BWW Preview: Four Unmissable Shows on #NAF16's National Lottery Fringe

With the final countdown to the 42nd National Arts Festival well underway, Grahamstown has become a hive of activity as the extensive infrastructure of the Festival comes to life. Theatre-makers, artists, film-makers and musicians are already arriving to prepare for the first day of the Festival on 30 June, which runs for 11 days through 10 July.

The National Lottery Fringe has 369 productions on offer this year, featuring plays about our past and our present, about politics, identity and gender, and also features a broad range of music, dance, visual and public art. With audiences being spoiled for choice, here's a preview of some of the productions that I've already reviewed for BroadwayWorld South Africa, either in runs leading up to this year's festival or during festivals past, as well as a few others that I've seen on local stages over the past few years.

In this first of three special columns, let's begin with four unmissable productions, two that offer essential commentary on contemporary life in South Africa and two that are meant as pure entertainment. Coincidentally, all four form part of the 2016 programme presented under the banner of the Cape Town Edge.

I've seen A MAN AND A DOG twice, although I've not had an opportunity to review it. Presented by Here Manje, the play was originally first by actor Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi in 2006 and rewritten by the director of the current production, Penelope Youngleson, who describes A MAN AND A DOG as 'a rediscovery of ourselves' and 'a remembering of what it means to be of this country.' A moving coming-of-age story about a young Zulu boy, the production features a tour de force of a performance from Mkhwanazi in a production that is beautifully modulated by Youngleson's empathetic direction. The production won a Standard Bank Ovation Award last year and, this year, runs at 11:30 daily at the Princess Alice Hall.

Youngleson's latest play, SILLAGE, had a run last month at the Alexander Bar's Upstairs Theatre in Cape Town. Weaving socio-political observations into a domestic narrative about a mother and daughter packing up their family as the latter's parents prepare to move house, SILLAGE is subtle piece of work that is exquisitely brought to life by Michele Belknap and Rebecca Makin-Taylor. The title of the play, referring to the lingering scent of perfume left in a person's wake, becomes a pliable metaphor in this story of a family separated by geography, life experience, perceptions of contemporary South Africa and the generation gap. Youngleson's work as writer and director is beautifully crafted. Presented by the Rust Co-Operative, SILLAGE runs at the Princess Alice Hall daily at 10:00.

Also running at the Princess Alice Hall, although only from 5 - 9 July at 13:00 daily, with a final performance at 10:00 on 10 July, is YOU SUCK (AND OTHER INESCAPABLE TRUTHS). Having had a run at the Alexander Bar's Upstairs Theatre earlier this year, with prior seasons in both the Mother City and Johannesburg, this comic gem is sure to entertain audiences at the Festival too. Playwright-performer Klara van Wyk elicits waves of laughter throughout the show as she delves into the role of Prettina, an Afrikaans schoolgirl whose mother has transferred her to an English school to learn "the language of the world". Directed by Francesco Nassimbenim with design by Richard De Jager, YOU SUCK becomes a psychedelic wonderland.

There are only four performances of WE DIDN'T COME TO HELL FOR THE CROISSANTS, the follow-up to Jemma Kahn's international cult hit THE EPICENE BUTCHER and the middle part of her kamishibai trilogy, which concludes with IN BOCCA AL LUPO on the National Arts Festival's all-female Solo Theatre Programme this year. WE DIDN'T COME TO HELL FOR THE CROISSANTS is decadent and diverting, with Jemma Kahn and Roberto Pombo making a formidable pair under the direction of Lindiwe Matshikiza. The stories, written by Tertius Kapp, Rosa Lyster, Lebogang Mogashoa, Justin Oswald, Nicholas Spagnoletti and Louis Viljoen, take on the seven deadly sins. The 22:00 show runs at the Princess Alice Hall from 4 - 8 July.

2016 has seen an announcement made that the National Arts Festival will partner with the National Lotteries Commission, with an investment of R10-million, which will contribute to the logistics, overheads, artistic budget and marketing of the Festival, earning the National Lotteries Commission the naming rights of the "National Lottery Fringe". As part of the agreement, National Lottery Fringe artists will receive a rebate of R1000 on their venue hire costs. Festival CEO Tony Lankester comments:

It is important to us, apart from the 'beneath the skin' investment the Lottery is making in equipment, marketing and so on, that their contribution sees a direct financial benefit flow to Fringe artists who take the risk of bringing their work to Grahamstown. This rebate will, hopefully, make it a bit easier for them to realise a profit from their Festival run.

For the latest news on tickets and the Standard Bank Ovation Awards, and for audience shares of their National Lottery Fringe favourites, follow the hashtag #NAF16 on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

The National Arts Festival is grateful to the National Lotteries Commission, the Department of Arts and Culture, Eastern Cape Provincial Government, M-Net and Standard Bank of South Africa for their sponsorship of this event.

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