NAF Offers a Sneak Peek at the Cape Town Fringe

As the 2016 National Arts Festival came to a close, the first productions selected for staging as part of the Cape Town Fringe were named. The Cape Town Fringe is managed by the National Arts Festival, with the City of Cape Town serving as the Host Sponsor and Standard Bank serving as the Presenting Sponsor of the event. Guest Artistic Director, Rob Murray, named seven productions as a "taste of what is to come".

The line up also features the tantalizing prospect of three international works making the trip to Cape Town and at least 40 more local productions due to be named in the next couple of weeks, all hoping to delight audiences at the Mother City's Fringe one more.

Three productions transferring from the National Arts Festival for seasons at the Cape Town Fringe include the Silver Standard Bank Ovation Award winner DANGLED with Rob van Vuuren, multimedia production KONTINUUM with Naomi van Niekerk and Arnaud van Vliet and the Standard Bank Ovation Award winning FALLING OFF THE HORN from Uyabona Ke. Murray comments on additional preview items and other plans for the Cape Town Fringe:

The Fringe will include four productions that played to great acclaim as part of the Baxter's Zabalaza Festival (ADDIS ABABA, MUZO TRIBES, UBUDODA and GELAPTE POP. "The Cape Town Fringe will also include a citywide school tour as part of the buildup, taking quality theatre to more people than previous editions.

The 2016 edition of the Cape Town Fringe will also be taking to the streets this year, with the inclusion of a brand new event - the Cape Town Buskers Festival - presented as part of a partnership between the Fringe and the V&A Waterfront.

Speaking in Grahamstown, Cape Town Fringe and National Arts Festival CEO Tony Lankester said that he was delighted to announce the partnership - which will see South African and international street theatre performers present their work at the V&A Waterfront:

We're planning on presenting about 30 acts, which will include at least three invited headliners from the world busker circuit. The acts will perform over four days on four free, public stages at the V&A Waterfront.

The Festival, the first of its kind for South Africa, will celebrate street performers of all kinds, including acrobats, musicians, mimes, and circus acts. David Green, V&A Waterfront CEO said:

As the most visited destination on the continent, the V&A Waterfront looks forward to hosting the first-ever Cape Town Buskers Festival. For our more than 24-million annual visitors, buskers are a beloved and firmly entrenched tradition, and visitors have come to expect an encounter with these colourful characters. Likewise, the V&A Waterfront presents buskers with the largest potential audience in the country.

In parallel with the Buskers Festival, a series of workshops and 'creative exchanges' between local and international performers will be run. Green added:

An important aspect of the Festival is creating opportunities for local buskers to perform alongside well-established international acts. In this way they will be exposed to new skills, and be given opportunities to develop and incorporate new ideas into their routines. The Waterfront believes the Festival will position buskers as the professional artists they are.

The Buskers Festival dovetails with the Cape Town Fringe, running for four days from 6 - 9 October 2016, while the Fringe kicks off on 22 September. Follow the Cape Town Fringe on the Internet, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Use the hashtag #CTFringe.

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