BWW Preview: Mixing it Up at #NAF16

Variety is the spice of life on the National Lottery Fringe, with anything and everything on offer for audiences. In this third and final National Arts Festival preview column, I'll be looking at three diverse productions that I managed to see on various platforms before this year's festival, which should offer something for everyone, whether you're looking for stand-up comedy, family fare or magical illusions.

Rob van Vuuren's newest show, LIFE, premiered at the Baxter Theatre Centre under Siv Ngesi's ExploSIV Productions banner in Cape Town earlier this year. Directed by Tara Notcutt, Van Vuuren shoots from the hip using his comic persona as a personable South African everyman to comment on emojis, hipsters and his family's menagerie of pets. Framed by a frank dressing down of motivational speakers that lends structure to the show, Van Vuuren delivers the stories and quips in a traditional stand-up comedy style, which naturally includes some banter with the audience in the front rows of the theatre. Van Vuuren is a fine comedian with a good sense of where his audience is at during the show; catch him on stage at St Andrew's Hall, where LIFE will play seven shows over the duration of the Festival.

I saw THE INCREDIBLE JOURNEY last year at the Cape Town Fringe, the second run of this play about a boy named Tommy whose pretty normal life quickly becomes pretty adventurous. A fantastic romp for the whole family to enjoy, THE INCREDIBLE JOURNEY is a play that celebrates imagination, play and the power of stories. Stefan Erasmus directs the production for KB Theatre Productions and is joined onstage by Emma Kotze and Callum Tilbury. Together, they translate the fun-filled narrative into action, using a quirky comic book style of performance and a generous dollop of wry humour. The production runs throughout the Festival at Oatlands Hall, with shows either at 14:00 or 16:00.

Stuart Lightbody's SLEEPLESS DREAMS was another show I saw at the 2015 Cape Town Fringe, having been a fan of his particular brand of magical illusions for some years. SLEEPLESS DREAMS falls somewhere in between the carefully conceptualised DEVILISH and the more loosely structured ILLUSIVE, beginning with a search for a top secret book of magic and presenting a series of diverting illusions from thereon out. Once again under the direction of Tara Notcutt, Lightbody is his charming self in this show, which runs daily at Princess Alice Hall at 16:00.

With plenty else on offer on the National Lottery Fringe during the National Arts Festival's run from 30 June - 10 July - for a start, check out BroadwayWorld's four not-to-be-missed picks and three recommended returning productions with a twist - audiences travelling to Grahamstown are sure to find something that appeals to their interests. Numerous shows on the Fringe offer free first performances and special discounts, details of which are available in the programme, while the Half Price Hut on the Steve Biko Lawns announces (via the Cue newspaper, the National Arts Festival's Facebook page and Twitter account) a selection of shows daily that offer a limited number of half-price tickets. 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.

To post a comment, you must register and login.