The annual Hilton Arts Festival will be at Hilton College from August 11 to 13, bringing more than 30 major productions from across the country to KZN
They take in cabaret, comedy, drama and music. In addition, there are a selection of films, lectures, workshops, and shows for kids.
The largest festival in KZN takes place five weeks earlier than usual this year, which organisers hope will result in better weather.
“Our aim is to bring the pick of SA theatre to KZN,” says artistic director Sue Clarence. “It isn’t simply a drama festival; there are dollops of comedy, music of several different genres, an extensive fine art exhibition, exciting arts-related workshops, fun activities for kids, upmarket craft and a collection of classic cars from a vintage Rolls-Royce to modern Ferraris. There is live music, street theatre and a wide variety of food on sale. Naturally, there is a beer tent.”
The music component of the festival has been expanded, thanks to the new Chamberlain Music Centre at the school. People can grab the opportunity to Be A Pop Star and experience recording their own voice, or they can Lay Down a Beat, working with cutting edge software to create music. Schools from all over KZN will take part in a variety of street theatre, making maximum use of the grounds.
Workshops include making a webtoon live with Cabblow Studios, an award-winning animation and illustration studio in Johannesburg. Learn how animation and comics are made from start to finish. AFDA will host a motion picture workshop that offers potential creatives a sneak peek into the exciting world of film.
International birding company, Rockjumpers, offers an exhibition, lectures,and guided walks and drives on the estate, while Ed Schroder will speak on another KZN jewel through his photographic book on Nguni cattle.
For the first time, classic car enthusiasts can rev their engines and take a trip down memory lane as this extravaganza on wheels motors in. See retro models of the 1920s to the muscle cars of the 1960s and beyond.
These are some of the Independent on Saturday’s highlights of the festival.
Drama
Home Affairs: Two men. A government department. A crisis. Brought together by the great unifier, loads hedding. Forced to talk about more than the weather and the state of power in the country, they find they might have more in common than they initially imagined. Or maybe not. Either way, it all comes down to the light bulb. Starring Sello Ramolahloane and Lawrence Joffe. Written and directed by Michelle Douglas. Memorial Hall: Saturday 4.15pm, Sunday 12.15pm. 75 minutes. Cost: R180.
Isidlamlilo: A one-woman tour-de-force from Mpume Mthombeni, and theatre maker Neil Coppen. Mthombeni, through captivating storytelling, relays the life of Zenzile Maseko, a 60-something Zulu grandmother who rents a cramped room in a Durban’s women’s hostel and is haunted by her past working as an IFP assassin (fire-eater) in the build-up to the 1994 elections. When Home Affairs mistakenly declares her dead, she is driven to desperate measures to prove she is alive and is made to reawaken parts of her identity and past that she has spent most of her adult life trying to suppress. The Theatre: Wednesday and Thursday at 6pm, Saturday at 10am. 100 minutes. Cost: R210
Last Cow Standing: An epic African folk tale created and performed by Naledi award-winning actor and playwright Menzi Mkhwane. Mkhwane plays multiple characters and creates imaginary landscapes. He presents a world where a boy (Samira) is born in a kingdom whose cows are dwindling. His grandmother chooses him to address the king to stop this, so he embarks on the journey of a lifetime. But he’s just a boy and will his warning be heeded? Drama Centre: Friday 5pm, Saturdat 3.30pm. 80 minutes. Cost: R150
My Weight & Why I Carry It: “It’s taken years for me to be as loud as I am about this gorgeous body that I’m bestowing on your eyes for a relatively cheap fee,” says Tasmin Sherman, the playwright and performer of this brave one-woman show. It is performed as a stand-up comedy routine where the main character, Vic, reflects on her familial relationships, her interactions with her bikini, growing up as a fat person and the ways in which her life experiences were influenced. Drama Centre: Saturday 10am, Sunday 10am. 40 minutes. Cost: R150
Kafka’s Ape: A solo performance by Tony Miyambo about a primate’s struggle to overcome the confines of captivity. The play takes a metaphorical view on South African society. It highlights the complexities of identity in post-apartheid South Africa and in the human race in general. Red Peter, the ape, embarks on a journey ignited by finding a way out of a cage he was confined to after his capture; a journey in which he contests identity based on outward appearance. Memorial Hall: Saturday at 9.30am and 8.15pm. 50 minutes. Cost: R150
Musical Theatre
Five Guys Named Moe: Based on the music of Louis B Jordan, follow Nomax as his imagination comes to life out of his radio in the form of five singers, Eat Moe, Big Moe, No Moe, Four-Eyed Moe and Little Moe. They team up to help Nomax understand his shortfalls with the woman who left him and, ultimately, how to be a better person. Performed by six Hilton boys, backed by a live jazz band. Directed by Luke Holder. Chamberlain Music Centre Recital Hall: Thursday 6pm, Friday 7pm, Saturdat 3pm and 7.30pm, Sunday 4pm. 80 minutes. Cost R120
Next!!!: From Wela Kapela comes the cabaret Next!!!, starring Dikelo Mamiala with Jacques du Plessis on the piano. A young Relebogilethata dreams of becoming a star and playing Velma Kelly in Chicago. Ten years later, she see-saws between waitressing and being a chorus girl. Yet she clings to her near dream. In this roller-coaster ride of heartache and hope, she bounces from one audition to the next, singing everything from well-known Broadway hits to the most powerful isiXhosa songs by Miriam Makeba. Anything to avoid the dreaded “Next!”. Chamberlain Music Centre Recital Hall: Saturday at 11am, Sunday at 10.30am. 60 minutes. Cost: R150.
