Mistero Buffo performance to aid drama students

Rhodes University Professor and Award Winning Theatre Legend Andrew Buckland will be presenting two exclusive performances of Dario Fo’s highly acclaimend work Mistero Buffo to Grahamstown audiences on Friday and Saturday (25 February). All proceeds from these two shows will go directly to supporting and aiding bursaries for drama students.  

Prof Buckland presents this onslaught from a specifically South African perspective and, in so doing, accesses the universal truths of this phenomenal work of theatre. The work is sophisticated yet simple, wildly physical and extremely funny.

In Mistero Buffo, first staged in 1969, this one-man epic performance combines the grotesque comedy of the Italian medieval performance traditions with razor-sharp contemporary political satire.  

The play, which caused great controversy in 1977 when televised, by distilling the popular and irreverent elements of medieval mystery plays, functions as a political and cultural onslaught against the repressions of religious institutions and landowning classes throughout history, expressing them in the language of the peasantry.

Ticket prices for Mistero Buffo are R25 (Public) and R20 (Students).   Tickets available at the Theatre Café, Rhodes Drama Department.  24 February @ 8pm (Rhodes Main Theatre) and 25 February @ 7pm (Rhodes Main Theatre)

Source: Grocott’s Mail

Rhodes Drama Department Alumni Recieve Notable Recognition

The Rhodes Drama Department is always delighted and proud to extend congratulations to its alumni for achieving excellence.  The end of 2011 has seen four Rhodes Drama Department graduates receive highly acclaimed awards, scholarships and bursaries.  The four recipients are Bailey Snyman, Jaques de Silva, Richard Antrobus and Timothy Redpath.

Mr Snyman was named the 2012 Standard Bank Young Artist’s Award Winner for Dance.  This award is arguably the most prestigious award for any arts practitioner in South Africa. After graduating from Rhodes, Snyman joined First Physical Theatre Company and thereafter established the Matchbox Theatre Collective, with fellow Rhodes alumnus Nicola Haskins, which has produced several successful works including Standard Bank Ovation Award winner The Anatomy of Weather. Snyman joins the likes of Andrew Buckland, Gary Gordon and Pieter Dirk-Uys as past recipients and is also the seventh artist to come out of Rhodes to win a Standard Bank Young Artist Award. 

Mr De Silva received an ImpACT Award for Young Artists at the Arts and Culture Trust (ACT) awards ceremony held recently.  He is fast becoming known among South African theatre circles as a multifaceted performer of many talents. At the National Arts Festival 2011 he starred in three productions namely, The Butcher Brothers; Pollution Revolution and The Feather Collector.  After graduating from Rhodes, de Silva went on to perform with Ubom! Eastern Cape Drama Company for two years, which he credits with laying the foundation for his career.

Mr Antrobus was awarded a Fellowship at the University of Cape Town, Donald Gordon Institute for Creative and Performing Arts (GIPCA) for 2012  After completing his degree Antrobus worked as full time company member for First Physical Theatre Company before embarking on a Masters degree at Rhodes where he conceptualised and created the highly successful Stilted. Other major works he has performed in are Pieter Bosch Botha’s Hats and Bauke Snyman’s 3 Acts of Love. He has also been working with the Phezulu Stilt Walkers for a number of years, developing skills in the Grahamstown community. He established this project in 2009 and won an Encore! Award at the National Arts Festival 2011 for his work with them.   

Mr Redpath has recently received the Brett Golden Bursary for 2011. He completed his degree in 2006 and has since toured his highly acclaimed works Mouche and Prodigal (created by Dani Marais). He has also stepped into the directing seat with Stranger Things have Happened which premiered at the National Arts Festival 2011.

We are delighted to be associated with such talented and definitive new young artists that are making their mark on the South African theatre scene and beyond.

.... from the National Arts Festival 2011

National Arts Festival

Every year the Rhodes Drama Department becomes heavily involved in Festival. Not only do we hand our theatres over to the Festival team to stage shows, but we also produce shows for the Festival. This year has been groundbreaking for the department. We are producing Debbie Robertson's Taste for the Student Festival programme, as well as a brand new innovation: inTranceit. inTranceit is a programme of 3 Masters final pieces: sub- choreographed by Gavin Krastin, Antigone directed by Jen Schneeberger and dis.clo.sure choreographed by Nadine Joseph. It is with great pleasure and pride that we announce inTranceit as winner of a Standard Bank Ovation Award for this year's festival. This is a highly prestigious award and has been well earned by these hard working young theatre makers! for more information see our upcoming events page.

Another brand new production, Wreckage, has been causing quite a stir in the Festival community. This is the first time that Ubom! Eastern Cape Drama Company and First Phyiscal Theatre Company have collaborated. The show explores the history of the Eastern Cape coastline through a multi layered and highly skilled performance. for more information see Ubom's website.

As well as Wreckage, Ubom is producing Door (a beautiful and haunting physical theatre piece in collaboration with Jori Snell of Baba Yaga Theatre Company), The Land of the Cranes (a fabulous children's show directed by Dion van Niekerk), Beelzebub (directed by Brink Scholtz and starring Richard Antrobus) and The Language We Cry In (choreographed by 3rd year drama student Sifiso Sikhakhane).

First Physical Theatre Company is producing their annual New Voices, a showcase of young and brilliant choreography, as well as a new show, Propellor, based on the themes of wind and propellors. For more information see First Physical's website.

For those who are not able to be at the National Arts Festival this year, Best of Fest will be showcasing Wreckage, Taste and New Voices from 28th to 30th July.

And for news and articles, check out the links below.

Wreckage's first review

A review of Wreckage for Artsblog

An interview with Wreckage director Brink Scholtz

Another review of Wreckage for Artsblog

A review of Door

A review of Loss and Having | Sonja Smit, Nicola Elliott and Brink Scholtz (drama alumni)

Another review of Door

A review of Dirt | James Cairns (drama alumnus)

Another review of Dirt

A review of Petticoat Chronicles | Buhle Ngaba and Amy Wilson (drama alumni)

A review and another review of Benchmarks | Rob Murray (drama alumnus)

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