A musical of hope and triumph, Lion of the East tells of the story of farm activist Gert Sibande.

The Playhouse Company, in partnership with the KZN Department of Economic Development and Tourism, Committed Artists, Mpumalanga Department of Culture, Sport and Recreation and SABC 1, presents Mbongeni Ngema’s Lion of the East at the Playhouse in Durban 15 December 2009 until 3 January 2010.

Created, written and directed by Africa’s King of Theatre, Mbongeni Ngema, known for seminal works such as Asinamali, Sarafina and The Zulu, to name a few, Lion of the East will run in The Playhouse Company’s Drama Theatre.

The life of Gert Sibande, one of the eminent political activists in Bethal, comes alive on stage in a musical production titled Lion of the East. Sibande was a leader among farm workers in what was then known as the Eastern Transvaal (now Mpumalanga). He was an ANC activist and one of the first of a string of accused in the treason trial of 1956 to 1961. At that time he was a member of the National Executive Committee of the ANC.

“His pronounced commitment for the plight of poor people in the rural areas is well documented,” says the production’s director, Mbongeni Ngema. “He stood against exploitation on Bethal farms where wanton killings occurred. Farm labourers were flogged to death, gruesome stories of others dying of the cold and of people conned into working on the farms were the order of the day. One can imagine how hard it was for the people. They worked from sunrise to sunset, and they were fed porridge and gravy on sacks instead of plates to make them eat faster because the gravy soaked quickly through the sacks.”

South African poet Roy Campbell, describing the conditions on the farms, wrote of “the fiercely ironic abuse of an illiterate ruling class.” Sibande emerged in the Bethal district in the 1930s as an organiser and founder of a farm workers’ association. He became the local spokesman for the ANC. In 1947 he helped journalists, including Michael Scott, who worked for the Rand Daily Mail, to expose the slavery conditions of African people on the Bethal farm.

The farm exposé was later pursued in Drum magazine in 1952 by Henry Nxumalo and Ruth First. Sibande launched what he called his “talking to papers” strategy to expose the slavery conditions on the farm. Although Gert never had any formal education he became an important man in the trade union sector and the ANC as its spokesperson.

Sibande left Bethal and lived in the Vaal area before he was banished to Komartiport. He skipped the country and went to Swaziland where he died in 1987.

This is a milestone production which includes the potpourri of music, dance and drama that have become the hallmark of Ngema. Bhoyi Ngema as Gert Sibande heads a cast that includes, among others Seipati Sothoana, Bheki Mqadi, Velephi Mnisi, Thandeka Magagula, Jaco van Heerden, Marissa Fourie, Mmakgosi Kgabi, Thabile Mzobe, Lorato Thekisho and Siphosethu Mnisi.

Special low price previews: 15 and 16 December (group bookings call 031 369 9407). Normal price performances at R145 per person: 17 December – 3 January. (Book at Computicket on 083 915 8000 or call 031 369 9540 (office hours).

The NewSpace Theatre in Cape Town opens its first children’s musical production, The Night Before Christmas, from 4 to 24 December.

On the night before Christmas, Emily stares out of the window, hugs her teddy and waits excitedly for the morning. In the corner of her room, a little mouse called Eddie can’t understand why only humans get to celebrate and receive presents on this special occasion. Along his journey of discovery he dodges the family cat, gets directions from a cowardly toy soldier and is even given some unexpected advice from the magical Fairy on top of the Christmas tree. Will Eddie get an answer? Will Emily get her wish? And what is that odd-shaped present sitting under the tree?

The Night Before Christmas is directed by Dean Roberts who has played the lead in several children’s productions himself that include Oliver and Puss-in-Boots, and in other well-known shows such as The Importance of Being Ernest and the Rocky Horror Show. He has also performed in hit musicals like We will Rock You, High School Musical and Hair.

This delightful family musical is ideal entertainment for everyone from 3 years of age and up, and was originally created by the founder of the Big Wooden Horse Company, one of the United Kingdom’s finest children’s theatre companies. The show is set to original music, with colourful sets and costumes and stars three talented actors, Francesco Nassimbeni, Bethany Dickson and Stephen Jubber.

Performances run daily at the NewSpace 1 Theatre from 4 to 24 December at 11am and 2pm. Tickets cost R50 each via Computicket or 021 422 5522. Parking is available on the street, at Heritage Square on Bree Street or in the Parkade on Strand Street, all within easy walking distance to the theatre, situated on the corner of Long and Hout Streets.

