Would Beethoven raise any objection if he found himself in the company of Enoch Sontonga and Jeanne Zaidel Rudolph? I guess not!

In fact, Beethoven might spend most of his time complimenting the two composers for giving South Africans the kind of National Anthem that we’re all likely to sing with greater enthusiasm in 2010 than we’ve ever done before it was massacred by Ras Dumisane in Paris last year.

Beethoven might perhaps even be quite surprised that he has a music studio in Grahamstown named after him whilst these two talented South Africans whose names are attached to the composition of South Africa’s national anthem go without even a light pole named after them in the city. The Beethoven Room is an intimate music studio in the music department at Rhodes University.

Eastern Cape born composer Enoch Santonga was a choirmaster and a photographer when he composed Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika. Little did he know at the time that the humble and rather obscure origins of his composition would more than 100 years later become a rallying song of peace and healing for South Africa’s Rainbow Nation.

Nkosi Sikel’ iAfrika first gained popularity when Sontonga’s choir made a strong impression on its audiences and with other choirs around the country soon learning to also sing it. On 8 January 1912, at the first meeting of the South African Native National Congress (the forerunner of the ANC), Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika was immediately sung after the closing prayer. In 1925 the ANC officially adopted it as a closing anthem for its meetings. The song spread beyond the borders of South Africa and has been translated and adapted into a number of other languages. It is still the national anthem of Tanzania and Zambia.

In 1995, South African music composer and academic, Jeanne Zaidel-Rudolph, was invited by government to serve on the Anthem Committee to rewrite Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika and to incorporate elements from the former anthem, Die Stem, as part of government’s commitment to reinforce nation-building and reconciliation. Zaidel-Rudolph was also given the honour of producing this new composite version, as well as a full orchestral setting. At her suggestion, the English words that she composed were incorporated at the end of the Anthem. The trilingual anthem sung in isiXhosa, Afrikaans and English is now the official version that is sung today.

If any credit could be given to Ras Dumisane after he raped the South African National Anthem during his rendition in Paris last year, it is that South Africans had never before been more patriotic of this trilingual composition than they’ve become after his embarrassingly atrocious performance. There is no doubt if we haven’t learnt to sing the anthem to date, we are more likely to do it properly now in 2010 when the World Cup fever takes over our lives.

Perhaps, if Beethoven was alive today and was able to attend the World Cup, he might surprisingly have proclaimed that the beautiful hymn was music to his deaf ears. However, if Beethoven visited the music department at Rhodes University, he would probably have paid a graffiti artist to spray paint the names of Enoch Santonga and Jeanne Zaidel-Rudolph somewhere in the corridors of the music department.

As a citizen of the Eastern Cape who composed one of Africa’s most popular compositions, Santonga’s name should be engraved and stand proudly alongside that of Beethoven in the University’s music hall. The music department at Rhodes University needs to position itself at the core of reclaiming and celebrating the legacies of Enoch Santonga and that of Jeanne Zaidel-Rudolph.

Zaidel-Rudolph’s name should be embraced as an inspiration for any student of music walking through the corridors of the institution. She is an internationally acclaimed professor who in 1979 became the first woman to obtain a Doctorate in Music Composition in South Africa. Her name must be written alongside that of another Eastern Cape composer icon, Michael Moerane, who was the first Black person to graduate in South Africa with a degree in music. Last year was the centenary of the birth of this giant of African music.

Students and academics of music at Rhodes University should be at the core of activism to ensure that Enoch Sontonga’s and Jeanne Zaidel Rudolph’s names echo through the corridors of the music department during 2010.

As South Africans bellow out the National Anthem during 2010, it is appropriate to reflect on the history of the anthem and whether it has achieved its goal of uniting in song and patriotism a previously divided nation. This year marks the 15th anniversary of the trilingual version composed and arranged by Zaidel-Rudolph. It is also the 75th anniversary since the original song composed by Santonga was adopted by the ANC as its official anthem. There can be no better place for a re-examination and /or a re-affirmation of the anthem to take place than locating a colloquium in the music department of Rhodes University and at the International Library of African Music in Grahamstown.

