WITS THEATRE PRESENTS THE

969al

v
i
t
s
Fe
SHOWING

15-26

JULY

2015
BRAAMFONTEIN

TICKETS AT WWW.WEBTICKETS.CO.ZA
STRAIGHT OFF THE STAGES FROM THE NATIONAL ARTS FESTIVAL
INCLUDING // PICK OF THE FESTIVAL // NEW & EXCITING PLAYS

969 Festival

AT WITS THEATRE JULY 2015

Ndebele Funeral
This show comes
off a successful run
Off-Broadway in New
York City. Hilariously
heartbreaking,
Ndebele
Funeral
pulls audiences into
the music, dirt, and
dreams of modern
Soweto
by
examining
the
aspirations and loss of three characters whose lives
intersect in a shack in the townships informal settlements.
Director
Writer
Costume Designer
Sound Designer
Lighting Designer

Stage Manager
Performers

Choreography

Musical Direction
Dramaturge
Production Manager

Awoye Timpo
Zoey Martinson
Lara de Bruijn,
John Emmett OBrien
Justin W. King
Wilhelm Disbergen
Josephine Rose Ronga
Yusef Miller
Zoey Martinson
Jonathan David Martin
Sduduzo Ka-Mbili
Cuereston Burge
Tuelo Minah
Ndumiso Khovana
Kathryn Lagana

Inspired from a 10 minute play by Ivan Suazo

Winner! FringeNYC Overall Excellence Award for Best
Play and Critics Pick Time Out New York

VENUE
RUNNING TIME
AGE RESTRICTION
PERFOMANCE DATES

Downstairs Theatre
75 Minutes
None
Wed, 22 July: 19h30
Thu, 23 July: 13h15
Fri,24 July: 19h30
Sat, 25 July: 19h00

Singarevva and the Palace

Singarevva and the
Palace, a solo theatre
adaptation of a novel
by Dr.Chandrashekara
Kambara,
is
a
powerful
depiction
of the suffering of
women in feudal
India. Created by the
award winning duo
of Laxmi Chandrashekar (actor) and Soumya Varma

(director), the play has seen close to 100 shows and won
accolades in national and international festivals.

Lighting Designer
Performers

Itai Erdal
Alon Nashman

The story is narrated by Sheeningi, Singarevvas maid and

childhood friend. Singarevva/Singari, the beautiful, kindhearted daughter of the greedy village chief, Gowda, is
married off, first to a dead man and later to a degenerate,
impotent Desai, who owns an ancestral palace and lives in
the make-believe world of theatre. The marriage is never
consummated and Singarevva turns to a Holy man to
fulfill her longing for motherhood. When the lecherous
mendicant dies of fright in the palace, she seeks the help
of Marya, an untouchable labourer, to get rid of the corpse.
Marya, who has nursed an obsessive passion for her,
demands sexual gratification and rapes her when denied.
Given the complete lack of male affection in her life and
the complete indifference of her husband, it is no surprise
that she picks Maryas as her lover. But her upbringing
makes it impossible for her to live with the guilt.

VENUE
RUNNING TIME
AGE RESTRICTION
PERFOMANCE DATES

Amphitheatre
85 Minutes
13+
Sat, 18 July: 14h00
Mon, 20 July: 13h15

Director
Soumya Varma
Writer
Laxmi Chandrashekar
Costume & Set Designer
Malthesh Badigere
Lighting Designer
Mudanna Rattehalli
Sets and Props
Malthesh Badigera
M.C.Chetan
Jaisimha
Performers
Laxmi Chandrashekar

VENUE
RUNNING TIME
AGE RESTRICTION
PERFOMANCE DATES

Downstairs Theatre
60 Minutes
None
Wed, 15 Jul: 19h00
Fri, 17 Jul: 20h45
Mon, 20 Jul: 13h15

