Krêkvars-Kopanong Student Arts Festival 2015

Read the press release.

Consult the festival schedule.

Message from the HoD: Drama Department – Prof Marié-Heleen Coetzee

(read the message in Sepedi)

It is July again and time for Pretoria’s annual Krêkvars-Kopanong Student Arts FestivaI! The 2015 programme includes various exciting productions ranging from music theatre, physical theatre, comedy and drama to short films.

The festivaI mainly provides student artists with an opportunity to showcase their talent with a view to promoting integration with real-time, real-life entrepreneurial activities, as well as an opportunity to facilitate the switch to an economically active professional environment.

The festival is created, organised and managed by students under the supervision of drama lecturers and ties in with various aspects of the drama programme. The current festival organiser, Missy Maguire, is an MA student in performing arts management. She is supported by honours students in performing arts management studying under Mr Bailey Snyman. Second-year students will assist in managing the entertainment and sales at Oom Gert while some will also act as venue and technical managers. UP Arts will provide much needed logistical support during the festival. This year, two of UP Art’s musical maestros assisted the selection panel in choosing works for the festival. Bliss Entertainment will look after the festival’s technical needs and first-year drama students will operate the technical equipment in the venues under their guidance.  First-year students also fulfil other functions, such as front-of-house duties and stage management. 

The festival encourages the creation of original work in any language and genre. It offers a space for students and young artists to let their imaginations run free, interrogate issues relevant to their lives and create modes of performance that support their creative signatures. Krêkvars-Kopanong aims to grow artist-scholars who can generate innovative creative products, create discourse around their work, engage with existing performing arts structures and entertain audiences old and young. It further promotes interaction among students from different institutions and organisations in order to create a network of support among peers that can assist students to navigate a very demanding professional environment. 

In the past two years, in order to encourage excellence among young artists, US Woordfees, kykNET, Clover Aardklop, the South African State Theatre and e-news offered a range of prizes to participants. On behalf of the Department of Drama, I wish to thank these organisations for their contributions to the festival in the past and for their willingness to invest in the development of young artists.