Apart from drawing on a wide range of musicologists, political commentators and academics who could be drawn to the city to participate in such a colloquium, it could have enormous spin-offs for the city through the national media who would be certain to cover such an event. This in itself translates into a stimulus for the city’s marketing profile and its hospitality sector. The fervent patriotism that is synonymous with the anthem could also create opportunities for local bead-workers to increase their sales of the South African beaded flag lapel badges. Musicologists participating in the colloquium would be more than likely to discover another one of Grahamstown’s hidden gems, the International Library of African Music.

Jeanne Zaidel-Rudolph is also celebrated for being amongst a list of other South African musical divas that have been conferred with National Orders by the Office of the Presidency. Perhaps an enterprising music student may want to record and publish an anthology of the National Anthem and other songs played on piano by Jeanne Zaidel-Rudolph and sung by the two other divas that have received the National Orders, Abigail Khubeka and Sibongile Khumalo. The latter is no stranger to Grahamstown or to Rhodes University. Khumalo is the Chairperson of the National Arts Festival Committee and also a recipient of an Honorary Doctorate in Music from Rhodes University.

If such a recording were to be made, perhaps the enterprising student might even want to include another National Orders recipient, Christian Ashley Botha who directed the Drakensberg Boys’ Choir School to international acclaim. Botha could be engaged to direct a choral rendition of the anthem. There is no reason why all this with its potential of boosting cultural tourism cannot happen in Grahamstown. Even Beethoven will agree that it’s time for the city which celebrates his legacy to grow up and to stop behaving like a shy and sweet little virgin when it comes to taking advantage of opportunities in the cultural tourism sector.

Currently, Beethoven is incredibly lonely on the corner of Bathurst and Somerset Streets in Grahamstown. He could certainly do with the company of South African musical giants whose fame and acclaim could give that quiet street corner in Grahamstown a new sense of relevance, a vibrancy and a strong living musical tradition.

(Ismail Mahomed is the Director of the National Arts Festival. He writes in his personal capacity)

There is a tenth birthday celebration going to take place in Grahamstown next year and it certainly should not be kept a secret. In fact, everyone in Grahamstown ought to be thinking now about how they can take ownership of this birthday party and turn it into a significant cultural event. Visitors to Grahamstown should also be thinking of how they can get a slice of the cake.

The Egazini Outreach Project turns ten years old next July.

Located in a former Apartheid-era police station, the Egazini Outreach Project is a dynamic community arts, culture and heritage initiative. The project was founded in June 2000 by two Grahamstown academics, Dominic Thorburn and Julia Wells, to enable local township folks to re-interpret the local historical Egazini battle site.

Today, the Egazini Outreach Project functions as both a heritage initiative and as an economic empowerment project for local artists and crafters.

Egazini means “A place of Blood”. It is the battlefield where the Xhosa Chief Makana attacked the settlers of Grahamstown in 1819. The battlefield is protected by the South African Resources Heritage Agency as a heritage site. The Egazini Outreach Project which is located not far from this site is more than just a place that pays homage to those whose blood was spilled in the battle. It is a place from which creativity and hope is kindled.

Violet Booi is one of the elderly women who work at the Project to make prints and designs on fabrics. Her enthusiasm for the project is overwhelming as she welcomes you to take a walk through the craft shop and its accompanying workshop spaces. As you walk through the building, you can only marvel at how the haunting brutality of the old police station has been transformed by the artworks that are on display and for sale.

The Egazini Outreach Project is an empowering example of how the arts can allow local communities to take ownership of telling their history and through which they can sustain themselves economically.

However, it is rather disappointing though that this remarkable heritage and cultural initiative is still somehow guarded as Grahamstown’s most well kept secret. A search through local tourism materials gives the Egazini Outreach Project very scant mention. Whilst the roads to Grahamstown are boldly marked to inform travellers that they are entering Frontier Territory, there is not a single sign that points in the direction of the historic battle site or to the Egazini Outreach Project. Perhaps, in anticipation of the Egazini Outreach Project’s tenth birthday next year, directional signage could be a generous birthday gift that the Makana Municipality could give to this arts and legacy project.

In a city that is rife with economic impoverishment and unemployment, the skills that Dominic Thorburn and Julia Wells have invested with the local community members who manage the Egazini Outreach Project is commendable. However, the project can grow much bigger if local Grahamstown citizens take pride in the success of this project and make it their business to take visitors to Grahamstown to visit it and to support the local artists.

