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Time flies, and we find ourselves already halfway through the year. Winter is upon us, but luckily there are some exciting cultural events to keep the chills at bay. One of South Africa’s biggest arts festivals, the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown, takes place from 1-10 July. So jump in your car as soon as you knock off from work on Friday and go and spend the weekend in Grahamstown. You will have a choice of art exhibitions, live music shows, drama and films. You can also browse through flea markets and grab something to eat at the various food stalls.
The festival will focus on where SA is right now, and the theme is re-invent, re-imagine and renew. This year sees the return of the internationally-acclaimed dance production The Unspeakable Story after eight years of silence, and it promises to be even bigger and better than before.
A living theatre of ideas, the Winter School programme at the National Arts Festival, (Grahamstown 1 to 10 July) feeds the debates that keep South Africa's democracy healthy. One of the nation's most popular speakers, Judge Dennis Davis, presents two sessions on the constitution. An equally sharp and outspoken social commentator, Peter-Dirk Uys questions the orthodoxy that it is unpatriotic to criticise a democratically-elected government. Charles Goredema gets to grips with money-laundering in southern Africa. Julie Ellison proposes a new politics of cultural knowledge while Mokena Makeba asks: 'Whose heritage is it, anyway?' Bishop Thabo Makgoba elucidates the church's position on land reform.
And there’s lots more where that came from. Music shows include Blue Heads pay tribute, a tribute to one of South Africa’s best-loved artists, Gerard Sekoto and Journey to the Sound of Jazz, featuring local artists as well as ones from countries as far as Sweden, the UK, Australia, Norway, Holland and the US.
You can also see some of the best new South African films, including the work of creative genius William Kentridge, and of course sterling theatre. To ensure everyone is included in the festival, a total of eight free outdoor theatre events will be held.
So go to Grahamstown and be a total art vark – you won’t be disappointed!
When last did you kick off your shoes and listen to some really good jazz? Joburg, a club in Long Street, Cape Town, has a free live jazz band every Saturday from 14:00 – 16:00. The band is JAZZ – JAK, consisting of Andrew Lilly (keyboards), Kevin Gibson (drums) and Dave Ridgeway (bass). Original founder member of JAK, James Schofield (guitar) is in town for a few months having spent the past year recording his album in New York City. He will be playing at the bar every Saturday.
Rock the scene with The Tornados (in Long Street, Cape Town. The Tornados are Ian Arrow (guitar), Matt Fergusson (drums) & Ettienne Harrass (dbl Bass). They formed 2 years ago and specialise in rare '50s style Rockabilly sound that stems from the slap technique that is used to play the Double Bass. There is a R20 cover charge, and the doors open at 19:00
Do you think museums are only for skeletons? Think again. The South African Museum is hosting an exciting programme called Iziko Winter School. This Friday, 2 July, the school kicks off with a presentation that is sure to give you goosebumps. The World of Spiders, a slide presentation by Norman Larsen, will take you down spider alley introducing you to the fascinating life of spiders. You will get to know spiders that might inhabit your home and the nearby veld or forest and be educated about which spiders bite and which don’t. If you are lucky you will also be introduced to Junodi, our friendly female baboon spider & have her tiptoe over your hand. Arachnophobics are welcome as this could be the cure! Be there – 19:30 at the SA Museum’s TH Barry Theatre. Entrance is R25. This is a very child-friendly event, so bring the whole family.
Get your hands dirty and those creative juice flowing on Saturday 3 July. South African Museum’s Iziko Winter School presents an exciting African pottery class, taught by Johan Scott. In this four-week workshop, each participant will learn to hand-build & decorate a cylindrical ceramic vessel (250 x 400 mm). The workshop includes all materials, as well as painting, glazing and firing. At the end of the workshop, each participant will leave with his/her own ceramic vessel made during that time. Participants will work in an established studio environment. (tea & coffee included) But hurry – there is only place for 10 participants. The venue is TAB School for Ceramic Art, 148 High Level Road, Three Anchor Bay. The time is 10:00 – 15:00 and the fee is R500.
Can you remember roller disco and those bikes with banana seats and cissy bars? If you can, you will love Boogie Nights, a trip back to the seventies, showing at the Nelson Mandela Theatre in Jo’burg from 1-6 July. Even if you were born after a time when fondue sets very really groovy, you will be able to sing along to those great seventies classic. The show is seen through the eyes of the “dude” Roddy O'Neill and uses the best of '70s disco hits to tell the colourful story of Roddy and his mates. Capetonians don’t have to despair – the show makes its appearance in the Artscape Opera House in Cape Town from 28 July to 3 August. So dust off those bellbottoms and grow an so long! Ticket prices vary from R103 – R180. Book through Computicket.
Music enthusiasts, take note. On Sunday, 4 July, you can pack a picnic basket and enjoy the Classic Jazz Masters in the natural beauty of the Walter Sisulu Botanical Gardens. Admission is R25 for adults and R15 for senior citizens. No booking required. For further info, phone (011) 958-1750 or e-mail info@sisulugarden.co.za
It’s that time of the year again – time for culture vultures to pack up and leave for the annual National Arts Festival in Grahamstown for a dosage of arts, culture, music and fun. Those who attend can look forward to a vast variety of shows both on the main and fringe circuits. The festival runs from 1-10 July.
