Art festival enlivens youths’ weekend

Add as a preferred source on Google

The Olive Tree Theatre was a hive of weekend entertainment on 29 October when young artists pitted their poetic, singing, dance, acting, comic and aerobic skills.

This was at the Kasipoetics Arts and Cultural Activities Group’s 2016 Siyagiya Theatre Festival which exposes raw artistic talent with established industry brand names added in to encourage the young upstarts. The artists from Alex, Tembisa, as well as townships from Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and other provinces, displayed breathtaking and entertaining feats which revealed the country’s immense artistic talent still to grace the local and international entertainment stages.

Kasipoetic’s Themba Khoza said, “The displays are an assurance that the future of the country’s arts is in safe hands if the performers were appropriately nurtured and supported.” He thanked the Gauteng Department of Sports, Arts, Culture and Recreation for sponsoring the event.

Among the acts was the hilarious offering of the comical duo, Jozi Entertainers, who could as well have booked their early entry into the highly competitive laughter stages currently dominated by the globally renowned local brand names like David Kau, Kagiso Lediga and Trevor Noah.

The well-toned Jackson Mcunu from KwaZulu-Natal held the province’s flag high with his aerobic routines which had many in poor physical shape envious and screaming for more.

Tembisa’s poet mechanic, Thabang Jim’s first-time public stage performance exposed young exuberance and creative application of the spoken word in bringing to life social challenges faced by children, in particular girls, whose vulnerability in a men’s world often ends their hopes with teenage pregnancies and unwanted children.

This supplemented established entertainer Sissy Khumalo’s soulful storytelling of the interwoven tribulations of females in a world that continues to regard them as lower in the power hierarchy.

Other artists left the audience in awe of the abundance of artistic prowess in townships still to be unearthed, which the organisers promised to give a chance at next year’s festival.

Details: Themba Khoza 074 271 9187.

Add us on Whatsapp for the latest news by adding 079 4395 345 to your contact list and just send your name to us so we can save your number. Click here to find out more about our Whatsapp policy.