Each year during the National Arts Festival, the artists and crafters who work at the Egazini Outreach Project travel in local taxis to the city center to sell their wares to festival visitors. The project receives scant promotion in local tourism collateral so most visitors to Grahamstown are oblivious of the existence of this dynamic space from which creativity just oozes.

Next year, more than a thousand visitors will gather at the Miki Yili Stadium and which is a stone’s throw from the Egazini Outreach Project. The stadium is designated as a public viewing area during the FIFA soccer world cup. It will be an indictment on the city if this significant tenth birthday of the project is not capitalised to draw soccer fans to support the local artists and crafters.

Egazini is a place of blood but it is right here where the Egazini Outreach Project stands as a testimony of hope for the artists who work in the old police station. It is their blood and their sweat that will shadow the brutal history of the building and colour it with inspiration, creativity and productivity.

For the citizens of Grahamstown, the Egazini Outreach Project is a living testimony of how far we have all traveled in our journey to reconcile the past with the present. The tenth birthday of the Egazini Outreach Project must find us all joining hands to strengthen this road and to allow visitors to our city to travel this journey with us.

The birthday party must start in earnest. It must commence with the Makana Municipality putting up directional signage to the centre. Local schools must take their learners to the centre to learn about the city’s history. A new generation of academics and students at Rhodes University should be able to see the value of Thorburn and Well’s vision. They must commit themselves to grow that vision through newer university student outreach initiatives.

Local businesses should find ways through which they can channel their corporate social responsibility commitments to invest in the growth of the centre. Hotels and other accommodation establishments must keep information about the project at the disposable of their visitors. They should entice their guests to visit the centre. The tourism authorities in the city and the province must commit themselves to increasing the visibility of the Egazini Outreach Project.

Even the National Arts Festival must join the party and celebrate the project as a dynamic example of how legacy, arts and economics can be married.

This must be the one party that the citizens of Grahamstown should not miss! We need to ensure that every visitor leaves the city with a piece of artwork bought from the artists and crafters at the Egazini Outreach Project. Their sweat is a creative way in which homage is paid to the spirits of the fallen in Egazini —- a place of blood!

When for far too long we have attributed the term “artist” to an individual or organisation that holds a paintbrush in one hand and a begging bowl in the other hand, is it possible to associate the term “artist” with the now much brandished about term “economic development”?

The responsibility rests with artists to change this kind of negative perception that impedes the work of the arts sector from being associated with economic development.

Artists are as important to the economy as any other kind of entrepreneur. In as much as entrepreneurs create new ideas, new materials, new products and new experiences, the core business of the artist is also to create new ideas, trends, materials, products and experiences. Creativity and innovation is the cornerstone on which an economy is grown.

However, there is a significant difference in the way that artists and entrepreneurs set about their businesses. Entrepreneurs work incredibly hard to sell their ideas, materials, products and experiences. Artists on the other hand fall into two major groups. A majority of artists reside inside a trap of entitlement where they expect that everyone should pay and applaud their ideas, materials and productions regardless of whether it is marketed well or packaged effectively. Another significantly large majority are incredibly skilled and passionate about their work but they have never been equipped with the skills on how to market their creativity. A very small group of artists are able to combine their skills and passion with a smart entrepreneurial spirit and which enables them to successfully work in the creative industry.

In almost every major city in South Africa there are buildings such as museums, galleries, theatres and music halls which have been designed by creative people and which are supposed to be administered by people who should be passionate about the arts. Yet, we find that whilst the creative people who have designed these museums, galleries, theatres, music halls and dance venues; and those who are employed to manage them become wealthy, the unfortunate reality is that those who are engaged inside of these buildings to work creatively and to sell their creativity remain hopelessly poor.

How much of this can be attributed to the fact that the artists have often define themselves in the ways which serve to entrench their un-employability and their positions of poverty? Take a walk down Commissioner Street in Johannesburg and ask any entrepreneur what he or she does. The answer will be clear and unambiguous. “I am a banker” or “I sell insurance” or “I am a lawyer”, “Here is my business card”.

