Experimental Directions, the second season of new directors’ work comes to the Hexagon Studio Theatre on the University of KwaZulu-Natal Pietermaritzburg campus from August 26 to 29 at 6 pm.
The aim of the season is to entertain, amuse, and provoke thought and discussion. While the first season was of scripted works, this new season is made up of original works devised and directed by postgraduates in drama and performance studies. There is an exciting range of short plays presenting new ideas from a very creative group of directors.

• The full programme is as follows:
  Wednesday, August 26 and Friday, August 28 at 6 pm: love hate; 1×3=1; Hysteria; Breaking the Wall.
• Thursday, August 27 and Saturday, August 29 at 6 pm: Riddle; Wonderful; Politricks.

THE SHOWS

1X3=1 is a play set in contemporary South Africa. Growing up without parents is a challenge to anyone, and many handle it differently. This show the story of a woman, Luthando Myeni, who is suffering from Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID). Brave Luthando shares her terrifying experience of a childhood trauma. Through another traumatic event, we begin to experience more of Luthando’s identities. Will she be willing to help the police track down a murderer? Or let the person get away with it? Inspired by Antonin Artaud’s theatre of cruelty, director, Lungile Mncube, creates an interesting tale of trauma and death.

Wonderful: This tragic love story of two characters, Wonderful and Rose, musicians who are madly in love and who make their living through singing for small gigs and weddings. They finally have a chance of a big gig which will change their lives forever. As they rehearse for it, they dream about how their lives will be changed. But fate has other ideas for them…Devised and directed by Mxolisi Gwala.

Breaking the Wall: This comedy tells the story of two cellmates as they dare to escape their fate in prison. A plan, 10 years in the making, is set in motion as they attempt to take back their freedom in this wild and wacky postmodern physical comedy. Elements of slapstick and standup are woven into a piece inspired by comedy teams such as Laurel and Hardy, the Three Stooges, Monty Python, the Goons and the Bucklands. And probably what goes on in Trevor Noah’s head…
Devised and directed by Nic Hughes.

love hate: This is a piece about a relationship between a couple struggling with the everyday problems faced by married people who have a newborn. The play looks at issues such as gender roles within partnerships. The device of role reversal in this piece brings out the comic elements, allowing us all to laugh at ourselves and our relationship peculiarities. Devised and directed by Nokwazi Mkhatshwa.

Politricks: Politricks is a high-energy satirical show that confronts three of South Africa’s biggest politicians. The three politicians find themselves at heaven’s gates where they come face-to-face with their “ungodly ways” on earth. Using caricature and political sloganism, the piece is grotesquely comical whilst still dealing with relevant South African political situations. Devised and directed by Nompilo Jili.

Riddle: This piece explores the seemingly normal man seen through the internal struggle of extreme emotion. Speaking with the body and riding on anticipation, Riddle hopes he can overcome his biggest enemy yet: himself. Devised and directed by Shivani Hariparsad.

Hysteria: Hysteria is a multimedia, physical theatre performance that looks at moments of madness through the eyes of Maria, a woman destroyed by a series of tragedies. Set in 1946, a year after World War II, Maria, confined to her room in a mental asylum, tries to deal with a disappearance and death closely related to her. Hysteria shows the journey of a woman in pain seeking psychological relief, told through movement and flashbacks. Devised and directed by Brandon Bosch.

Tickets for the festival are R40 (R25 concessions) at the door.