work of the Standard Bank Young Artists. The first ever Young Artist for Performance Art, Anthea Moys, presents a series of contests entitled Anthea Moys vs the City of Grahamstown. Young Artist for Dance Fana Tshabalala\u2019s engagement with cleansing ceremonies is explored in his new work titled Indumba. Young Artists for Theatre (Prince Lamla) and Visual Arts (Mary Sibande), use historical incidents as the points of departure for their offerings \u2013 Asinamali and The purple shall govern, respectively; with SBYA for Music Runette Botha paying tribute to three centuries of composition in her recital, and SBYA for Jazz Shane Cooper pushing the envelope with his compositions and collaborations.<\/p>\n

The Dance programme will feature the Johannesburg Youth Ballet (JYB)\u2019s Hansel and Gretel; Gregory Maqoma\u2019s embodiment of the traditional, historic and heroic, Exit\/Exist; Jazzart Dance Theatre\u2019s translation of Biko\u2019s Quest \u2013 For a True Humanity from one art form (photography) to another (dance and performance), and a showcase of Rhythms of the Eastern Cape. Nicola Elliott interrogates the traditional notion of dance in Run!, presented on the Arena<\/p>\n

The Performance Art programme will feature two of Swiss artist\/performer Yann Marussich\u2019s works: Bleu Remix and Bain Bris\u00e9; Gavin Krastin\u2019s eccentric creativity in Rough Musick; and a collaboration with stellar local musicians in an experimental project, Untitled #310, co-ordinated by international artist Francisco L\u00f3pez.<\/p>\n

Mbongeni Ngema also returns to the Festival\u2019s Main stage this year with the South African premiere of The Zulu, and Hearts and Eyes Theatre Collective will present My Name is Rachel Corrie,based on the true story of the protagonist\u2019s death. Cry Havoc is an unnerving East-West love story set in a small apartment in Cairo, and marks the UJ Theatre\u2019s professional debut on the National Arts Festival\u2019s Main stage. Canadian playwright Morris Panych\u2019s award-winning black comedy Vigil promises to leave an impression on audiences; while SA theatre legend Tim Plewman of Defending the Caveman fame, stars in The Last Moustache \u2013 an outrageous one-man satire with a serious bite; reminding us that what we are sold as truth is often far from it.<\/p>\n

The political is a strong theme, with satirist Pieter-Dirk Uys returning to the Festival with Adapt or Fly and An Audience with Pieter-Dirk EISH. The Performing Arts Centre of the Free State (PACOFS) presents Madonna of Excelsior, adapted from the novel by Zakes Mda set in 1971, when nineteen citizens of Excelsior in South Africa\u2019s white-ruled Free State were charged with breaking apartheid\u2019s Immorality Act, and a showcase of work produced under the umbrella of The Market Theatre features Woza Albert (directed by Standard Bank Young Artist Prince Lamla),Cadre (Om philo Molusi), The Island (directed by John Kani), The Line (directed by Gina Shmukler).<\/p>\n

The Music programme will see the return of regular crowd favourites such as the Gala and Symphony Concerts, Conduct Unbecoming, KZN Ensembles and the Chanticleer Singers. Also to look forward to: a project comprising compositions by contemporary composers entitled Hidden Treasures; recitals by the internationally award-winning BenSchoeman and Anz\u00e9l Gerber; Ed Jordan and Nicholas Nicolaidis in the children\u2019s concert Beautiful Creatures; Frank Sinatra Friends ; the vibrant community-basedJazz at Dakawa, and South African National Youth Orchestra.<\/p>\n

The Standard Bank Jazz Festival, Grahamstown 2013 incorporates a variety of disciplines into their programme. The Standard Bank National Youth Jazz Festivaltakes place alongside a diverse programme that features Mainstream, Blues \/ Funk \/ World Music, Afro-Jazz, Modern Jazz and Youth; with highlights such as Jonas Gwangwa, Vusi Mahlasela, former SBYA Gloria Bosman, Steve Turre from the Juilliard School of Music, the Soweto String Quartet and new sensations MiCasa, and late night jazz jam session or blues gigs at the new Standard Bank Jazz Blues Cafe at the Lowlander, St. Andrew\u2019s College.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s film programme features an eclectic mix of seminars and local and international films, considering topics such as The Marquis De Sade and His Contribution To The South African Struggle For Liberty, Mytho Therapy: The Magus, The Master The Anti-Psychiatrist, Documents And Soundtracks for the End Of Time, Matinee Screenings at The Bioscope. Films to flag Include Underground: The Julian Assange Story, Bail Out: The Age Of Greed, Meat, The Marat\/Sade, The Magus, Beware Of Mr Baker, The War Around Us, and The Naked Prey.<\/p>\n

The photographs of anti-apartheid photographers, Benny Gool, Zubeida Vallie and Adil Bradlow, are brought together in a group exhibition entitled Martyrs, Saints and Sellouts; whileWomen, Our Treasure!, celebrates the strength of South African women and the manner in which they have held family structures together. Based on selections from the Standard Bank Corporate Art Collection, The Art of Banking: celebrating through collections provides different a journey through South Africa\u2019s history, using art works as points of departure, or triggers, for telling a story about various eras, episodes, circumstances and events. Two exhibitions showcase the work of photographer \/ filmmaker Brent Meistre, and an exhibition of Wilma Cruise\u2019s work is entitled Will you, Won\u2019t you, join the dance?<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s Festival will see a focus on the work of Mike van Graan, in a pilot project that will attempt to put the spotlight on a Festival Playwright. There will also be a showcase of work produced by the PE Opera House, as well as the Market Theatre showcase. Student Theatre will feature seventeen student theatre productions sponsored by the South African Post Office.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On the eve of the National Arts Festival\u2019s 40th anniversary, the Festival programme continues to push boundaries, and presents a thought-provoking line-up in Grahamstown, from the 27 June to 7 July 2013. As always, the backbone of the main programme is comprised of the work of the Standard Bank Young Artists. The first ever Young […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[1289,5],"class_list":{"0":"post-19155","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-south-africa","7":"tag-mype","8":"tag-port-elizabeth-2","9":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19155","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19155"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19155\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19155"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19155"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}