Conversely, walk around the Newtown precinct and ask any artist what work he or she does and you are likely to receive an answer such as, “Eish! I am an artist. Sometimes, I sing. Sometimes, I dance. Sometimes, I act. But eish! It’s tough so I try to do anything.”
Often, the “I can do anything” doesn’t reinforce the versatility of the artist. In fact, the message that it conveys is that the artist is a Jack of all trades and a master of none. In an environment where there is a shortage of resources for the making of art; and where there is a competition for the limited resources, the artist can no longer afford to be complacent about his or her career.
In a competitive environment and in one where the livelihood of the artist is not guaranteed or protected by legislation or regulation, it is essential for the artist to be a master of his skill and his craft. The artist has to be a skilful entrepreneur who is able to advance his skill all the time into constantly changing markets. Like any other career person, the artist too must be able to confidently assert that his work makes a valuable contribution to the growth of the economy and to development of who we are as a nation.

The character of our cities is significantly defined by the extent of art and cultural activities that are presented in those cities. Artist must learn to claim ownership of their cities. They must constantly and confidently point out to everyone that the city is what it is because of the work of its artists. As artists and those us who us who work in sectors which support the arts, we must always be knowledgeable and be able to confidently talk to anyone and everyone about our theatres, music halls and museums.

It is frustratingly too often that artists don’t know anything about the arts institutions in their city or about the programmes that are being executed in these institutions. Artists who want to be enterprising must have an inquiring mind and a conquering spirit. They must keep their ear on the grounds. They must be at the centre of conversations and debates about their industry. They must learn to network. They must engage with different groups of people. They must protest their grievances loudly and unambiguously. They must be unafraid to define their positions on a broad range of issues. They must be objective and they must not pander to political popularity or to political favouritism.

When incidents like the Ras Dumisane fiasco happen, artists must have the courage to say that our public officials have “fucked up” the credibility of South Africa’s artists. When artists like Jazz-Art and the others who performed at the FIFA Draw and marvelled our audiences with their professionalism, we must be honourable and acknowledge that our artists have made us feel proud. Likewise, we must also have the integrity to give credit to the organisers of the event for showcasing the best of South Africa’s creative talents. We must be supportive of those who work to promote the arts but at the same time, we must also be critical of those whose efforts are counter-productive for the growth of the South African arts sector.

Artists who are enterprising work hard at knowing their audiences. Artists spend far too much time trying to find “funders” rather than trying to build their audiences. Many artists work incredibly hard at trying to secure funding but when they do get funding, they refuse to work as hard to secure their audiences and their markets. Funding can dry up but loyal audiences that have been grown and nurtured will remain to the work of the artist.

The artists with an entrepreneurial spirit will ensure that his voice is always heard. The voice of the enterprising artist will find its own way of reaching local councillors, local newspaper editors and community radio stations. On each of these platforms the enterprising artist must hold high the flag that proclaims that the arts contribute to the vitalisation of our cities and to the promotion of tourism to our cities.

In Johannesburg, the Constitution Court in Johannesburg is a remarkable example of why tourists travel to downtown Johannesburg. They come there to admire and to experience the artwork that is so embedded in the architecture and design of the building. Former Justice Albie Sachs and his team ensured that the work of South Africa’s artists remains embedded in the Constitution Court as a magnificent testimony of our historical, political and cultural legacy. Yet, very few artists continue to organise themselves in ways which can take advantage of how the Constitution Court has raised the profile of South African artists as having played a part in writing the country’s legacy; and furthermore to the regeneration of the inner-city of Johannesburg?

There is also a significant lesson for all of us to learn from what visitors and tourists find at the Constitution Court. A visit to the Court offers its visitors more than just a cultural product. It offers them an experience. Trends in tourism strongly demonstrate that tourists are more ready to spend their money on “experiences” rather than products. Yet when one looks at the way arts organisations plan their programming, one will notice that the majority of arts organisations continue to put all their energy into the making of productions rather than the selling of artistic and cultural experiences.

Audiences experience the arts on different levels: intellectually, emotionally, physically and socially. Therefore in an attempt to advance the creative industries we all need to sharpen our focus on how we begin to sell good products alongside with good experiences. Towards developing a successful creative industry, we must engage our audiences at all these different levels. The success of the creative industries will depend on our ability to sell “unique and memorable experiences” in as much as we sell good productions and good crafts.

