#ShakespeareMustFall? Festival
Venue: Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre
Dates: 21/09/2016 to 02/10/2016
Times: 18h30
#ShakespeareMustFall?
Student Production
This theatre festival is part of the broader “Decolonising Shakespeare?: Contestations and re-imaginings for a post-liberation South Africa” event being hosted by the Drama and Performance Studies department, University of KwaZulu-Natal (Howard College), to coincide with the global commemorations of the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death.
Four hundred years after his death, the name ‘William Shakespeare’ is not only extensively known in the English speaking world and beyond, but inevitably evokes an emotional response: the literati amongst us may soften and offer an appropriate quotation, others may groan upon remembering the pain of being force fed his plays over a decade of schooling that left a bitter and resentful aftertaste.
Politicos may feel angered by his association with ‘empire’ and cultural imperialism . . . but one thing remains certain: Shakespeare has become a part of the fabric of a global cultural industry.
What is also certain is that his works offer a potentially unique perspective on the world we live in today.
This Theatre Festival explores that perspective in our unique South African context. There is a long and storied tradition of Shakespeare at UKZN; one of the most important of those stories is Welcome Msomi’s groundbreaking Umabatha, first staged in 1970 at the Open Air Theatre at UKZN, marking the first presentation in South Africa of an isiZulu version of a full-scale Shakespearean production.
Umabatha went on to play to a global audience, has since been published and is recognised as the seminal beginning point of Africa’s engagement with decolonising Shakespeare.
Since then, Drama and Performance Studies has continued to engage with the work of (perhaps) the most contentious playwright in the history of English theatre. Between 2001 and 2010, the department presented an annual Shakespeare Festival, which saw more than 9000 school learners visit the department to see productions ranging from A Midsummer Night’s Dream to Romeo and Juliet to Twelfth Night and The Winter’s Tale.
The goal in each production was to make Shakespeare accessible for a multicultural, young, and uniquely South African audience.
Whether it was a tokoloshe Puck, a gangster Romeo, a Jimi Hendrix Orsino, a hip-hop Oberon, or a football fan Dromio, the emphasis in all of the productions was to explore what gives Shakespeare’s works their theatrical magic.
Continuing in these traditions, our programme is staging this two week student Theatre Festival, with the goal of highlighting the work of young and emerging artists in KwaZulu-Natal, and providing a space for student work to be showcased and celebrated.
Featuring productions from the Durban University of Technology, AFDA Durban, and UKZN (HC), the Festival seeks to engage with Shakespeare in a way that reflects the impact and presence of his plays in the contemporary South African context, and particularly for young people in that context.
Shakespeare, after all, wrote his plays to be performed and, while the politics of Shakespeare may be contentious, his works remain the most performed plays in the world; we want to find ways to (re)explore (re)imagine those works in our “decolonized” space.
SCHEDULE OF PERFORMANCES:
DUT: Much Ado About Nothing Directed by Debbie Lutge Thursday 22nd September @ 6.30pm
Friday 23rd September @ 6.30pm
Saturday 24th September @ 6.30pm
AFDA: Shakespeare’s Women – The Space Between Written by Janet van Eeden Directed by Clinton Marius Monday 26th September @ 6.30pm
Tuesday 27th September @ 6.30pm
UKZN – HOWARD COLLEGE: The Past is Prologue Devised by Tamar Meskin, with Kamini Govender, Devaksha Moodley, and Donna Steel Directed by Tamar Meskin Friday 30th September @ 6.30pm
Saturday 1st October @ 6.30pm
Sunday 2nd October @ 3.00pm
Pricing & Booking Information
Tickets are R40.00 for adults,
R20.00 for scholars
Students and block bookings over 10.
Tickets may be reserved through Claudette Wagner on (031)260-3133 or wagnerc1@ukzn.ac.za.
Alternatively they are available at the door from one hour before showtime.
Venue Details & Map
Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre
Physical Address: Mazisi Kunene Rd, DurbanTelephone: +27(0)312602296 Website: http://www.sneddontheatre.co.za Directions: - Latitude: -29.867340 Longitude: 30.982668