Comedy
Mamba Proudly SA: The legendary comedy act is back. Ben Voss (creator of Benny Bushwacker) and John van de Ruit (author of Spud) deliver cutting-edge satirical comedy. Whether it be service delivery, crime-fighting dancing manoeuvres, a Gen Z YouTuber president, the inner workings of Faf de Klerk’s place-kicking technique, Eskom with a Shakespearean Twist, or an auction of proudly South African collectables, the duo are brimming with satire and irreverence. The Theatre Friday at 6pm, Saturday at 1pm and Sunday at 10am. 60 minutes. Cost R210
So I Wrote That Musical: Marc Lottering’s latest stand-up comedy show. Following his smash hit musical Aunty Merle Things Get Real, he reflects on the fascinating process of moving between the worlds of stand-up comedy and musicals, weaving in his views on the madness of current South Africa. The Theatre: Saturday at 5.15pm, Sunday at noon. 80 minutes. Cost R210 PG 16
Music
Operatic and African Classics: Nozuko Teto (soprano), and Wayne Mkhize (tenor) with Andri Potgieter (piano) present a varied recital programme of operatic and popular songs, along with ‘Lakutshon’ilanga’ and ‘My African Dream’. Chamberlain Music Centre Band Room: Saturday at 4pm, Sunday at 2.30pm. 60 minutes. Cost R150
The Romantic Genius: Dr Andrew Warburton presents two large-scale works by Schubert ‒ the Wanderer Fantasy, D760, and the Piano Sonata in B flat major, D.960. The Wanderer is among the most difficult works written for the piano, yet it contains some of the composer’s most beautiful music. Chamberlain Music Centre Band Room: Sunday at noon. 70 minutes. Cost: R120
Film
Beyond The Light Barrier: Narrated by John Kani, the movie explores the extraordinary life of Elizabeth Klarer, a SA meteorologist who devoted herself to proving the existence of Akon, her extra-terrestrial lover from the planet Meton in the Proxima Centauri solar system. The film features archival footage, a treasure trove of interviews with Klarer’s family and friends, as well as sceptics and SA Ufologists, to offer an in-depth look at her enigmatic life. Lecture Theatre B: Saturdat at 10am. 90 minutes. Cost: R50
The Water Rats: During Lockdown 2020, a group of Londoners found one another while secretly (and illegally) swimming in cold, wild waters around London. They climbed fences and dodged police patrols to escape the claustrophobia of Covid restrictions. Their shared adventure transcended their differences in age, ethnicity, religion and gender. They became The Water Rats. Greig Coetzee and Jillian Edelstein (both from South Africa) collaborated to make the award-winning film telling their story. The first screening will include a video link to Greig in London. Lecture Theatre B: Friday 6.15pm, Saturday 6pm, 50 minutes. Cost: R50 PG 16
Children
Adventure of Who: A child is on a magical quest to find a name, in a fantasy world full of whimsical characters and hidden secrets. Inspired by Ursula Le Guin’s ‘Wizard of Earthsea’ and ‘The Neverending Story’. Written and performed by Kaylee Mcilroy. Chamberlain Music Centre Band Room: Saturday at 10am, Sunday at 10am. 45 minutes. Cost: R100
Peter and the Wolf: The Lidgetton Theatre Company presents the delightful Tim Redpath and his band of puppeteers in this charming children’s classic. For all children under the age of 95. Churchill Garden: Saturday at 10.30am, Sunday at 10.30am. 25 minutes. Cost: R50
Stuppet Stories: Written and performed by Carol Preston. When Robyn hears strange sounds coming from an old suitcase, she is at first afraid to open it. But when she does, she discovers the Stuppets, or Story-Telling Puppets, that had told stories during her childhood. Now that they are out of the suitcase they cannot wait to tell their stories. Churchill Garden: Saturday at 2.30pm, Sunday at 12.30pm. 40 minutes. Cost: R100
- Entrance to the school for the weekend is a once-off cost of R100 per vehicle, valid for three days. Bookings for show tickets is via webtickets on
The Independent on Saturday