During my visits to Johannesburg, I look forward to visiting the Liberty Theatre on the Square because apart from each visit offering me an entertaining and skilfully staged production, the ambience of the theatre and the warmth and friendliness of all its staff — from coffee bar to senior management — offers me a completely “unique and memorable experience”. The theatre’s combination of good creativity, relaxing ambience and professional engagement with its patrons is the kind of experience that is guaranteed to want to make its patrons come back again and again and again.

In the current adverse economic climate, the creative industries must be able to provide our audiences with satisfaction not only in emotional terms, but also in economic terms. Work that we present must be of a high quality and it must be affordable for our audiences so that they are able to spend their disposable income on it.

The arts thrive when it is married to good business practices and creative entrepreneurship. The challenge is up to all of us to ensure that we are able to access and grow bigger markets by profiling South African artists as skilled professionals. There must be no place in the South African creative industries for the artist who wants to be the Jack of all trades and the master of none.

Today, some of you will be graduating from the Cultural Development Trust’s MAPP SETA Learnership Certificate for Arts Administration and Arts Management. You will be taking with you certain skills that will enable you to move to the forefront of creative entrepreneurship. The challenge is on you to take these skills that you have learnt and to utilise it strategically to build the economic sustainability of your organisation. With your newly acquired skills, you must be able to challenge and change the negative perception that the artist is an individual who holds creativity in one hand and the begging bowl in the other hand.

When you walk out of this door with your certificate in your hand, you must start your journey to seek out a wide range of possible partners who have the right tools to help you to grow in your career. You must surround yourself with those who share your vision and who can work together with you to accomplish your goals. You must partner with those who are equally passionate about working in the creative industries and who can update you with market related information that will enable you to stay in the forefront of your game plan. You must seek out those will be interested in making a direct investments to advance your vision. In everything that you do, you must have a clear and well-grounded economic plan.

At the same time, you must be wary of those who are standing on the sidelines waiting to see you fail. You must always be one step ahead of them in whatever you plan. You will find that there are many people in this industry who are unadventurous in their spirit. They will try to frustrate you with their negativity. You must give them a patient ear but your passion to be adventurous and enterprising must always prove that your business plan will take you on a journey that will even astound them.

Don’t for one moment believe that in our economically competitive environment that you can thrive on creativity alone. You must begin to demand that every artist must acquire basic business skills. Even funding agencies require that artists equip themselves with financial expertise so that their funding risks can be reduced.

The arts is a business. The way in which you make, package, promote and sell your creativity will ensure that the arts earn a reputable position in our economy.

The arts is a business. And you must be the creative entrepreneur or the enterprising creative.

The arts is a business. You can like that statement or you can hate it … but when you are pressured to pay the mortgage and the bills, it will dawn on you that an artist with a packed wallet in his hand earns more respect and attention than the passionate artist who holds a begging bowl in the hand.

South Africa is not short of successful role models who work in the creative industries and who are able to combine their passion for the arts with their remarkable smart business skills. There’s Mannie Manim, Peter Toerien, Peter Tladi, Richard Loring, Dali Tambo, Daphne Kuhn, Deon Opperman and an incredibly successful young Black woman, Princess Zinzi Mhlongo who runs her new theatre company, Tick Tock Productions.

Congratulations to the Cultural Development Trust for having the vision to invest and to build the administrative, management and entrepreneurial skills of South African practitioners for the creative industries. Congratulations to the Department of Arts and Culture for having the vision to fund such an initiative. Most of all, congratulations to the graduating students who will be taking forward their creativity, productivity and an entrepreneurial spirit towards ensuring that South African artists are able to work in the creative industries with a better sense of dignity.

(Keynote address delivered by Ismail Mahomed at the Graduation Ceremony of the Cultural Development Trust’s MAPP SETA Learnership Certificate for Arts administration and Management. Ismail Mahomed is the Director of the National Arts Festival. He writes and speaks in his own capacity.)

Grahamstown’s Janet Buckland has a small frame but her voice has the authoritative eloquence of a diva speech and drama teacher. Her focused glance looks from over the rims of her designer spectacles which balances like a well-trained gymnast on the edge of her dainty nose. Her head slowly sashays on her neck and it sways with the motion of her student dancers. There are close to two hundred dancers on stage.

As the young student dancers came alive on the stage of the Rhodes Theatre last night, Janet Buckland’s focused poise followed their every move. It’s only when the dancers took their curtain call that Buckland’s gaze relaxed and her radiant smile revealed Grahamstown’s best pearly whites.

