Shakespeare speaks our language
Mondeor High School is part of the 70 schools participating in this year’s SSFSA
FOUR hundred years after Shakespeare’s death, the playwright is alive and well in several South African schools, which are making his works their own by performing some of his plays in Afrikaans, isiXhosa and isiZulu for the first time during this year’s Shakespeare Schools Festival South Africa (SSFSA).
As many as 70 schools, including 18 in Johannesburg (Mondeor High School being one of them) and Soweto are participating in this year’s SSFSA, an increase of over 60 schools since the event started in 2011 and a fitting tribute to the Bard’s relevance in a year marking the 400th anniversary of his death.
The SSFSA takes place until October 9, with abridged, 30-minute performances by the learners. In Johannesburg and Soweto scenes in a few plays will be performed in isiZulu and in total, 1 500 school learners will participate.
The SSFSA is the flagship project of non-profit organisation Educape, which has based the festival on a successful UK model. With the aim to improve language and social skills through the performing arts, the festival is a fantastic opportunity for young people to explore their potential in a fun, developmental way, says festival director Kseniya Filinova-Bruton.
“It offers high school students the opportunity to engage their education curriculum for the first time on a professional stage. This thrilling, non-competitive environment builds capacity and character and fosters an appreciation for the metaphors and nuances of prescribed literature,” says Filinova-Bruton.
With a number of schools staging plays at each venue during the festival, she says SSFSA aims to create a “Shakespeare Generation, united by a life-changing opportunity to engage with one another across the barriers of language and educational background”.
Courtesy: Shakespeare Schools Festival South Africa (SSFSA).
Venues and bookings:
Cape Town: Masque Theatre: bookings@masquetheatre.co.za or 021 788 1898.
Durban: The Playhouse Company.
Joburg Theatre: www.joburgtheatre.com/shakespeare-schools-festival-2016/
Soweto Theatre: For bookings call 0861 670 670 or visit https://www.sowetotheatre.com/
George Arts Theatre: bookings at box office on 044 874 3142 or bookings@georgeartstheatre.co.za
For more information log onto https://www.ssfsa.co.za or email info@educape.co.za
You can also like the SSFSA Facebook page www.facebook.com/Shakespeare-Schools-Festival-South- Africa or follow them on Twitter @Edu_Cape and Instagram EDU_CAPE
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