Ashraf Johaardien. Photo: Jan Potgieter
Playwright and arts administrator, Ashraf Johaardien, has been appointed as the executive producer of the National Arts Festival, a newly created role aimed at taking South Africa’s premier arts event boldly into the future. Continue reading
Outgoing National Arts Festival artistic director, Ismail Mahomed.
ARTISTIC excellence was celebrated at the National Arts Festival on Sunday morning (July 10) when the winners of the 2016 Standard Bank Ovation Awards were revealed at a ceremony which also honoured outgoing National Arts Festival artistic director, Ismail Mahomed.
Commenting on the impact of the awards, Mahomed said: “The Ovation Awards have earned a significant gravitas in the arts sector. They have become a barometer for audiences and visiting arts managements about productions that should not be missed. Artists at the festival have been bold and have used their talents and skills to engage with burning issues in the most creative ways.” Continue reading
GARY Gordon, the “father of South African physical theatre”, was presented with a Standard Bank Standing Ovation Award at a reception held at the Monument in Grahamstown, in honour of his “longstanding creative energy in South Africa’s cultural life and his enormously significant contributions to the vitality of the National Arts Festival’s main, fringe and arena programmes”. Continue reading
Drama For Life heading to the National Arts Festival.
Bags are packed, performances have been rehearsed, and programmes have been set. Drama for Life is leaving the wintery smog of Johannesburg for the student town of Grahamstown – for 11 days, at least.
The National Arts Festival, the biggest annual celebration of the arts on the African continent, will be held in Grahamstown from June 30 to July 10, and Drama for Life – the University of the Witwatersrand’s arts centre for social transformation and healing – will be a huge part of it. Continue reading
The Fleur du Cap winners.
THE winners of the 51st annual Fleur du Cap Theatre Awards were announced at the Baxter Theatre in Cape Town on Sunday, March 20.
The biggest winners on the night were Samsa-masjien which won five awards and Orpheus in Africa, which took home four. Continue reading
Are you a frustrated thespian with a play burning a hole in your pocket? Perhaps a seasoned professional drowning in corporate gigs and yearning for the magic of the stage? A wannabe, gottabe music sensation in the making… a community group looking to take the world by storm?
Then the National Arts Festival Fringe is where you could find fame and glory in 2016. Registration is now open for Africa’s largest open-access Festival, which will take place in Grahamstown from June 30 to July 10. Continue reading
From left: Themba Mbuli, Siya Makuzeni, Mohau Modisakeng, Jade Bowers, and Avigail Bushakevitz_
Five of South Africa’s brightest creative stars were named as recipients of the Standard Bank Young Artist Awards on Wednesday, October 28, recognising and honouring their dynamic and outstanding contribution to the vitality of the arts in the country. Continue reading
What Goes Up….
WITH a bold and sassy programme of more than 70 productions, this year’s Cape Town Fringe – which runs until October 4 – promises to be a showcase of the best of South African theatre. Continue reading
Production posters around Grahamstown. Photo: Cuepix/Louisa Feiter
The National Arts Festival (NAF) in Grahamstown is calling for proposals for the 2016 Main programme which runs from June 30 to July 10, 2016. Continue reading
The popularity of Grahamstown’s National Arts Festival has been reaffirmed with the release of this year’s attendance figures, which show a “significant” increase in attendance in 2015. This increase comes despite expectations that attendance might flatten after last year’s bumper 40th birthday programme. Continue reading
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