The third annual Durban University of Technology’s Children’s Theatre Festival, which takes place at the Courtyard Theatre, DUT Ritson Campus, kicks off tomorrow (September 17, 2013).
The festival, which runs until Saturday (September, 21, 2013) will profile renowned children’s theatre writer extraordinaire Professor Pieter Scholtz. The festival, founded by Prof Debbie Lutge, DUT Drama Studies and Production Department HOD, each year chooses a Durban writer to profile.
Presented by the Department, the festival this year features five original productions for young audiences by Prof Scholtz. The plays are aimed at primary schools and will be performed by first-year Drama Studies students.
The plays being performed are:
– Tokoloshe (17 September: 11h00 – 12h00). Directed by Siza Mthembu, the play is based on a Zulu folktale about the Tokoloshe who is probably the most notorious trickster of Zulu folklore.
– Children of the Sands (18 September: 9am – 10am and 11am – 12h00). This play is directed by Dr Pamela Tancsik. It’s an entertaining battle of survival of two youngsters in the Kalahari after their twin-engined Cessna 414 crashes and they encounter a couple of weird desert creatures.
– Samantha Seal (19 September: 12h00 – 1pm). This performance will be directed by Marcia Peschke. Samantha Seal decides to appeal to the World Court against the culling of seals.
– The La-Di-Da Hadeda (20 September: 10am – 11am and 12h00 – 1pm) is directed by Nellie Ngcongo and concerns the meaning of Christmas for a young African herd-boy, centred on the character of Da, a black Ibis.
– Where the Rainbow Ends (21 September: 10am – 11am and 12h00 – 1pm) is directed by Prof Debbie Lutge and is about a group of desperate and weird scarecrows pursued by a malevolent villain – Terminator Crow.
Prof Pieter Scholtz is emeritus Professor of Drama at the University of KwaZulu-Natal where he headed the drama department for more than 20 years. He founded and ran the KwaSuka Theatre, where regular productions for young audiences were presented. He has written and published a myriad plays in a series entitled ‘Plays for Young Africa’, two of which received the Amstel Playwright of the Year award in 1979 and 1980.
“A story in print that evokes the spoken word resonated with us, making us remember the childhood joys of our parents reading to us at bedtime. The finest writing uses the simplest language allowing the story to provide the colour, as indeed the writer does page after page. For whom are these stories written? For us as adults remembering the child we once were and for the child who will be listening as we read the stories out loud to them,” said Andrew Verster, artist designer and playwriter on contemplating Prof Scholtz’s work.
The festival takes place at the Courtyard Theatre, Gate 7, DUT Ritson campus, Steve Biko Road (old Mansfield Road). Secure parking is available at Gate 4, Steve Biko Campus.
For more information contact Departmental Secretary, Lebohang Sibisi on (031) 3732194 / lebohangs@dut.ac.za.
