Visiting Arts | Case studies | Township Stories (South Africa)

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CASE STUDIES

Township Stories (South Africa)

Image from Township Stories

Image from Township Stories
Courtesy: Traverse Theatre

The critically acclaimed Township Stories was presented by UK Arts International in association with the South African State Theatre, Traverse Theatre and Theatre Royal Stratford East following a Visiting Arts producers’ visit to the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown.

Four UK producers attended South Africa's largest showcase of music, dance, theatre, street arts, visual art and film in 2005 as part of an ongoing initiative to engage UK promoters, curators and programmers with the arts and artists of Africa.

The visit facilitated the UK tour of Township Stories co-written by one of South Africa’s hottest playwrights Paul Grootboom. Dubbed "the Township Tarantino", Paul is credited with revolutionising theatre in his homeland and co-wrote Township Stories with Presley Chweneyagae, star of the 78th Academy Award winning film Tsotsi. Utilising the film noir tradition, the play is a gritty, contemporary look at the realities of township life and offers an authentic and brutal insight into life in post-apartheid society. Performed by a cast of sixteen and underscored by a collage of Louis Armstrong, Paul Simon, Bruce Springsteen, Tracy Chapman, with South African acapella and Kwaito, Township Stories is a nail-biting thriller.

Township Stories premiered at the Traverse during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe where it won a coveted Herald Angel Award. The production then toured to Northcott Theatre, Exeter, Nottingham Playhouse, Lighthouse, Poole, Theatre Royal Winchester, The Drum, Contact Theatre, New Wolsey, Ipswich and Theatre Royal Stratford East between September and November 2006 receiving widespread media coverage and strong audience attendance.

UK Arts International will tour the production again to medium and large-scale venues in 2008 and has recently launched the Africa Consortium UK – a network of venues, companies and individual artists committed to engaging with the performing arts from Africa and the African diaspora.

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