On October 11 and 12 the Weston Senior Secondary School Hall in Vredenburg will be pulsating to a rhythm unlike the town has ever seen when Artscape takes a plethora of artists to delight the townsfolk!
Every year Artscape identifies a rural community for its annual Rural Outreach Project. It was created to give access to people in outlying areas in the Western Cape that cannot necessarily travel to experience what Artscape patrons would experience on a professional stage. Now in its 12th year, the Rural Outreach Project identified Vredenburg as the town to take its full theatrical experience in the Western Cape.
This year the thrilling line-up is as diverse as can be, offering a real “something for everyone”, including the ever-engaging Camillo Lombard and his Band, Mr Entertainer himself, Robin Peters, songstresses per excellence, Zinzi Nogavu, Zanne Stapelberg among a host of other big names and institutions in the arts world like Bongani Kubheka, Cape Town City Ballet, Craig Pedro, Mariete Opperman, Zip Zap, Mosuli Ntshongam, Masixole Mbambatho as well as Dance 4 All. And, as if that is not a comprehensive programme as it stands, a full Artscape technical team will be running ad hoc workshops for participating schools in the area on how the sound and lighting equipment works to make these acts the successes they are.
Artscape Chief Executive Officer, Marlene Le Roux says: “We, as city dwellers, often take for granted the privileged positions we are in. And to be honest, I wish there were more funds available to allow us to do more of these rural outreach projects. This is such an important part of demystifying what theatre is, what it can mean to people; how it brings beauty into people’s lives and how it helps to rebuild and restore lost dignity caused by the past injustices when theatre was simply not accessible to our people.”
Le Roux is particularly excited about the focus on local dignitaries, artists, stories and the development aspect of the outreach programme. “It is more than just taking a show and ‘showing off’ what we have to the people in Vredenburg. It becomes more meaningful when one invests in the people of the area, especially the youth. And this is where our partnerships with the SBA (Stigting vir Bemagtiging deur Afrikaans) and Afrikaans.com are invaluable with this kind of project,” explains Le Roux. In particular, the fact that struggle activist and Afrikaans icon, Ds Patrick Petersen will be honoured and that struggle stories from his congregation will be told through video installations directed by Sandra Prinsloo and by local visual artist Elton Lesch.
As part of Arikaans.com’s flagship projects a mural at Weston High School will not only leave the lasting legacy of one of our Afrikaans icons but will also be a lasting reminder of Afrikaans as our indigenous language that will continue telling our culture stories for generations to come. This mural will be unveiled on 11 October at 16:30 and eight learners from Nuwerus, Ebenaeser and Rietpoort Prim, who may never have had exposure to drama before, will now get an opportunity to be coached to participate in the kykNET National Drama Competition and, will not only be performing at the Afrikaans.com mural unveiling but also as a curtain raiser to the Artscape concert on October 11.
Show time in the Weston Senior Secondary School Hall will be at 7.30pm on October 11 and the schools production is at 10am and 12 noon on October 12.