New Writing Program produces 2 champs

by | Apr 16, 2013 | News | 0 comments

Two productions – Champ at the Fugard and Special Thanks to Guests from Afar at Artscape – are plays that have come out of the annual New Writing Program!

Champ, written by the talented playwright Louis Viljoen, was awarded the Fleur du Cap Theatre Award for Best New South African Script in March. The play was nominated in two additional categories – the Rosalie van der Gucht Prize for New Directors (Greg Karvellas), and Best Supporting Actor (Adam Neill). Champ is currently on at the Fugard Studio Theatre until 4 May 2013.  Champ had an initial successful season at the Artscape last year where it was part of the annual Spring Drama Season and one of Artscape’s New Writing Program projects.

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Champ is directed by Greg Karvellas, and stars Mark Elderkin (Skeem), Nick Pauling (Waiting for the Barbarians), Pierre Malherbe (Not Another Friggin’ Tribute Show) and Jenny Stead (Cardenio) and introduces Oliver Booth, a recent UCT Graduate. It is a dark comedy about the haves, have-nots, want-nots, up-starts, young bucks, old farts, little men, big boys and the inevitable slide into booze-fuelled depression. Actors, scraping the bottom of the barrel while working as children entertainers in a mall, find themselves struggling to hold on to their jobs and what little dignity they have left when they encounter a vicious child hell-bent on making their day worse than it already is…….

WHERE & WHEN: Fugard Studio Theatre until 4 May 2013 from Tuesdays to Fridays at 8pm and on Saturdays at 4pm and 8pm.Tickets cost R100 to R140 through Computicket or the Fugard Theatre box office on 021 461 4554. Due to explicit and graphic language Champ carries a strict no under 18 age restriction.

Special Thanks to Guests from Afar at the Artscape ends its season on Saturday 20. This Nicholas Spagnoletti gem returned by popular demand.

Two old friends re-unite at a wedding in Switzerland. When an enigmatic and attractive stranger befriends them, their friendship is challenged on many levels.
“It’s about two friends, both successful South Africans, who haven’t seen each other in quite some time,” explains actor Gideon Lombard. “They end up in Germany, because a mutual friend whom they studied with in Cape Town is getting married to a German guy. I play Markus, the brother of the groom, and when I stumble upon them, there’s an instant connection and fascination amongst the three. Markus is a German physiotherapist who travels extensively with Doctors without Borders. There’s a justification for a physio in that do-gooder job, by the way – it’s for emergency conditions!”

WHERE & WHEN: Artscape Arena, 9 to 20 April 2013 @ 19:30
R8514 April 2013 @ 17:00 & 16 April 2013 @ 19:30 R60.  Book Computicket or Artscape Dial-a-Seat at 021 421 7695.

Both plays emanated from the Artscape New Writing Programme.  Bravo Artscape and Roy Sargeant!
The Programme accepts unsolicited manuscripts from anyone in isiXhosa, Afrikaans or English.
These scripts are sent out to professional readers for assessment. Reports are fed back to the playwrights. Once a play has been identified as having promise, the playwright works with an editor to undertake re-writing. The play may be given a stage reading, and if successful, will be considered for a full production. A central part of the programme is playwriting workshops. It is targeted at adults and high school learners.  (Roy Sargeant)

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