Fiona Gordon: The latter part of my festival experience seemed to be jam-packed with gems…

I always make an effort to see at least one piece of ‘student’ theatre – this year’s choice was James Reynolds’ ‘Random Acts’, presented by the University of Johannesburg Drama Department. Transforming a relatively small performance space with well-considered design, flats are used to create three distinct apartments in which this ‘New South Africa’ love story takes place. Evidence of the lack of experience sometimes creeps in through awkward expression, but I was more than pleasantly surprised by the standard of the production on the whole, and heard from reliable sources that that was the case across the board with the student work this year.

‘Tariro’ is a physical theatre-based production on the Arena, bringing together performers from Zimbabwe, Malawi, the UK and South Africa. In an evocative socio-political commentary on the in-fighting in Zimbabwe, some of the complexities of life in the former colony are articulated through the context of a young Zimbabwean woman, and the histories of her family and that of her new husband.

Vusi Mahlasela rocked the Guy Butler Theatre, as he preached democracy, reconciliation and forgiveness from the stage – and played some tunes that had the audience on their feet. Extraordinary guitarists Guy Buttery, Nibs van der Spuy and Steve Newman, perform together in ‘18 Strings’ – in what seemed to be a demonstration of a succession of mentorship and inspiration. Each an accomplished performer in his own right, they make musical magic with their own instruments in individual mini-sets, but it was their joint efforts that this audience came to see. What a pity it was only one piece, and an encore, that featured what could have been a particularly interesting collaboration.

My interest in ‘Blood Orange’ was piqued by the involvement of playwright and director Greig Coetzee, but it is the extraordinary skill of actor Craig Morris which brings this story of a white boy growing up in apartheid South Africa to life. References to things of my own childhood, like the Boswell Wilkie Circus, pepper the text; the only things accompanying the solo performer on stage is a set of tyres over which he commands remarkable authority, and with which he conjures whole worlds in the imaginations of his audience in an astonishingly tight performance. Without a doubt one of the highlights of my festival.

Boundaries between dance and theatre blur increasingly, and I saw some interesting things expressed in movement pieces. ‘Stilted’ turns performance theory on its head, and Babayaga Theatre’s award-winning ‘Inua’ featured some of the most innovative on-stage-happenings I saw at this year’s festival. The much-anticipated ‘Swan Lake’ presented by choreographer and dancer Dada Masilo also questions traditional values and perceptions through her uniquely South African dance idiom.

Young Artist for Theatre Janni Younge’s ‘Ouroboros’ – with directional and design assistance from Janice Honeyman and Ilka Louw respectively, and sound design by Neo Muyanga, was my ‘if you see one thing’ prediction for this year’s festival. It was listed in the programme as an being hour, but ran to an hour and a half, and this unexpected length had a significant impact on my enjoyment of the piece, which as with most things at this year’s festival, seemed to run a little longer than necessary, but otherwise, was every bit the visual and theatrical treat I had hoped for. I sat open-mouthed through most of it, in awe at the detail. Using shadows with the ‘multimedia projection’ backdrop, much of the story is told through the manipulation of diminutive, but incredibly life-like moving puppets, by a khaki-clad team of puppeteers. The dream-like quality of the experience contributes to the subject matter which, through two characters who interact with one another at various stages of their lives, explores the cyclical of aspects nature, through love, dreams and death.

2007 Young Artist for Dance, Acty Tang’s ‘Inscrutable’ was one of my unexpected gems of the festival. His choice of venue limited audience size to about 40 people, who were ushered into a relatively small space – the garage-type roller-door pulled closed behind us as we took in our black- Chinese-writing-painted-on-newsprint surroundings. A flight of stairs leading to nowhere suddenly lead to somewhere as a ‘wall’ was torn down and we were allowed to move – newsprint crinkling underfoot – into the next cavernous space. Alternating between ‘conversation’, monologue and use of physicality, Tang considers how perspective shapes experience, making extensive use of the interesting space chosen for this site-specific work in an intricately and beautifully detailed piece of performance art. I have come to expect rather bizarre things from this avant-garde artist, and although the narcissistic undercurrent which pervades much art does so here too, ‘Inscrutable’ shows a development of his expertise in possibly one of his most successful pieces of work to date, as he contemplates his Chinese origins in a homage to his roots, and expression of choices as a Chinese South African. Profoundly bold and moving.

I had not been missing much in my absence from The Village Green, which was almost lifeless the few times I managed to get there. And I found very little of interest, other than very good value meals, and even then, a relatively limited selection.

The theatre and conversational stimulation overwhelmed and, despite my best intentions, I did not manage to get anywhere near any art. Or a host of other things I would have loved to have seen and done. And that was without trying to see what became many people’s ‘best’ productions – things like ‘London Road’, Lara Foot’s award-winning ‘Karoo Moose’, ‘Extra-Ordinary’ with DV8’s Dave Toole, ‘Wombtide’, ‘Decadence’… all of which I have seen, or know I will have the opportunity to see, in Cape Town.

15 days is amazing, but no matter how long the festival is, one will always have to face the inevitable fear of missing out and make some ruthless decisions. That considered, I do hope that next year they return to the 10 day format of previous years, which seems to be far more manageable from every aspect.

Fiona Gordon
fiona@artslink.co.za

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