Hirsch
Hirsch chronicles the
life and times of John
Hirsch, a Hungarian/
Jewish orphan of
the Holocaust who
immigrated to Canada,
where he turned
the tragedy of his
childhood into live
art. With Tom Hendry,
he founded the Manitoba Theatre
Centre, North Americas first regional theatre. He brought
his fiery passion to the Stratford Festival, National Theatre
School of Canada, CBC Television, and every Corner Of
The Nations Culture. The play follows Hirsch through his
traumatic wartime experience, to his adoptive home in
Winnipeg, into the rehearsal hall, on his international
adventures, and into his most intimate relationships. The
range and impact of his work in theatre was immense: From
Brecht to Lorca, Shakespeare to Sophocles, wacky musicals
to Chekhov. All of these styles are represented in Hirsch.
Director
Writer

Costume & Set Designer

Paul Thompson
Paul Thompson
Alon Nashman
Gillian Gallow

Kafka and Son

Four years before
his early death at
the age of 41, Franz
Kafka wrote a 50-page
letter to his father.
This letter, a mixture
of home truths and
self-analysis, provides
a thrilling insight into
the mind of this most idiosyncratic
of great Jewish writers. Adapted from this monumental
(and undelivered) letter, Kafka and Son is a blistering,
often hilarious, examination of domestic authority, and
a journey into the heart and the mind of the inventor of
the modern psyche. And it is also a chilling precursor to
the language of anti-Semitism, which makes Kafkas work
seem so prophetic. Alon Nashman is an award-winning
actor, director, producer and creator of theatre.
Kafka and Son had its premiere in 2000 at the Ashkenaz
Festival in Canada. Since then it has toured to acclaim in
North America and Europe.
Director
Mark Cassidy
Writer
Mark Cassidy

Alon Nashman
Adapted From Franz Kafkas Letter To His Father
Costume & Set Designer
Camellia Koo

Marysia Bucolc
Lighting Designer
Andrea Lundy
Performers
Alon Nashman

VENUE
RUNNING TIME
AGE RESTRICTION
PERFOMANCE DATES

Downstairs Theatre
60 Minutes
13+
Fri, 17 Jul: 18h15
Tue, 21 Jul: 13h15

We Didnt Come to Hell for

the Croissants: 7 Deadly New
Stories for Consenting Adults
7 Deadly Sins, 7 writers
and 7 new stories
Jemma Kahn and her
irreverent
side-kick
return in the eagerly
anticipated
sequel
to the international
cult hit The Epicene

Butcher with stories that seduce the sinless and astonish

the immoral. Its unmiss-able, definitely not for small
children unless you are an awful parent!
Director
Writer





Costume Designer
Illustrations



Stage Manager
Performers

Producers

Lindiwe Matshikiza
Tertius Kapp
Rosa Lyster
Lebogang Mogashoa
Nicholas Spagnoletti
Justin Oswald
Louis Viljoen
David Hutt
Jemma Kahn
Carlos Amato
Dave Jackson
Rebecca Haysom
Kwame Sibeko
Jemma Kahn
Roberto Pombo
POPArt productions

VENUE
RUNNING TIME
AGE RESTRICTION
PERFOMANCE DATES

Downstairs Theatre
60 Minutes
16 +
Thu, 16 Jul: 19h15
Sat, 18 Jul: 16h00
Sun, 19 Jul: 14h00
Wed, 22 July: 13h15

Actress and Girl

The play is a whimsical
and dark story about
the kindness and
cruelty of strangers.
Two women stand
together on the side
of an empty stretch
of road somewhere
in
the
Karoo.
They perform for
themselves and their
imaginary audience, struggling
with the dark comedy that life has presented them as
they wait for cars to pass. Maude Sandham, Simona
Mazza and Rachael Neary have collective experience
in devising and directing theatre, as well as physical
performance. An original AltEye Production, Actress &
Girl debuted at POPArt Theatre, Maboneng in 2014 and was
taken to Musho! Festival in 2015.
Director
Lighting Designer
Performers

