One-way

With this production for the Grahamstown National Arts Festival, UP Drama and TUT Dance and Musical Theatre made history – the first-ever collaboration between performing arts departments of these two institutions. This powerful collaboration explores the notion of identity that will leave audiences in contemplation of their place in their own world. According to the choreographer, Nicola Haskins from the Matchbox Theatre Collective, society has a certain set of conventions referred to as the “norm”, conditioning us to be “one-way”. Often people, ideologies and experiences that deviate from this norm are seen as alien. This alienation manifests itself in the body, and results in a sense of dissociation and disconnection from “the self”.

People have become refugees from their own bodies; running away from who they want to be; homeless in a sense. “One-way” explores how the suppression of the self results in fear, anxiety and a sense of separation from one’s “self”, society and questions the notion of ‘home’. The journey towards one-self is a labyrinth of emotions, experiences and interactions. No two lives follow the same path. There is no one-way.

... Like Show Business!

Writer-director Michelle Ayden works with third year students to create a hilarious but biting 'behind-the-scenes' look at show business. Ayden, a UP Drama alumnus and a veteran in the local scenes (she was recently in District 9 and Getroud met Rugby), delivers a smart and insightful take on human interaction within the entertainment context.

Watch this space for more information on the shows. Both these productions are scheduled to play at the forthcoming Krêkvars Student Art Festival from 26 July to 31 July 2010.
Click here to check out the posters for the shows:

LikeShowBusiness (1403 x 1984).jpg
OneWay.pdf