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Voorkamerfest 2006 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 Performers Alfred Hinkel's Jazzart Dance Theatre Bonfire Theatre Company Dizu & Lungisw Plaatjies Magda de Vries Malika Ndlovu Monika Akihari & Niels Brouwer of Boi Akih Ndumiso Lindy Neo Muyanga Nicholas Ellenbogen's Theatre for Africa Peter and Kerryn of Take Two Pieter Tredoux & Rika Vermeulen Rocco de Villiers Stuart Taylor The Khayelitsha United Mamabaso Male Voice Ensemble Tina Schouw Review The problem often mooted about performing arts festivals in South Africa is that they fail to engage with the broader community and consequently struggle for credibility. But the Voorkamer concept appears to hold some solutions, chiefly because it goes far beyond simply spreading the economic benefits around. Sure, the local community is involved in the planning of the festival, there are casual jobs, the taxis, the concomitant food and craft stalls and bed and breakfast accommodation, but vitally important is that this festival also engages with its community participants on a cultural level. The punters experience unfamiliar places in safe conditions. They meet not only strangers from their own community, but from communities they are normally unlikely to enter. But this is far more than a township tour, it’s a tour of the town of Darling and the hosts are themselves exposed to what are for many untried experiences – cabaret, mime, classical music, puppets, modern dance - all performed by professionals right there in their living rooms. It also goes further than other arts’ ‘outreach’ programmes, as the residents have more control, introducing the shows and welcoming the audience, even sharing their accommodation with the artists. The artists work hard – performing their thirty-minute pieces twelve times over the three days to audiences not always familiar with the nature of their craft. It’s the honesty and freshness of the response they get, together with the intimacy - the average audience size is 20 (sometimes leading patrons to interject and converse with the performer during the show!) – which seems to invigorate the performers and in some cases has turned out to be a life-changing experience. Many artists also do workshops at the three local schools the week before the festival. These include activities such as making puppets, writing a script - then filming and editing it, and producing a daily newspaper. Last year remarkable results were achieved surpassing all expectations with a documentary made by a fifteen year old girl on drug abuse and another on gang warfare. Dutch filmmaker Mark Timmer gave the children digital video cameras and sent them into the field with sensational results, while Dutch theatre director, Tom de Ket produced a soap opera written and performed by the local kids, who clearly demonstrated keen insights into - and even satirised - the television formats of the weather report, the business stats and the news. Visitors do not know beforehand who they will get to see. They purchase a route ticket, taking them to three shows, carefully balanced and chosen by the producers. This encourages people to experiment. Not all the artists are announced and a few mystery guests turn up pleasant surprises. Unlike the usual solitary interval experience of the formal theatre, here audience members and complete strangers find it easy to chat among themselves between shows in the minicab taxis, sharing their perceptions and enjoying a cultural debate. Naturally, the choice of work is restricted to what can be performed in a makeshift theatre. Stripped of complicated sets, sound and light effects – pure dramatic styles are encouraged. It’s not possible to stage a classical ballet or a full opera, but the Voorkamer Festival is doing something quite different. It’s high in concept, and as such easily replicated and versatile. “I hope that festivals like this spring up all over the country,” says producer Inge Bos. “It’s not idealistic or simplistic to say that this kind of festival bridges divides in society, enriches communities, and allows even the inhabitants of a small rural South African town, to enjoy and have a stake in world culture,” adds producer Wim Visser. Brent Meersman writes for the Mail and Guardian and runs a theatre blog on www.realreview.co.za Note from Pieter-Dirk Uys This is our third Voorkamerfest and you will see for yourself what a life-changing experience it is. The whole community of Darling has taken ownership of this remarkable festival of talent and trust and thanks to the initiative of Wim Visser and Inge Bos, we can all share in an arts celebration that is unique and fantastic fun.