Simona Mazza
Jade Manicom
Maude Sandham
Rachael Neary

VENUE
RUNNING TIME
AGE RESTRICTION
PERFOMANCE DATES

Downstairs Theatre
50 Minutes
13+
Thu, 23 Jul: 18h30
Sun, 26 Jul: 18h00

Alexa A Mobile Thriller

Alexa, a method actress, with
the help of audience members
is busy preparing for her
dream role (Lexa) as she picks
up a stranger on the street.
Literally go on a wild ride
through the streets of Joburg
and see just how dangerous
Method acting can be So get
ready for the most thrilling
immersive theatre production ever
experienced in South Africa!
Production House
Conceptualised by
Directed & Designed by
Written by
Starring

VNA Productions
Quintin Wils
Quintin Wils
Herman Vorster
Carina Nel (Generations)
Vianney Farmer (CRAVE)

SITE SPECIFIC

Ticket holders to meet in

Main Theatre Foyer
60 Minutes
PG 16
Fri, 17 Jul: 19h00 & 20h30
Sat, 18 Jul: 16h00 & 17h30
Fri, 24 Jul: 19h00 & 20h30
Sat, 25 Jul: 16h30 & 18h00

RUNNING TIME
AGE RESTRICTION
PERFOMANCE DATES

Boegoespruit Ext 25
Boegoespruit Ext
25 explores the
narratives of four
characters: Unti, a
spaza shop owner,
bank teller Kristina,
Shaamiela the high
school teenager and
Twala, a hairchetect
all bursting with colourful
creativity in the hope of winning a talent contest. Their
individual stories connect and collide as this close- knit
family capture the heartbeat of a richly-textured
Coloured community called Boegoespruit Ext 25.
Mirroring contemporary Johannesburg with song, dance,
and storytelling; this comedy explores the fortunes and
mishaps of desire and poverty. Boegoespruit Ext 25
takes its audience on a rollercoaster ride down memory
lane so close to home where you might just recognise
your hairdresser, see your neighbours daughter, your
mothers scarf or even your own slops. So kom binne!
Written & devised by The Cast
Director
Leonie Ogle BADA IV Wits
Set Designer
Nthabiseng Malaka BADA III Wits
Lighting designer
Hlomohang Spider Mothetho
Technician
Hlomohang Spider Mothetho
Stage Manager
Kelly Eksteen BA PVA IV Wits

Performers

Kirsty Marillier BADA IV Wits

Jovan Muthray BADA IV Wits
Sharmyan Kassen BADA IV Wits
Francesca Matthys BADA IV Wits

VENUE
RUNNING TIME
AGE RESTRICTION
PERFOMANCE DATES

The Nunnery
55 Minutes
13+
Sat, 18 Jul: 12h30
Tue, 21 Jul: 13h15
Thu, 23 Jul: 17h00
Fri, 24 Jul: 13h15 & 17h00
Sat, 25 Jul: 17h45

Father Father Father

Father Father Father is a devised
theatre piece created by Roberto
Pombo, Joni Barnard and Racheal
Neary, directed by Toni Morkel.
The show follows the story
of three sisters, locked in the
basement, awaiting the return
of their father. And a big black
horse. The evolving metaphors
and symbolism of this ridiculously
quirky fantasy, with a menacing
twist, underpin a performance
piece by three gifted young
artists who are creating a zany
style and rigorously theatrical language (Sichel, A. 2014.
The Artchive)
Director
Writer


Costume & Set Designer

Lighting Designer
Stage Manager
Performers

Toni Morkel
Roberto Pombo,
Rachael Neary
Joni Barnard
Jemma Kahn
Roberto Pombo
Jade Manicom
Jemma Kahn
Roberto Pombo
Joni Barnard
Rachael Neary

VENUE
Downstairs Theatre
RUNNING TIME
50 Minutes
AGE RESTRICTION 16+
PERFOMANCE DATES
Sat, 18 Jul: 19h00

Sun, 19 Jul: 18h00

Simply Sapiens
In 3 Acts. With
3 Directors 3
unique visions,
asking,
just
what does it
mean to be
human and just
what does it mean to be a man?

