UCT Drama Hosts FRESH FROM FEST 2013 in Cape Town, Now thru July 27

Hot off the heels of the National Arts Festival, the productions featured this year promise to entertain, enthrall and even educate. This inter-varsity festival, FRESH FROM FEST 2013 at the Arena Theatre, creates a much needed platform for up and coming student theatre-makers to showcase their work directly after the hype of performing at Festival in Grahamstown. Featuring at the festival this year are the following institutions:

AFDA presents BETWEEN THE LINES directed by Christie Bellairs: A girl is convicted and sent to prison. As a result her group of college friends are forced to interrogate their lives, their relationships and their prejudices...Getting together to fall apart. This play makes use of selective realism, as it breaks the fourth wall.

UCT presents BEHIND EVERY YAWN THERE'S A SILENT SHOUT directed by Mira Sydow: The play is a devised work exploring the issue of rape within the context of a young circle of friends, looking at conflicting perspectives of what constitutes rape and the issues of retribution and forgiveness. Through the process of uncovering both versions of the incident various arguments are foregrounded. Whose truth will prevail? The play focuses on representing a conundrum central to the gender conflicts of our generation with a minimalist theatrical style inspired in parts by the structure and rhythm of film. The aim is not to resolve the questions posed but to evoke ongoing debate beyond the final curtain call. This year the UCT production walked away with three awards at the National Arts Festival: Best Student Theatre Production, Most Promising Student Director and Most Promising Student Writer/s.

CityVarsity presents THE UNMEN directed by Ashleigh Burton: A desolate landscape; some time in the future. A world not far removed from ours, where the law set to protect women has ultimately destroyed everything they are. This militant society, driven by basic needs and fuelled by shattered dreams, thrives on violence and has lost any desire for genuine human relationship. Amidst this destruction and oppression, we find a man, and a woman. They begin to discover something together, something they thought would never again occur between men and women. Could this be... LOVE? Told through a montage of shadows and text, both physical and verbal, City Varsity students inhabit this alternate universe where intimacy between two people flickers uncertainly amongst the charred remains of human interactions.

UCT presents LETTERS FROM SIVE directed by Gordon Bilborough: LETTERS FROM SIVE, a Theatre in Education piece produced by UCT and arepp:Theatre for Life targets young learners between the ages 4 and 12. UCT, the winner of the 2012 Student Theatre Festival, was commissioned by the National Arts Festival to create a production that will raise awareness about the functions of the South African Post Office. The story, devised under the direction of Gordon Bilbrough, revolves around Sive who has to leave her bestest best friend Murray to go stay with her Gogo in the Eastern Cape for the 'whooooole holiday'. However, once there, Sive misses Murray terribly and is so unhappy being unable to share the experiences she has on Gogo's farm with her best friend. So Gogo suggests she writes Murray a letter, introducing Sive to a new and interesting world: letter writing and the post office. Letters from Sive reminds audiences about the activity of sending and receiving letters and the warm feeling that is synonymous with receiving a letter, as well as encouraging them to utilise the numerous services offered by the South African Post Office. Sponsored by the South African Post Office, LETTERS FROM SIVE, premiered at the Festival as part of the Arts Encounter programme.

Waterfront Theatre School presents THE YELLOW WOOD directed by Paul Griffiths: 17-year-old Adam is frantically trying to memorise Robert Frost's poem "The Road not Taken" to recite in his English class, but because he didn't take his Ritalin on this particular morning, he can't get much farther than the first line, 'Two roads diverged in a yellow wood...' before an amazing yellow wood begins creeping into his school day. Desperate to prove he can turn his life completely around and become the cool and normal kid he's always dreamed of being, Adam struggles to memorise the poem - and, as it begins to take on a life of its own, Adam is pulled deeper and deeper into The Yellow Wood, where he must face the reality of who he is and decide who he will ultimately become.

University of the Western Cape presents WORDS 4 WOMEN directed by Washeema Roberts: This production plays with a variety of stereotypes and the effect is a celebration of women and their bodies. The young student cast uses words and actions to bring powerful and celebratory meaning to words that are often use to demean and oppress women. Through their performance they call on new interpretations of the words in the different languages. They play, they provoke and they take the audience on a journey of self-reflection. This is one of those productions that make you want more.

University of Stellenbosch presents BITTER directed by Wolf Brits: bit•ter /'b?t ?r/ adj. ,-ter•er, -ter•est, adj. 1. having a harsh, acrid taste. 2. producing one of the four basic taste sensations; not sour, sweet, or salt. 3. hard to bear: a bitter sorrow. 4. causing pain: a bitter chill. 5. characterized by or showing intense hostility: bitter enemies. 6. experienced at great cost: a bitter lesson. 7. resentful or cynical: bitter words. n. 8. that which is bitter; bitterness. 9. Brit. An ale bitter with hops. v.t. 10. to make bitter. adv. 11. extremely; very: a bitter cold night. [before 1000; Middle English, Old English biter; c. Old High German bittar, Old Norse bitr; akin to to bite] bit'ter•ly, adv. bit'ter•ness, n.

UCT presents BROTHERS IN BLOOD directed by Mdu Kweyama: Students from UCT's Drama department have returned triumphant from the 2013 Setkani/Encounter Festival that took place from 16 to 20 April in the Czech Republic. The group's entry in the international competition was in the form of an adaptation of prominent South African playwright Mike Van Graan's BROTHERS IN BLOOD. Van Graan is also an UCT Drama alumnus. The Setkani/Encounter Festival is hosted by Theatre Faculty JAMU (Janacek Academy of Music and Performing Arts) in Brno. The idea behind the event is to bring professionals and theatre schools from around the world into contact with each other. UCT Masters student Mdu Kweyama was awarded the Marta Best Director Award for his adaptation of BROTHERS IN BLOOD at this year's festival. Supported by strong Theatre and Performance undergraduate students Daniel Richards, Matthew Trustham and Tarryn Wyngaard, the production received standing ovations and high praise from audiences and fellow participants. A total of twelve schools participated in the event with student performers from countries such as Slovakia; Czech Republic; China; Mexico and many more. The 2013 festival also featured workshops and discussions over the five-day period. The UCT group were accompanied by Associate Professor Christopher Weare who had met the festival director, Professor Petr Oslzly, through the Cape Town Czech Ambassador in 1999. "The Czech Cape Town Embassy at the time arranged for Oslzly's professional theatre company, Goose on a String, to bring a production to the Grahamstown National Arts Festival and I then arranged for the production to transfer to the Little Theatre before returning to Brno," says Weare. Formal contact between UCT's Drama Department and the festival was established in 2001 and Oslzly and Weare have remained in contact for the past 13 years. After many years of professional acting, dancing and choreographing, the talented Kweyama returned to UCT to pursue a Masters in Theatre Making. "I wanted to try and combine my experiences of dance and drama and this adaptation of BROTHERS IN BLOOD is part of my research into that field. It was also my first experience as a director," says Kweyama. He credits the group's success to staff and fellow students of the UCT Drama Department and to Professor Weare in particular. "Winning this award has been amazing. It has encouraged me to continue with the path that I have embarked on," Kweyama concluded.

Reservations for all the shows can be made through the Little Theatre office but all payments are to be made in cash at the door on the night of the performance. For any further enquiries or to book your tickets contact Nabeelah via telephone on 021 480 7129 or via e-mail on littlebookings@gmail.com. Ticket prices are R25 students/pensioners and R50 for the general public.

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