An African Shakespeare The Taming of the Shrew is still on at the Durban University of Technology’s Courtyard Theatre until 17 March 2018 from 7.30pm.

The play is directed by Professor Debbie Lutge and has three founders and organisers: Professor Hanns Dietrich Schmidt, Professor Brian Michaels and Ms Susanne Skipiol, who selected the play.

Next month, the The Taming of the Shrew team which is made of DUT Drama and Production Studies students, will leave for Germany on 11 April 2018. The production was invited to perform at a festival in Germany, which is visually dynamic and filled with acapella singing, drums, gumboot, and many more surprises.

The vision and conceptual design was conceived by Professor Lutge, who also directed the award winning production of Much Ado About Nothing that received a substantial standing ovation in Germany in 2016.  The Taming of the Shrew boasting a cast of 12 students will be featured at the Folkwang Shakespeare Festival which occurs every two years.

“Our journey to Folkwang Shakespeare Festival in 2016 signalled the beginning of a deep and poignantly touching transition for our Department of Drama and Production Studies. The preparation for the international Folkwang Shakespeare Festival always has as primary considerations: funding for air fares and the costs of transporting the set; the production must speak of who we are as a nation. Each visit we become more conscious of the large debt our journey owes to our German partners who facilitate mounting the play, cover accommodation plus airport transfers, with Ms Susanne Skipiol each year going above and beyond to assist us in making our dreams a reality and this year she managed to secure our much needed airfares through DAAD (Deutsche Akademischer Austauschdienster) who have contributed significantly to our flights,” said Prof Lutge.​

She also added that the trip to the Folkwang Shakespeare Festival 2018 was facilitated by funding from DAAD.

In 2016 Lutge was the first director from Africa to be invited to stage a Shakespeare at the festival and DUT is deeply honoured that she has been invited back. The show is receiving nightly ovations and well worth seeing. For the last two nights, (16 to 17 March 2018), audiences may enjoy the show as a ‘pay what you can’ production. This allows for school bookings as well as door sales. So pop along to this wonderfully intimate theatre for this spectacular comedy geared for South African contemporary audiences. It promises to be a night to remember.

Waheeda Peters

Pictured: Go along to see the An African Shakespeare The Taming of the Shrew, still on at the Durban University of Technology’s Courtyard Theatre until 17 March 2018 from 7.30pm.

Photo by: Val Adamson.