Now’s your chance to look chic and fabulous in a huge hat. Yes, the Durban July takes place this Sunday, 3 July, so join 50 000 others at Greyville Race Course. click here for more.
The guitar is the focus of a new production coming to the Catalina Theatre at Wilson's Wharf this weekend (2 - 4July). There will be three shows – one each on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Noche De La Guitarra (Night Of The Guitar) is a fusion of classical and flamenco guitar styles featuring world-renowned James Grace and Saudiq Khan with special guest artist Roberto San Juan.They will be joined by San Juan, who plays the Cajon, a unique percussive box often heard in flamenco music. Friday's and Saturday's shows are at 8pm, while Sunday's show starts at 6pm. Tickets at R60 (R50 for students and pensioners) can be booked at the theatre by calling 031 305 6889.
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Starring: Tom Hanks, Irma P. Hall, Marlon Wayans, J.K. Simmons, Tzi Ma, Ryan Hurst.
Director: Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
A deliciously dark comedy moulded around the bizarre humour and texture of the famous Coen Brothers. It's a wonderfully entertaining romp executed with graceful style and a pace that never wavers.
Based on the original 1955 Ealing Studios comedy, The Ladykillers does not take place in London, where the original was set, but in a tiny southern American town of Saucier, a lazy locale that plays host to a riverboat casino.
Tom Hanks creates one of his most endearing characters here, the charming, silver-tongued, Poe-quoting Professor G.H. Dorr who arrives in Saucier with the express purpose of robbing that casino. He has hired a motley gang of robbers, all with their own idiosyncrasies, who have to fit in with his elaborate plan.
Starring: Jeremy Irons, Fanny Ardant, Joan Plowright
Director: Franco Zeffirelli
Celebrated Italian director Franco Zeffirelli has fashioned a fictionalised account of the final four months in the life of iconic opera star Maria Callas.
Having collaborated with Callas in her prime on their 1957 stage production of La Traviata, Zeffirelli understands his subject and conveys the intimacy, admiration, and exasperation of their long-standing friendship.
Fanny Ardant plays the middle-aged singer who is living as a recluse in Paris in 1976 and still smarting from her rejection by Aristotle Onassis and her disastrous farewell recital.
Jeremy Irons is the Zeffirelli surrogate, a gay impresario, who used to manage Callas and is now urging her to star in a film version of Carmen (with the vocal to be dubbed from an old recording). Ardant, with her powerful screen presence, is an actress who embodies the diva's dazzling blend of glamour, hauteur, and vulnerability.
Starring: Antonia San Juan, Najwa Nimri, Vicky Pena, Monica Cervera, Angela Molina
Director: Ramon Salazar
(Spanish with English subtitles)
Spanish director Ramon Salazar plunges the viewer into the heart of misery as he juggles the stories of a group of women who, buffeted mercilessly by life, believe in some form of hope and redemption at the end.
Set in Madrid, the story deals with five women with heavy burdens to carry who are linked through recurring themes, one being that women's shoes supposedly provide a key to their characters.
Director Salazar has assembled some of Spain's leading actresses (perhaps achieving the equivalent of Ozon's 8 Women) for this production - and they don't disappoint.
Antonia San Juan, as the brothel madam who tentatively embarks on a mid-life romance, is a striking example. Hers is a multi-layered character and in strong contrast to that of Angela Molina, as the wealthy housewife in the throes of divorce. Her role lacks substance.
While the men operate on the peripheral, the brooding Daniele Liotti makes his mark as a sexually ambivalent artist who breaks up with an emotionally brittle nightclub dancer, played by Najwa Nimri.
Starring: Tupac Shakur
Director: Lauren Lazin
Celebrating the life of Tupac Shakur, one of the top-selling hip-hop artists of all time, Tupac: Resurrection explores Shakur's life viscerally and dramatically through his own words and music, as well as through vivid images of the world as he experienced it.
The movie carefully uses video archives to highlight the late Shakur's gift for storytelling. Using his own words, Shakur takes viewers with him on his journey through the happiness and sadness of his childhood, through the ups and downs of his professional career, and through his romances and his life-altering mistakes.
This movie is described as "an intimate portrait of a young man who rose from a life of adversity into a global icon who touched millions of lives."
Starring: Kristen Steward, Corbin Bleu, Max Theiriot
Director: Bart Freundlich
Twelve-year-old Maddy (Kristen Steward) and her adventurous father Tom (Sam Robards) have always shared a love for mountain climbing. Their hobby, however, has a disastrous effect when a devastating accident on Mount Everest injures Tom's spine, paralyzing him forever--unless he gets a very expensive operation.
Determined to procure the money to pay for his surgery, Maddy decides to recruit two of her friends, Austin (Corbin Bleu) and Gus (Max Thieriot), one a computer genius and the other a mechanical whiz kid, to help her pull off a risky heist. They plan to break into the local super-high-tech bank, which holds a vault suspended 100 feet off the floor, and get to its safe. To complicate matters even further, Maddy's mother (Jennifer Beals) works as the security chief at that very bank. Regardless of what obstacles she faces, Maddy is determined to get to the funds her father needs, by using the amazing climbing skills he taught her.
Critics have called into question the dishonest morals of the movie in which these three young Robin Hoods play a dangerous game of cops and robbers. Children who take this message to heart, one wrote, could find themselves in tragic circumstances.
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