Act 1: Crossing - Survival or Violence? Our words

catalysed into action. Actions recycled through Language.
Directed by Quintin Wils and performed by Greg MelvillSmith.
Act 2: V (i)R(us) - Viruses. In us. On us. Will a mind
virus (meme), end us? Are we victims of our own
hubris? Technology has infected us with the virus of our
infallibility. Directed by Sylvaine Strike and performed by
Craig Morris.
Act 3: Going Static - Two guys in a car, going nowhere,
on the edge of survival. Who is in charge and who can
really say what it means to be a (hu)man? The only
thing moving them forward, are the scraps of meaning,
breaking through the static. Directed by Megan Willson
and performed by Greg Melvill-Smith & Craig Morris.
Directors


Writers




Costume & Set Designer
Lighting Designers
Performers

Quintin Wils
Sylvaine Strike
Megan Willson
Greg Melvill-Smith,
Craig Morris
Quintin Wils
Sylvaine Strike
Megan Willson
The Cast & Company
The Cast & Company
Greg Melvill-Smith
Craig Morris

VENUE
RUNNING TIME
PERFOMANCE DATES

Amphitheatre
65 Minutes
Wed, 22 Jul: 18h15
Thu, 23 Jul: 19h45

Dead Yellow Sands

Kafkas Ape
Kafkas Ape is a one-hander that
rides on physicality to express
the character and its world. The
deliberate physicality is meant
to reference the physical self
as a point of external identity
conflicting with the internal
identity. Relaying his story, Red
Peter speaks from the heart
and wants everyone to share
the depth of his ape to human
transformation story. The play
attempts to communicate how
humankind has far to go to create
societies that break rather than fuse chains that limit
identity in terms of personal freedom and development.
It speaks to the issues of identity and contemporary
desires for self-fulfillment (self-actualization) in an
increasingly restrictive society.
Adaptation by
Phala O. Phala
Based on Franz Kafkas A Report To An Academy
Director
Phala O. Phala
Original set design
Leisel Retief
Performers
Tony Miyambo

VENUE
Amphitheatre
RUNNING TIME
60 Minutes
AGE RESTRICTION None
PERFOMANCE DATES
Sat, 25 Jul: 20h15

Sun, 26 Jul: 16h45

Smaarties

Graham Weirs Dead Yellow

Sands weaves an evening of
whispers and words as he
tells stories united by the
theme of stillness and space.
The space will be inhabited
by an actor, a few lights and
an audience. Listening to
the stories, the audience
will meet ghosts from Weirs
past, walk streets he once
lived in and come face to
face with a South Africa that may
be fading, may be gone but one that lingers on in corners
and alleys and institutions we all know well.

Smaarties,
written
and
performed by Naledi Award
nominee Jannes Erasmus, is a
powerful one-man show about
Mr Lotz who finds himself in a
psychiatric ward after the death
of both of his parents. He still
has a 12-year-old sister he has to
look after. Directed and designed
by multi-award winning Quintin
Wils, the play looks at his daily life
in the ward and how he is coping
and trying to word and explain
what really happened that night to

Director
Bo Petersen
Writer
Graham Weir
Costume & Set Designer
Graham Weir

Bo Petersen
Lighting Designer/Photography Guy de Lancey
Performers
Graham Weir

him and his parents

Production House
Directed & Designed by
Written & Performed by
Language

AbstrACT Productions
Quintin Wils
Jannes Erasmus
English (some Afrikaans)

VENUE
Amphitheatre
RUNNING TIME
60 Minutes
AGE RESTRICTION 16+
PERFOMANCE DATES
Sat, 25 Jul: 18h00

VENUE
RUNNING TIME
AGE RESTRICTION
PERFOMANCE DATES

Downstairs Theatre
60 Minutes
PG 13
Sun, 19 Jul: 16h00
Sat, 25 Jul: 15h15
Sun, 26 Jul: 16h00

