A BUSY JULY FOR TWIST

The Twist Project was well represented at National Arts Festival, with both the  Novel-Script project and the Remix-Lab project.
The novel-script project included South African writers Napo Masheane, Themba Mkhoma, Zwai Mgijima, Simphiwe Vikalahle, Ayanda Mkhize and Tristan Jacobs from South Africa, and well known playwright Erik-Ward Geerlings and the novelist Jette van den Bergh from The Netherlands.

The writers’ scripts were brought to life by 10 South African actors, with Emma Durden, Sticks Mdidimba, Roel Twijnstra, Jolanda Spoel and Tarkan Korgulan directing.  The result was 8 diverse and engaging new scripts, which will soon be collated into a published collection.

The Remix-Lab programme included a variety of performances, workshops, public speeches and other events that the six twist groups attended.  This gave them a great deal to absorb over the 10 days in Grahamstown.  Bonagani Baai from Emuhle All Artists has this to say about it:  To me the Grahamstown experience was a breakthrough to many opportunities, and it was also a mind blowing developmental phase…

We hope that all of the groups will grasp the opportunities that the festival has offered.  Big Brotherhood Productions have been invited to a theatre festival in Lesotho with their production Camp 13, and are seeking funding for this.  Anybody who can assist with this is welcome to contact the group directly.

The DUT exchange programme
51 of the artists from the Twist groups joined with 3rd year students from the Drama Department at the Durban University of Technology for a two day workshop facilitated by Debbie Lutge and Thomas Mpoeleng to explore new concepts and structuring scenes with suspense & imagination.  The workshop included improvisations and sparked new ideas for all involved.  The groups loved the exercises, and are rejuvenated and ready to start their new production projects.

Other news from the groups
Umsindo Theatre Productions took their production To Be Like This Rock to the festival under their own steam, and received an Ovation Award from the festival.  Congratulations to them for this honour!

Ubuntubesizwe Productions were invited to perform at the King Shaka airport for the arrival of the International Olympic Committee in Durban – another great honour, and they were found through Twist Projects.

These are just two examples of the groups being able to benefit from the project – we are delighted to see them spread their wings.