There are all kinds of activities on the go in Newtown for the Women’s Day weekend, from dance and poetry to jazz, exhibitions and book launches.
Mary Fitzgerald Square – traditional dance
9 August

Festivities start at 9am with a traditional dance programme on Mary Fitzgerald Square presented by ACUMDA and the Gauteng Province of Sport, Arts, Recreation and Culture. Mosadi Otswara Thipa Kabohaleng celebrates women’s right to be, as well as acknowledging their efforts in social life and nation building. This promises to be an experience of extravagant costume and colour, of soothing traditional music with finely crafted dance choreography. Exuberant performances will be done by girls, young women and women.
Sci-Bono Discovery Centre – free entrance to women and girls on Women’s Day
9 August

Sci-Bono will be offering a free visit to the discovery centre for all women on Women’s Day. This will include the group of people that they visit with, whether it is a group of friends or their families. In addition to being able to enjoy some of the most interesting and interactive exhibits in the country, they will be able to enjoy extraordinary science shows and some fun hands-on science workshops.
Moving into Dance – The Woman in Me
9 August

Moving into Dance is hosting a dance workshop from 10am to 12 noon at their new building on President Street. The theme is ‘The Woman in Me’. It is a celebration of womanhood through dance and creative movement, a time for woman to get away from their routines and focus on themselves being the powerhouses that they are in family and society. All women are welcome and the workshop is free of charge.
The Lab – Pages of Dedication
9 August

Gladys Agulhas Theatre Works presents Pages of Dedication, a collaboration including dancers from Agulhas Theatre Works learnership programme, children and senior citizens from Eldo’s. There will be performances at 1pm and 5pm on 9 August at The Market Laboratory.
Bassline – Sibikwa Women Word Slam
9 August

Also on 9 August between 12pm and 6pm at the Bassline emerging poets will participate in a word slam about women. This event is part of a festival hosted by the Sibikwa Arts Centre and this year’s theme is Seriti sa basadi or women’s dignity. Young female poets from the Basadi group in Kwa-Zulu Natal will make their second appearance in Gauteng. A new group of poets from Free State who recently appeared at the Grahamstown National Festival of the Arts will be participating. From Gauteng we have Sistah Raphulu, Buwa Africa and Poets of Light amongst others. Throughout the event an open stage will be available for poets to buy the ‘mic’ for R5 for a five minute slot. A DJ will keep the energy going throughout the afternoon. Audiences can expect to be wowed by the talent. The festival continues at the Sibikwa Arts Centre in Benoni on Monday 10th August 2009 from 10am to 4:30pm.
Sci-Bono Auditorium – Mini film festival
9 August

A film programme including screenings and discussions with directors and producers supported by the Gauteng Film Commission will take place in the new auditorium at the Sci-Bono Discovery Centre on 9 August at 3pm. Various industry practitioners will be available to interact with young women with an interest in joining the film industry.
Xarra Books – Launch of The 30th Candle
9 August

A new book entitled ‘The 30th Candle’ by Angela Makholwa will be launched at Xarra Books at 2pm.
Museum Africa – The Jozi Book Fair
8 and 9 August

The Jozi Book Fair hosted by Khanya College and Botsotso Publishers takes place all day on 8 and 9 August at Museum Africa. The book fair brings together publishers, writers, translators, book distributors, libraries, resource centres, readers and the general public. The programme includes book launches, conversations, poetry readings and panel discussions. A full programme can be viewed by visiting www.newtown.co.za.
Museum Africa – Face Her
9 August

Face Her, a photograph exhibition opening at Museum Africa on Sunday afternoon at 4pm, showcases the work of emerging photographers from the Market Photo Workshop, inviting a dialogue about women’s lives and gender in our society. The images presented here show us faces we’ve seen before, so many archetypes and bear witness to the experiences of women across a multiplicity of locales, roles and ages. They also reflect on the lives, dreams and aspirations of these photographers as the new observers, producers and commentators. All too often, the ways in which people portray others is a reflection on the ways in which they choose to portray themselves. Here we celebrate women, in a fragment of time, in a slice of light, in Southern Africa.
1 Central Place Courtyard – Photographic projections
9 August

The Market Photo Workshop is presenting a public screening of select photographic works in celebration of Women’s day on Sunday. The screening will take place in the courtyard of No 1 Central Place, Newtown, from 8pm to 10pm. The works being screened are all drawn from previous group exhibitions, curated by the Market Photo Workshop, which were exhibited as part of previous Newtown Women in Arts Festivals. Included in the screening are works from celebrated photographers and Photo Workshop alumni such as Nonsikelelo Veleko, Zanele Muholi, Sabelo Mlangeni, Tracy Edser, and Musa Nxumalo among others. Works from exhibitions as varied as In Transit, Chances are, Face her, and Seeing Women are going to be screened. Each exhibition, approached thematically, contains work geared towards a curatorial approach that responds to issues around gender roles, women and the social environments they occupy. No 1 Central Place has convenient underground parking available and is across the road from Mary Fitzgerald Square.
Mary Fitzgerald Square, Jeppe Street – The Fast Art Girls
9 August