Sun, 26 Jul: 14h00

Baterimba with
Carlos Balanta

VENUE
RUNNING TIME
AGE RESTRICTION
PERFOMANCE DATES

Born in Santander
de Quilichao, at the
Colombian
Pacific
Ocean region, Carlos
Fernando
Balanta
was always seduced
by Colombian typical
and folklore music. His
region is well known for
its unique musical tradition, which
enriches, among others, the Blacks and whites Carnival
(Carnaval de Negros y Blancos). Balantas artistic work is a
constant search of traditional Colombian music, which is
profoundly influenced by its African heritage and cultural
expressions of other latitudes. This has led him to the
creation of a new proposal: A performance that combines
a battery (drum, snare drum, cymbals, bongos, bells, calve,
etc.) and the traditional Colombian marimba. The voice,
objects, body sounds and recently an electric bass are also
involved. All these elements are simultaneously played by a
single performer, giving life to Baterimba.In his career as
a musician, Baterimba has been invited to various events
worldwide, in countries such as Croatia, France, Ecuador,
Peru, Bolivia, Turkey, India and Nepal, among others.

VENUE
RUNNING TIME
AGE RESTRICTION
PERFOMANCE DATES

Main Theatre
60 Minutes
8+
Wed, 15 Jul: 20h15

The Cenotaph Of
Dan Wa Moriri
This is the unfolding of an intimate
father-son relationship. How do
we create monuments for the
everyman to find resonance
beyond a single personal
narrative? To find form in grief, to
examine the disappearances and
reconstructions of memory, and
honour the intimacy of individual
history. The sincerity of a personal
narration echoes and magnifies
itself in the context of the
universal, allowing an individual
history to reflect in the audience
recognition of the need of claiming ones own history.
Director
Gerard Bester
Writer
Tony Miyambo &

Gerard Bester in

collaboration with

William Harding
Lighting Designer
Julian August
Stage Manager
Julian August
Performed by
Tony Miyambo

An original commissioned work by Wits Theatres So Solo
Festival 2014

969al

Amphitheatre
60 Minutes
7+
Thu, 16 Jul: 18h00
Fri, 17 Jul: 19h30
Sat, 18 Jul: 17h15

v
i
t
s
e
F

Crossing
The story is inspired by Tsitsi Dangarembgas Nervous
Conditions and its a story of five women who are
divided by love but united by fate. Crossing in a metaphor
for death. As the harvest gets closer to time, these
womens stories collide as each woman must decide her
own crossing to the other side of her own world. Its a
surreal world of magic realism told through elaborative
dialogue and movement. Crossing is the story of five
women we all know.
Produced by

Director / Writer
Lighting Designer
Stage Manager
Performers




Choreographer

Mmabana Arts, Culture

and Sports Foundation
Mncedisi Shabangu
Neo Jobeta
Irene Mathe
Tsholofelo Saul
Mathapelo September
Bonolo Tlaletse
Jessica Lebogo
Shammilla Mosikare
Thabo Rapoo

VENUE
RUNNING TIME
AGE RESTRICTION
PERFOMANCE DATES

Amphitheatre
65 Minutes
16 +
Fri, 24 Jul: 21h00
Sat, 25 Jul: 14h00

Poetry Overload
Poetry Overload introduces audiences to an eclectic
selection of Poetry In Performance genres and styles
from a myriad of contemporary writers and performers.
It is format specifically designed for those who appreciate
both the literary beauty of Poetry, and the magic of Live
Performance. At Poetry Overload, crowds will be treated
to a diverse selection of Poetry tastes ranging from Slam
Poetry to Prose, Free Verse and even Archetypal Archaic
Forms, spanning a multitude of presentational styles and
languages. For all things Poetry, Poetry Overload is
certainly a programme not to be missed. #PoetryOverload
Produced by
Director
Writer

Kiri Pink Nob

J. Bobs Tshabalala
Various Poets

VENUE
RUNNING TIME
PERFOMANCE DATES

Main Theatre Foyer

40 - 45 Minutes
Fri, 17 Jul: 17h00
Wed, 22 Jul: 17h00
Thu, 23 Jul: 17h00
Fri, 24 Jul: 17h00
Sun, 26 Jul: 15h15

Ticket Sales

All Tickets are on sale through WWW.WEBTICKETS.CO.ZA

You can book online and choose to pay at any Pick n Pay store.
You can even load your ticket on your Pick n Pay smart shopper card.
You can buy at Wits Theatres Box Office.

