Iqonga

Arena Theatre: Hiddingh

Tue 23 March  19:00 – 21:30

Iqonga is a visual theatre showcase in which artists skilled in various performance media present contemporary work incorporating puppetry, multimedia, live installation, dance, aspects of site-specific perfomance-art and physical theatre.

Moving beyond the boundaries of conventional theatre, each of the pieces selected for Iqonga/Platform is a Short Form work of approximately 12 minutes, with an emphasis on experimentation and collaboration.

Artists participating in Iqonga 2010:
Anne Hirsch – Prisch Productions.
Ditluwana Productions
Francesco Nassimbeni  – /performanceisnow\.
Kai Lossgott
Kim Kerfoot – Instant Arts Collective.
Layla Swart – Spring Productions.
Sanjin Muftic – Yawazzi.
Tara Notcutt – The Pink Couch.

Iqonga will take place at the Arena Theatre, Hiddingh, running only once on Tuesday 23 March at 19:00.

1. 

   Yazeed Kamaldien says:

   March 26, 2010 at 7:14 am

   REVIEW

   Yazeed Kamaldien

   An invigorating injection of experimental theatre – that was ‘Iqonga’ at Out The Box festival this week and it left one wondering why this isn’t happening in Cape Town every other month.

   ‘Iqonga’ means ‘platform’ and that’s what it is at this new works mini-festival within a festival. A call was sent out for creative performance proposals to be considered for ‘Iqonga’. The piece had to be 12 minutes long. Being selected would mean more than rubber-stamp approval though.

   Showcasing at ‘Iqonga’ carries with it a feeling that you’re somehow part of a left-of-centre performance movement. At least, if the works on show were anything to go by, that’s what ‘Iqonga’ was exposing.

   An intriguing programme of recycled bits of paper and handwritten notes listed the eight pieces that made it through to the ‘Iqonga’ showcase. Stand-out bits included actor Andrew Laubscher for his work in ‘Brake’ and ‘Lynchpin’. Sanjin Muftic performed and directed an autobiographical piece, ‘Vrh Prsti’, which cements his growing reputation for bringing new ways of telling independent stories on stage.

   And then there was the challenging site-specific performance, ‘Alive and Dying’, which employed a sponge puppet, video and performance. Its urban story had a creepy soundtrack that alluded to bizarre ritual.

   It must have been a challenge for these theatre-makers to put together a 12-minute piece. With some, the focus wasn’t at all on telling a story but more about the detail of performance or the vanity of execution. Not that vanity should necessarily be a derogatory stance. Rather, it has the effect of pushing to celebrate theatre because it should be enjoyed too. Call it shallow, if you like, but don’t dismiss it for lacking effort.

   ‘Lynchpin’, for example, saw Laubscher hanging from a tree. There was no dialogue, just a man making his way down the tree and then digging out food that he had hidden in sandboxes. Is this the last man on Earth? Who is he hiding his food from and why did he climb back up the tree after his feeding ritual? Does he like sleeping in that tree?

   Some may have thought ‘Lynchpin’ too trivial. But that thought subsided when one observed the intricacy of Laubscher’s performance. In this regard, ‘Iqonga’ served its purpose of creating a space for experimenting with the craft of theatre.

   It doesn’t always have to tell a story. Sometimes it’s okay if theatre simply enthrals or entertains. Now, let’s lobby Out The Box to make ‘Iqonga’ happen every alternate month. Cape Town is bursting with enough zest for theatrical experimentation.