#REDFEST
ASSITEJ South Africa in partnership with Redhill School will host the second ASSITEJ/Naledi Showcase for the year at the debut Redhill Arts Festival ‘RedFest’ on 7-8 October in Johannesburg.
The ASSITEJ SA / Naledi Showcase will take place Saturday 8 October at RedFest. The showcase will present productions 'Dream Big' (AltEye Productions), 'The Lighthouse' (AltEye Productions), ‘Walking Tall’ (PAST), and ‘Sex and Me’ (Clara Vaughan and Craig Morris) which are under consideration for award nomination. The categories for which these shows are under consideration are the “Naledi Theatre Award for Best Production for Children (0 - 12)" and "Naledi Theatre Award for Best Production for Young Audiences" (13 - 17)”.
Productions invited to this showcase are works that the judging panel would not otherwise have been able to see due to the touring nature of theatre for young audiences. ASSITEJ SA has partnered with the Naledi Theatre Awards to provide wider scope for the quality work which is touring to schools and learners in Gauteng. This category has a dedicated team of judges who now see a much broader selection of theatre for young audiences, via show cases which ASSITEJ SA sets up once or twice a year. The showcase has previously been hosted at the Soweto Theatre, King David Victory Park High School and the National School of the Arts.
Redhill School, under the direction of Matthew Counihan the schools’ Director of Visual and Performing Arts, have bolstered the ASSITEJ SA/Naledi showcase with additional productions, ‘Dotted Line’ (by The Actors Unemployed Company (AUC)), ‘Johnny Boskak is Feeling Funny’ (Craig Morris of Untouchable Productions), and ‘Woza Albert (Mncedisi Shabangu and Hamilton Dlamini), to create the youth-focussed festival “RedFest” with the view to create a collaborative nature between its arts students and the greater professional arts industry.
In line with this vision, ‘Redfest’ has integrated a Professional Development component to its youth-focussed festival in addition to the ASSITEJ SA / Naledi Showcase. On 7 October, arts organisation “The Framework” will run a workshop for Creative Arts, Dramatic Arts and English teachers on teaching Shakespeare, followed by an Arts Education panel discussion with formidable arts giants, Ismail Mahomed, Bernard Jay, Chris Avant-Smith and Sylvaine Strike facilitated by Khutjo Green before the opening performance of the absurd physical theatre piece, ‘Whistle Stop’ directed by Frances Slabolepzy.
Redhill have also made a space for young people to perform by introducing a Classical Guitar Competition for learners up to a Grade 8 level and a mass music orchestral workshop and performance with pupils from Redhill, the Music Enlightenment Project (MEP), the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls and Northside Primary School from Botswana which will take place on the Saturday of the festival. Proceeds from the orchestral workshop will go to the MEP. For more information and interviews please contact Bronwen on bronwen@bsharpentertainment.co.za or Chris on straight2media@gmail.com
Tickets are R60. You can purchase tickets on Webtickets – go to http://redhill.joburg/C4RgNg.
For more information on the ASSITEJ SA / Naledi Showcase contact info@assitej.org.za
About ASSITEJ SA:
ASSITEJ South Africa is a registered NPO (066-875), which operates as a networking platform for people working with or interested in theatre for children and young people. It aims to promote and foster high quality theatre for children and young people, to raise standards within the industry, to increase access and awareness, to be an advocate for the right of every child to arts education in schools, and to build relationships within the sector locally, nationally, across the continent and globally.
Members are present in all provinces include: actors, musicians, dancers, directors,
choreographers, theatre educators, stage designers and dramatists, as well as theatre companies, organisations and institutions, critics and cultural journalists, cultural officers, amateur drama groups, organizers, societies and other networks.
ASSITEJ South Africa works to promote international awareness of South African theatre for children and young people, through networking, organising exchanges, touring performances, and by facilitating contacts. Members are given access to a global network of information about festivals, performances, courses and seminars all over the world, with the potential to participate in these activities.
ASSITEJ South Africa is generously supported by the National Lotteries Commission, the National Arts Council of South Africa, Rand Merchant Bank and the UNESCO IFCD. Other funders, supporters and partners include the HCI Foundation, the Distell Foundation, the Kids of the Cape, the City of Cape Town, Western Cape Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport, the Department of Arts and Culture, Business and Arts South Africa, the Cape Tercentenary Foundation, Buz Publicity, Splitbeam Gearhouse, Theatre Arts Admin Collective, the National Arts Festival, The National School of the Arts and the Festival of Fame, Artscape, Baxter Theatre, CATHSSETA, Ruth & Anita Wise Trust, Lorenzo and Stella Chiappini Charitable Trust, Puppetry South Africa, The Arts and Culture Trust and Nedbank Arts Affinity, Institut Francaise, Alliance Francaise, Africalia, Pro Helvetia, SIDA, Goethe Institut, Tullow Oil, Copy Dog Productions, Mandela Bay Development Agency, Speeltheater Holland Studio, Bush Radio, FMR, and Cape Town Television.
www.assitej.org.za
