The Festival will also host a colloquium featuring keynote addresses by theatre and performance art stalwarts Welcome Msomi and Chris Thurman from 30 September to 1 October at Studio 5 on the Howard College campus.
This event is part of the broader Decolonising Shakespeare? Contestations and Re-imaginings for a Post-Liberation South Africa, coinciding with the global commemorations of the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death.
The two-week student Theatre Festival highlights the work of young and emerging artists in KZN, providing a space for student work to be showcased and celebrated.
Featuring productions from UKZN (Howard College), the Durban University of Technology (DUT) and AFDA Durban, 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, particularly for young people.
This year’s UKZN production, titled The Past is Prologue, is taken from The Tempest and is ambiguous: it offers both the potential to abandon the past in favour of the glorious future waiting ahead, but also may point to the importance of the past in shaping both the present and future.
#SHAKESPEAREmustFall? runs from 20 September – 2 October at the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre with performances starting at 6.30pm. Tickets are R40 for adults, and R20 for scholars, students and block bookings over 10.
Tickets may be reserved through Claudette Wagner at phone (031)260-3133 or email: wagnerc1@ukzn.ac.za. Thy are also available at the door an hour before the performance.
SCHEDULE OF PERFORMANCES:
AFDA: Shakespeare’s Women – The Space Between
Written by Janet van Eeden
Directed by Clinton Marius
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