Ticket Prices
THEATRE

Full price online:

Full price at Box office:
Pensioner and Student Discount online:
Pensioner and Student Discount Box office:

R 65.00
R 70.00
R 55.00 *
R 60.00 *

ALEXA: A MOBILE THRILLER (SITE SPECIFIC)

Only 3 audience members per show
Full price online:
Box office:

R 80.00
R 85.00

BATERIMBA WITH CARLOS BALANTA

Online:
Box office:
Pensioner and Student Discount online:
Pensioner and Student Discount Box office:

R 80.00
R 85.00
R 60.00 *
R 65.00 *

LUNCHTIME SHOWS (20-25 JULY AT 13H15)

Online staff and public:
Students and block bookings:

R 30:00
R 25:00 *

* on presentation of ID document or valid student card

BRAAMFONTEIN

Tuesday 21 July

Monday 20 July

Sunday 19 July

Saturday 18th July

Friday 17th July

Thursday 16th July

Wednesday 15th July

DATE

Downstairs
Nunnery

Kafka and Son

Boegoespruit Ext 25

13h15

Downstairs

13h15

Amphitheatre

Singarevva and the Palace

13h15

Downstairs

Hirsch

Father Father Father

13h15

Downstairs

Smaarties

Downstairs

Father Father Father

19h00

18h00

Site Specific

Alexa

17h30

16h00

Amphitheatre

Cenotaph of Dan wa Moriri

17h15

We didnt come to Hell for the Croissants: Downstairs

7 deadly new stories for adults

Site Specific

Alexa

16h00

14h00

Amphitheatre

We didnt come to Hell for the Croissants: Downstairs

7 deadly new stories for adults

16h00

Downstairs

Singarevva and the Palace

20h45
Nunnery

Site Specific

Alexa

20h30

Hirsch

Amphitheatre

Cenotaph of Dan wa Moriri

19h30

Boegoespruit Ext 25

Site Specific

Alexa

19h00

14h00

Downstairs

Kafka and Son

18h15

12h30

Main Foyer

Poetry Performance

17h00

We didnt come to Hell for the Croissants: Downstairs

7 deadly new stories for adults

19h15

Amphitheatre

Cenotaph of Dan wa Moriri

Main Theatre

Baterimba with Carlos Balanta

18h00

Downstairs

Singarevva and the Palace

VENUE

20h15

SHOW

19h00

TIME
DATE

13h15
17h00
17h00
19h00
19h30
20h30
21h00
14h00
15h15
16h30
17h45
18h00
18h00
19h00
20h15
14h00
15h15
16h00
16h45
18h00

Saturday 25 July

Sunday 26 July

13h15
17h00
17h00
18h30
19h45

17h00
18h15
19h30

13h15

TIME

Friday 24July

Thursday 23 July

Wednesday 22 July

PROGRAM M E

Dead Yellow Sands

Poetry Performance
Smaarties
Kafka's Ape
Actress and Girl

Crossing
Smaarties
Alexa
Boegoespruit Ext 25
Dead Yellow Sands
Alexa
Ndebele Funeral
Kafka's Ape

Boegoespruit Ext 25
Boegoespruit Ext 25
Poetry Performance
Alexa
Ndebele Funeral
Alexa
Crossing

Ndebele Funeral
Boegoespruit Ext 25
Poetry Performance
Actress and Girl
Simply Sapiens

We didnt come to Hell for the Croissants:

7 deadly new stories for adults
Poetry Performance
Simply Sapiens
Ndebele Funeral

SHOW

Amphitheatre
Main Foyer
Downstairs
Amphitheatre
Downstairs

Amphitheatre
Downstairs
Site Specific
Nunnery
Amphitheatre
Site Specific
Downstairs
Amphitheatre

Nunnery
Nunnery
Main Foyer
Site Specific
Downstairs
Site Specific
Amphitheatre

Downstairs
Nunnery
Main Foyer
Downstairs
Amphitheatre

Main Foyer
Amphitheatre
Downstairs

Downstairs

VENUE