Janet Buckland is the 2009 winner of the Pick & Pay Women of the Year Award. She is a seasoned theatre director and an accomplished arts educator. She could be spending most of her time drinking café lattes and discussing arts theory with Grahamstown’s arts academic community. Instead, Buckland has chosen to give her free time to the more than two hundred children for whom she has launched the Amapiko Township Dancers.

Black children in Grahamstown are generally a hidden brand. They only become really visible during the National Arts Festival when they withstand the bitter cold winter to parade as white-faced mime statues begging for coins and reminding festival visitors of the economic impoverishment in the Eastern Cape.

Buckland’s passion and commitment to her two hundred dancers is about giving Grahamstown’s children life-long visibility. Since launching the Amapiko Township Dancers, four of her students have moved on to take dance as an academic subject at school. Another two are studying dance at Rhodes University. One other student has graduated as a dance teacher. She now works for the Amapiko Township Dancers. Another student has received a full scholarship at Rhodes University. All of Buckland’s dancers have improved their grades at school.

Janet Buckland’s Amapiko Township Dancers offers hope that the next Dada Masilo might just be lurking somewhere amongst them. Perhaps even a Nelisizwe Xaba. Maybe even a Kitty Phetla. But the greatest satisfaction comes from watching how Buckland teaches her young dancers to take ownership of their bodies, their voices and their minds. So it’s not a far-fetched thought to expect that from amongst Buckland’s dancers, South Africans might see the rise of the next Mampele Rampele, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf or even the next Oprah Winfrey.

Buckland integrates essential life-skills learning as an integral part of being a member of the dance company. She teaches the students to assert themselves confidently and eloquently. She teaches them how to embrace their poverty and how to powerfully grasp their futures in a way that only they can shape it.

Amapiko is an isiXhosa word which means “wings”. Janet Buckland is giving these girls more than just wings. She is teaching them to fly. And when after each dance performance, you witness how the girls come to nest themselves in Buckland’s warm embrace, you can only marvel at the way in which Grahamstown’s “Mama J” is investing in a better future for Grahamstown’s invisible children.

(Text of a tribute delivered by Ismail Mahomed at the Memorial Service for Pastor Clive Newman today)

Pastor Clive Newman was a vibrant, talented, caring man and dearly loved by everyone whose life he touched. But for us at the National Arts Festival, Pastor Clive was a rare and cherished friend through whose friendship, we found the vision to take the Festival to amongst some of the poorest of the poor, the old and the infirm, the incarcerated and the marginalized.

Read the rest of this entry »

Fest Forward Episode 9 – young directors, Lebo Mashile, Sylvia Glasser, Threads, Mike Van Graan, The Game, best of the fest

Features: Young directors - we speak to the hopefuls on the fringe, Threads – more on this unique collaboration between Lebo Mashile and Sylvia “Magogo” Glasser.

Regulars: The Best of the Fest – the best of the next 24 hours; The Fringe Minute of Fame – The Game. Main Course – Mike Van Graan.

Listen now

Go watch White Wedding. It’s smart and it’s sweet, and when an audience streams out of a theatre with goofy smiles humming Brenda Fassie you know it’s a winner.

People were genuinely delighted. Read the rest of this entry »

FestBuzz bloggers Steve Kretzmann (West Cape News), Mike Loewe (Makana Moon) and Caitlin Ross (WCN).

This is post number 80. The pic is of us; FestBuzz, a three-person gig who produced the copy/content/stories/blather on this site.  (I exclude the Fast Forward podcasts. They were other people, but we still have to meet them.)
For the first time the NAF (National Arts Fest) hired journos for the blog show.

We loved it. Read the rest of this entry »

Features: - Tony Lankester on the facts and figures of this year’s fest – has it gone well? And what is up for 2010? Plus, we ask some festival goers what they thought about it all – hear what they had to say.

Regulars: The Best of the Fest – we look at the hits and misses according to you the audience; The Fringe Minute of Fame – a montage of our best bits.  Main Course – Freshly Ground.

Listen now

Stephen Stead’s staging of Wit is probably the best play I have ever seen. The only other which vies for the title is Untitled, last year’s festival stunner put on by Standard Bank Young Artist Award winner Jaco Bouwer. But that was a very different kind of play. Read the rest of this entry »