“Have a feast!” Pieter-Dirk Uys Press releases The third annual Voorkamerfest gets support from theatres in SA and abroad The 3rd annual Voorkamerfest has received a boost by way of sponsorship from several well-known theatres in South Africa and London. The Barnyard Theatres, On Broadway, the Baxter and Spier in the Cape, the Civic and the Market in Johannesburg and the Tricycle Theatre in London are on board already. Says festival organiser Marietha Channell, “we are thrilled that the excitement for the Voorkamerfest reaches as far as London. It is wonderful to have the support of the theatre community and a well-known theatre will sponsor each of the 15 venues in Darling. For the weekend of the Voorkamerfest the different homes will be branded with the name of a sponsoring theatre. This year, the festival, which takes place in the voorkamers (front rooms) of different homes in the various communities, will see the participation of several well-known stage personalities that include, amongst others, singer Tina Schouw, comedian Stuart Taylor, musician Dizu Plaatjies. The Voorkamerkamerfest 2006 will be presented in Darling from the 8-10 September 2006. Local taxis will be transporting the audiences to the various voorkamers on Friday at 18h00, Saturday at 12h00 and 16h00, on Sunday at 12h00. VOORKAMERFEST 2006 PROMISES AN EXCITING LINE-UP OF TALENT During the second week of September, the unique Voorkamerfest (Front room Festival) will once again take place in the quaint West Coast town of Darling, a village only 55 minutes north of Cape Town that is also known for its gorgeous spectacle of wild flowers, wonderful wine estates, a vibrant community and of course Evita se Perron, which is the hub of the Voorkamerfest. This one-of- a-kind festival carries an element of excitement for the audience in that the venues and performers remain a surprise until everyone arrives at their various voorkamers. The way it works is that visitors buy a ticket to a route which has three voorkamer stops, each with one performance that is 25 minutes in duration. There are five routes in total and the homes range from small township houses to some of Darling’s grand Victorian homes. Everyone meets at Evita se Perron half an hour before their particular show is due to begin and transportation is via local taxis. The Voorkamerfest was initially conceptualised by Pieter-Dirk Uys and the Dutch impresario Inge Bos, together with Wim Visser from the Carré Theatre in Amsterdam. Previous Voorkamer festivals included the participation of several artists from Holland, in addition to South African artists but this year will see the Voorkamerfest as a proudly South African event supported almost entirely by local talent. Organiser Marietha Channell says, “this year’s festival caters to all tastes and we have put together an exciting mix of theatre that covers a wide spectrum of performance genres”. The diverse line-up of artists consists of Sowetan-born Neo Muyanga, the singer and songwriter who has performed extensively in Africa, the USA and Europe. Tina Schouw will entertain audiences with various jazz, pop and folk songs.Tina recently colloborated with Alfred Hinkel's Jazzart Dance Theatre and the latter company will also be participating in this years festival. The Khayelitsha United Mamabaso Male Voice Ensemble will impress with their choral contribution and Pieter Tredoux will sing French chansons accompanied by the pianist Rika Vermeulen. The multi-talented Rocco de Villiers, who has written two cocktail books and developed a wine range, will give a piano recital. Dizu Plaatjies, the African instrumentalist who founded the band Amampondo, will, together with his sister Lungiswa, present innovative African music and songs on instruments such as the mbira and the kudu horn, whilst the percussionist Magda de Vries, who studied in Japan and has performed internationally, will play the classical marimba. The violin and guitar duo, Peter and Kerryn of Take Two will present a combination Irish and Eastern European fiddle music and South American folk melodies whilst the Dutch singer Monika Akihari and her guitarist husband Niels Brouwer of Boi Akih, will perform a mix of enchanting melodies and Indian rhythms.. On the more dramatic front,the Bonfire Theatre Company will be appearing as well as Nicholas Ellenbogen's Theatre for Africa, who will present the evolutionary tale, Of Birds and Beasts. Malika Ndlovu,the Durban-born poet and playwright whose work has been featured in several local and international publications, will deliver some of her moving and expressive performance poetry. The outstanding comedians Ndumiso Lindy and Stuart Taylor complete the performance programme . This year the 3rd annual Voorkamerfest received a boost by way of sponsorship from several well-known theatres in South Africa, London and Boston. Support has been received from the Barnyard Theatres, Artscape, On Broadway, the Theatre on the Bay, the Baxter, the Little Theatre, Spier, Oude Libertas and the ABSA Klein Karoo Kunstefees in the Cape. The Civic and the Market Theatres in Johannesburg have joined their Cape Town counterparts and from overseas, the Tricycle Theatre in London and The Art Theatre in Boston, USA are on board already. Says festival organiser Marietha Channell, “we are thrilled that the excitement for the Voorkamerfest reaches as far as England and America. It is wonderful to have the support of the theatre community and a well-known theatre will sponsor each of the 15 venues in Darling. For the weekend of the Voorkamerfest the different homes will be branded with the name of a sponsoring theatre.” The Voorkamerfest 2006 is a truly South African cultural experience and the successes of the two previous festivals mean that this event has been eagerly awaited throughout the Cape and further afield. The festival will take place over the weekend of the 8-10 September and because seating is limited, advance booking is recommended.Performances take place on Friday 8th September at 18h00, Saturday 9th September at 12h00 and 16h00 and on Sunday 10th September at 12h00. |
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This little tabloid will give you as much background information as we could recall: the history of the Voorkamerfest, the Darling skatties that have made it happen and the contribution of the citizens of this independent state of mind in the Swartland called Darling!
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