22 Jun 2009 Fourteen cutting-edge shows to tantalise festival goers at upcoming (National Arts Festival) NAF.

The upcoming National Arts festival will display a vast array of Wits School of the Arts (WSOA) productions.

Taking place in Grahamstown from the 2nd-11th July, the NAF will host WSOA like never before. Fourteen established and up and coming writers; directors and actors will take to the stage presenting contemporary new works that challenge, entertain and intrigue. The WSOA will offer its audiences a chance to laugh, cry and engage in critical thinking as they watch fourteen shows that cover a multitude of genres and styles; ranging from comedy to physical theatre, slam poetry to political satire, and more.

Leading by example, the WSOA lecturers have collectively presented at the festival more than 20 years. In keeping with tradition six lecturers will present original works at the festival this year. Greg Homann will debut as a playwright at the festival this year with his self-directed new South African comedy, Previously Owned. Warren Nebe, a veteran of the festival will present three works at the festival, Hayani, ID Pending and Woza Joshua. Tsepo Wa Mamatu, the WSOA’s resident political playwright will present Mbeki and other Nitemares whilst Jane O’Connell and Jenni-Lee Crewe will debut two new Physical Theatre works Carbon and Paydirt, respectively. Grace meadows and Denzel Edgar will present a thought provoking Aids play The Truth about you  Lastly, Bailey Snyman and Nicola Haskins’mimetic clowning piece, Le Carnaval de ma vie, returns to the festival once more.
Besides wowing the festivalgoers on stage with their presentations, the WSOA company also plans to play their part in community development through an outreach program designed especially for the duration of the festival. The Truth about You, ID Pending and Them and I will travel to the nearby community to present their work free of charge. The WSOA understands the role of theatre and its importance in cultivating the community- this act will definitely be a highlight on the WSOA schedule at the festival.

Also on the bill are up and coming directors and writers that again spotlight the wide - ranging productions that The WOSA has to offer. Wits School of the Arts senior directing students will present a total of five productions. Jessica Lejowa directs, The Wages of Sin, this play challenges the cast, director and audience to imagine alternate ways of existing in the world.

Through the use of slam poetry, Duduetsang directed by Lidija Marelic uses a fresh approach to theatre that expresses both the joys and fears of what the youth of South Africa face in today’s society. This play passionately interrogates the mixture of poetry and theatre.

The play Them and I is an intriguing piece of theatre directed by Nina Risti?. The play is based on the concept of the journey. Them and I follows the journey of a young lady in her quest of finding the perfect movement.

Lozenge by director Kieron Jina, This piece is about the way we try to overcome the hurdles and suppress the pain they cause. The body is used as a canvas to display an understanding of these social concerns.

Rounding off the bill – and, indeed, one of the highlights – is Kung-Fu Crazy by director/actor Craig Wainwright, the show where everything’s made up and the clichés don’t matter. A peasant boy Jin-Tao loses his family in an attack by the nefarious Overdub Clan, led by the tyrannical Warlord Mugabi.