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The star of this year’s National Arts Festival will not be a person, but a genre: satire.
Perhaps it’s our need to cope with life’s harsh realities that produces our razor-sharp satire. Perhaps it also has to do with testing the limits of our hard-won liberties.
The fest is “recognising that satirists are a pillar of a critical and free society ... yet are becoming a threatened species ... as bureaucrats, funders and fundamentalists tighten the pressure valves”.
Hopefully, the laughs will be as comforting as they are uncomfortable and, hopefully, the white-male bias in our satire will be unpacked and challenged. Here are the highlights of this year’s satire-infused festival:
Pieter-Dirk Uys and Tannie Evita
With more than 20 plays under his belt, Uys is an SA theatre legend. As he turns 70, the fest is announcing him as the inaugural featured Arts Icon of the Year. He will appear in eight productions, including two world premieres – African Times and The Echo of a Noise – and two classic solo shows, Never Too Naked and A Part Hate A Part Love.
Freedom of Expression in Broad Strokes
Definitely a must-see, this is an exhibition of all the winners of the international cartoon competition on free expression since 2001.
The festival will host a cartoon competition, supported by the Netherlands, where young people will be asked to create their own cartoons.
Loyiso Gola: The Thin Line
Swapping the stand-up stage for the lecture theatre, celebrated comedian Gola discusses the state, censorship and freedom of expression as part of the Think!Fest programme.
Conrad Koch: Speaking Up
Ventriloquist and comedian Koch also talks freedom of expression at Think!Fest. He’ll tell of how he famously became the first puppet to win a court battle when the court set aside an interim protection order by Steve Hofmeyr gagging Koch’s doll, Chester Missing, from tweeting about him.
Three Blind Mice
A journey into the dark heart of SA justice. Hotshot theatre director Tara Notcutt and her brilliant team bring a brand-new and darkly hilarious take on current affairs in South Africa, including the Oscar Pistorius and Shrien Dewani murder trials.
Dylan Moran
Perhaps the most anticipated show at this fest is Irish stand-up comedian Dylan Moran’s show, Off the Hook. Moran is known for his dark humour and dry, cynical take on daily events. His UK TV sitcom Black Books twice received a Bafta award. – Grethe Koen
