The initiative is a collective of independent theatre makers presenting ground-breaking work originating from Cape Town. "From seven shows in 2007, Cape Town Edge is proud to be showcasing a record 11 productions this year," said Jaqueline Dommisse of Hearts & Eyes Theatre Collective, a CTE co-founding company. "With a longer festival, we have been able to accommodate more productions in an almost two-phased format of the run," added Tanya Surtees of FTH:K, the other founding company of CTE.
The 2010 line-up is: Rumpsteak (21 to 29 June at 10am); London Road (20 June to 4 July at 12 noon, except June 28); Man Turn Life Up and Down (20 to 26 June at 2pm); Tseleng: The Baggage of Bags ( 20 to 26 June at 4pm); Ncamisa! The Women (20 to 28 June at 6pm); I, Claudia (20 to 26 June at 8pm); Indlovu People (30 June to 4 July at 10am); QUACK! (27 June to 3 July at 2pm); ...miskien (27 June to 3 July at 4pm); Paraphernalia (29 June to 3 July at 6pm) and Pictures of You (27 June to 3 July at 8pm).
Gaëtan Schmid's Rumpsteak is a one-man show that gives audiences a hilarious behind-the-scenes look at rush hour in a French restaurant using only one square metre of performance space. The show features 13 characters and over 800 of James Webb's imaginative sound effects, as well as an extra 10-minute appetiser introduction to go through all the unpronounceable French words! Direction is by Rob van Vuuren.
Lara Bye's London Road tells the story of a friendship between two women from diverse backgrounds, living in the same block of flats in London Road, Sea Point. An elderly Jewish widow, Rosa, and a young, guarded Nigerian, Stella, have seemingly nothing in common until an act of violence brings them together. They take comfort in realising that common themes unite them, such as scattered families, broken relationships, and the need for a sense of humour to survive.
Inspired by 1950s crazy, energetic and patriarchal Nigerian pop literature, Yawazzi's Man Turn Life Up and Down is a multimedia comic book guide for the contemporary African woman living between two worlds. Written almost exclusively by men, Onistha Market literature featured stories of love, lust, cautionary tales and instructions on how to live the good life.
The Mothertongue's Tseleng: The Baggage of Bags is a "beautiful allegory" based on the personal story of writer and performer Mbali Kgosidintsi's childhood experience of constantly moving; packing and unpacking bags. The play.examines home as a concept rather than a physical space, using a metaphor of bags containing lived experiences instead of physical things, and interrogating the themes of identity, language and social positioning versus personal ambition. It is interwoven by an enchanting mythical narrative that echoes the book of stories which Mbali's mother passed down to her.
Ncamisa! The Women is an exploration of growing up as a black lesbian in South Africa. Based largely on Pm's experiences, the play also celebrates the life of her friend Zoliswa Nkonyana, who was chased by a group of men and stabbed to death because she was a lesbian.
I, Claudia, combines humour and pathos to map the raw, but beautiful, interior world of an irrepressibly funny, misfit adolescent, through four wonderfully exaggerated comic characters. Danford uses expressive masks to whisk her way through the quirky pre-teen, her grandfather, her father's new girlfriend and the immigrant school caretaker. Claudia is reeling from the after-affects of her parents' divorce, dealing with school assignments and coping with the emotional transition of puberty, and takes refuge in the school caretaker's room. Her journey presents moments of humour and magic as well as painful honesty.
Indlovu People is a story about the majestic elephant world, told through magical puppetry, catchy music and comedy. !Kama Indlovu holds the key to the elephant world. One day he discovers three very different children fighting about elephants and decides to take them on a captivating journey into the mysterious origins of Indlovu People. Indlovu People was commissioned by International Fund for Animal Welfare in 2008 as part of its Elephants Secure Habitats programme to raise awareness about issues surrounding elephant management in southern Africa.
Quack! returns in an expanded version from its premiere last year and tells the story of a delirious man dying in hospital. Escaping into his parallel universe, he refashions himself as a powerful healer, followed by a number of mysterious acolytes who help harvest the hopes and dreams of his expectant audiences. But how long can people be deceived and strung along before they turn against the liar?
miskien is Tara Notcutt's production about two best friends, Cormac and Layton, as they talk about love, life, rugby, work and women over their daily happy hour. But, when it's over, they each go home to forget about the day that was the same as yesterday, and will not be very different tomorrow, with their boring jobs and dead-end lives. miskien......, an Afrikaans word meaning "maybe" or "perhaps", is about the spaces between people, how we choose to fill them, and ultimately a love story about friendship.
Paraphernalia is, as Cue put it, " ... a play that in the most creative and innovative way, questions the notion of 'bigger is better' consumerism". It is a story about what we think we need in life, to be content, told through the lives of two friends whose paths diverge as one enjoys the fruits of promotion while the other feels second best. Incorporating various visual theatre styles including masks, illusion and stop frame animation, Paraphernalia examines how we interact with everyday objects and looks at the cycle of buying that we are accustomed to, which is eroding our humanity and causing us to lose the things that are important in favour of consumerism and the latest fads.
Pictures of You, concludes the CTE line up. The visual love story tells the story of Frank and Janet's seemingly picture-perfect marriage: neat, ordered, and respectable. But underneath lies a deeper truth - one of buried secrets and repressed desires that begin leaking out when Frank starts to dream. The production uses a blend of character masks, arresting imagery, puppetry and an imaginative soundscape, to explore the pleasure, pain, mistakes and forgiveness that govern our responses to being in love.
* Shows will run daily at Princess Alice from 20 June to 4 July.
* Rumpsteak: Ticket prices: R60 with concessions. Ages: From seven years
* London Road: Ticket prices: R75 with concessions. Ages: PG13
* Man Turn Life Up and Down: Ticket prices: R55 with concessions. Ages: All
* Tseleng: The Baggage of Bags: Ticket prices: R50 with concessions. Ages: 16 and over
* Ncamisa! The Women: Ticket prices: R55 with concessions. Ages: From 14 years
* I, Claudia: Ticket prices: R45 to R55. Ages: PG13
* Indlovu People: Ticket prices: R40 with concessions. Ages: All
* Quack!: Ticket prices: R55 with concessions. Ages: From 13 years
* miskien: Ticket prices: R55 with concessions. Ages: From 16 years
* Paraphernalia: Ticket prices: R55 with concessions. Ages: From seven years
* Pictures of You: Ticket prices: R55 with concessions. Ages: From 13 years
For enquiries about Cape Town Edge, contact Tanya Surtees, FTH:K on +27 (0)83 528 3501 or Jaqueline Dommisse, Hearts & Eyes Theatre Collective on +27 (0)72 418 4524