The Fast Art Girls will surprise and delight. After intense mayhem caused on the sidewalk outside Joburg Art Fair earlier this year, the Fast Art Girls will again make a much-demanded second appearance in their flashy cheap art-sauce trailer during the Newtown Celebrates Women’s Day weekend - on Sunday night outside Cappellos on Jeppe Street. The Fast Art Girls with their Fast Art Trailer, exchange their ideas about Art, Value and Viennas. A range of their exclusive, authentic artworks is available, to anyone wanting to engage with them. Don’t miss the opportunity to acquire one of their sought after and highly valuable products.
Nikki’s Oasis – Women in Jazz
8 and 9 August

Nikki’s Oasis presents ‘Women in Jazz’ with the Hlulani Hlangwane Quartet. Hlulani is a South African born female Jazz singer, arranger, and composer who has dedicated her life to music. Whilst studying jazz at the University of Cape Town, she performed in venues around Cape Town with a trio of students she had met at UCT. Her style is varied – she mixes soul and R&B into her sets and when she isn’t performing, she is usually composing contemporary music or arranging jazz standards. The band will perform at 20h00 on Saturday 8 July and at 16h00 on Sunday 9 August.
Sophiatown Bar Lounge
9 August

Sophiatown Wathint’ umfazi wathint imbokodo is offering free neck and shoulder rubs for all women customers, live music and poetry by Jesica, the song poet.
Ko’Spotong
9 August

At Ko’Spotong there will also be free neck and shoulder rubs for women, live music by pop Idol finalist, Thabs, poetry by ‘Buya Afrika’ and a female DJ line up.
Cappello
9 August

Basadi@Cappello starts at 2pm on 9 August with a chocolate fountain, complimentary drinks for women on arrival and female DJs to get you into a party mood.

The Lyric Theatre at Gold Reef City Casino will be hosting Dance for a Cure for two shows on 22 August as part of a drive to create awareness of cervical cancer.
Proceeds from the two performances will be utilised to fight against this disease.
Dance for a Cure is a community-driven and volunteer-based organisation committed to fighting gynaecological cancer. This will be a rare opportunity to support a worthy cause while watching some of South Africa’s top dancers across a range of styles and disciplines tell a tale of hope, fear, suffering, courage, rebirth and love.
Confirmed participants who will dance for the greater good include the South African Ballet Theatre, Ballet Theatre Afrikan, Moving into Dance, Tap Talk Rhythm Company, KMAD, David Matamela, Salome Sechele, Wessel van Rensburg, Taryn Sudding, Hanli Stapela, Michelle Veenemans and Odette Richards.
Join Mary-Anne Barlow as she lives out one woman’s struggle with cervical cancer, aided by some of South Africa’s finest dancers. All performers are giving their time at no charge, which means that all the proceeds will be used to provide cervical cancer vaccines to the underprivileged and to fund further research into finding a cure for cervical cancer.
Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer worldwide in women under 45 and the third leading cause of cancer deaths among women worldwide after breast and lung cancer. In South Africa, it is the most common cause of cancer deaths among women.
A vaccine has been developed to protect against the two types of HPV responsible for most cervical cancer. It can potentially reduce the risk and incidence of cervical cancer significantly in countries such as South Africa, where there is limited screening.
Shows take place on 22 August at 2:30pm and 7:30pm. Tickets are priced from R180 and are available at Computicket or The Lyric Theatre Box office on 011 248 5000 or log onto www.goldreefcitycasino.co.za.

The FNB Dance Umbrella 2010 will run at various venues in Johannesburg from Saturday February 27 to Saturday March 13, 2010.

After offering a free and open platform for new contemporary choreography and dance for 21 years the infrastructure of the festival has undergone a change. This is an artistic decision to develop the Dance Umbrella into “the”  dance festival in South Africa and it will be programmed as follows:

Main Programme: only commissioned works from South African choreographers and invited international works.

Fringe Programme: during Dance Umbrella 2010, there will be a variety of works programmed as the Fringe. This is open to professional choreographers and dancers who have presented work on a professional stage. The work on the Fringe may not extend beyond 30 minutes. There is no guarantee that all the works will be programmed, so entries should have as much information as possible.

Stepping Stones: only youth, community groups, students from dance training centres and choreographers who do not work regularly will be featured in this programme.

The entry form for the Fringe and Stepping Stones programmes can be downloaded from www.artslink.co.za/arts or you can call 011 492 0709 / 2033. The closing date is August 14, 2009.