FROM BUSH TO COUNTRY

The hilarious, hard-hitting and heartfelt tale of one man’s journey through the mad history of Zimbabwe. A secular historian with a crisis of faith meets his ancestral spirit guide, and together they time-travel through the country’s past and uncertain present. This is a bold, gritty yet optimistic perspective on the highly contested story of Zimbabwe.

(Drama. Ages 14 and up. Written and performed by Arifani Moyo. Directed by William Le Cordeur.)

F*CK POLITICS – LET’S DORA

It’s 1977, and a nice Jewish boy from the leafy suburbs is on his weekend pass from the army. He kicks it off at The Butterfly Bar, one of Hillbrow’s most famous gay bars. A show about drag queens and disasters, Forces Favourites and compulsory military conscription. This is a piece of nostalgia – but definitely not for the faint hearted.

(Comedy. Ages 16 and up. Written and performed by Robert Colman. Directed by Toni Morkel.)

SHIKA-LAND!

Everyone’s done it ... Googled or face-booked their names just to see what comes up. In Shika-land, five women who all share a name are celebrated in their diversity. While not quite a theme-park, Shika-land is nevertheless a rollercoaster of a show.

(Comedy with poetry. Ages 16 and up. Written and performed by Shika Budhoo. Directed by Dhaveshan Govender.)

H.O.T.T.

Crackling with the sound of words that can’t be held down to a page, driven by the musicality of high-octane praise poetry and given physical life by a table designed to have the performer constantly perched on a precarious ledge before tipping off and falling… in love?

(Slam poetry / physical theatre. Ages 16 and up. Written and performed by Nkosinathi Gaar and directed by Sjaka Septembir.)

OUMA

After his beloved grandmother’s death, a man has to stare down the eyes of the wolf in his grandmother’s closet before he can finally say goodbye to her. In this process he is immersed in the disturbing and complicated web of realities and illusions of his past, and finds that saying goodbye means having to renegotiate who we are.

(Physical theatre and masks. Ages 14 and up. Written and performed by Sjaka Septembir and directed by Nkosinathi Gaar.)

PAPERBOY

A fast-paced comedy about a paper boy, aspiring actor and detective, 22 year old Bobby Jones. Bobby begins his day like every other, delivering the newspaper to the people of Alice Road, until his infamous right arm swings a newspaper into an open window, breaking a display of expensive China. This act of foolishness is the catalyst for a series of unfortunate events which finds Bobby breaking into houses and using detective tactics to uncover some facts that were best kept under the rug.

(Comedy. Ages 14 and up. Written and performed by Grant Jacobs and directed by Liam Magner.)

CRUSH HOPPER

A personal tale of searching for love and identity in a small town. A light-hearted look at relationships, how they affect identity and the interesting contexts they are birthed in. Looking at the “game” theory of how men and women negotiate relationships, one girl tries clumsily to apply its rules.

(Comedy. Ages 14 and up. Written and performed by Mandisa Haarhof. Directed by Ntokozo Madlala.)

THE SWANSONG OF NORRIE DA SILVA

Norrie Da Silva, an agile dodger of truth and a magnet for tragedy, has lived a small life. Today she’s crashing through to the other side trying to hold on to her baggage and not smudge her make-up.

(Tragi-comedy. Ages 14 and up. Written and performed by Belinda Henwood.)

BOUGHT TO YOU BY PENTRAVEL.

MEN’S ROOM

Festival Favourite Mary Steward is back with her familiar brand of comic story-telling, this time considering what she knows about boys and men. Her lively and engaging characters and sketches weave together, presenting the truths of our differences and the importance of our vulnerabilities. From what goes on in the locker rooms to the need for the ‘cave’, and the ‘war’ of sport, men and women alike will laugh as they nod in recognition.

(Comedy. Ages 14 and up. Written and performed by Mary Steward.)

Twist 1: A double bill of KWANELE and CAMP 13

KWANELE: IT WAS ENOUGH! - Uthando Lwabaqulusi Theatre Group

It is the final day of a 20 year incarceration. Through glimpses of an unnamed woman’s past, we see how she got there and what led her to commit a harrowing act. If we could go back and correct our mistakes - would we take that chance?

(Written by Amy Jephta and directed by Themi Venturas.)


CAMP 13 - Just Don’t Theatre Group

The words “Camp 13” take what are now very different men back to another lifetime as guerrilla soldiers. They know there’s only one person who could have sent the cryptic message. What they don’t know is that he will reveal a secret that tests the bonds of brotherhood that they formed in the bush.

(Written by David Stein and directed by Jerry Pooe.)

Twist 2: A double bill of STILL WAITING and THE POISON MANGO

STILL WAITING - Sakhisizwe Theatre Group (Zululand)

The story of two men, just children when their family were violently and forcibly removed from the Dukuduku Forest, now in the Isimangaliso Wetlands Park. Their lives are governed by a mixture of anger, fear and resentment, as they sit, still waiting, for the promised compensation for their land.

(Written by Bhekani Thabede and directed by Edmund Mhlongo.)


THE POISONED MANGO - Umphithi Theatre Arts

I saw a pigeon eating a seed of wheat... What has happened to our harvest? Are the seeds from the past still alive within us? This play sees the stories of three young boys from the KwaPatha township woven together into an intricate tapestry of lives lived and lives lost.

(Written by Anton Krueger and directed by Zeph Nzama.)

Twist 3: A double bill of LEGACY and TO BE LIKE THIS ROCK

LEGACY - Ubuntu Productions

A man wakes up to a thief in his house in the night. What does this boy want? Revenge? Kill him? What unfolds is the story of a love that happened a long time ago, in a different life. This is a story about vigilante justice, forgiveness and making up for the sins of the father.

(Written by Dhaveshan Govender and directed by Bheki Mkhwane.)


TO BE LIKE THIS ROCK - Umsindo Theatre Projects

This is the harrowing story of five girls who come together working in a quarry breaking rocks. Taken from their homes and into human trafficking, their stories are all different but their lives feed the same sex trade. All they wish for now is to be “like this rock”, that they smash and break, but which feels nothing.

(Written by Neil Coppen based on a workshop production, and directed by Debbie Lutge.)