Elixer the Musical at the Breytie

IMG_8562

A theatrical performance of song and dance infused with African emotion and humour, made Elixer the Musical an absolute delight. The show opened in Mamelodi Community Hall on 19th August, to a large audience who experienced musical theatre in their own community hall. The official opening was at the Breytenbach Theatre in Sunnyside on the 26 August and formed part of Tshwane University of Technology’s HELLO Community Theatre Arts Festival, proudly sponsored by City of Tshwane, National Arts Council, Breytenbach Theatre, Blond Productions, MJ Event Gear, Blackmotion, DWR Distribution, Production Projects and 93.6 Tshwane FM.

IMG_8586

TUT’s Breytenbach Theatre in-house lighting equipment was utilized for the performance and included 9 x Robe Robin 600LEDWash, 2 Robe ColorSpot 250, 22 Longman LED Pars, Philips Selecon Pacific Followspot, 6 x Philips Selecon SPX Profiles. The lighting design and technical was supplied by Entertainment Technology Department’s Lighting (the third year TUT students).Programming was on a grandMA2 on PC Command Wing.

IMG_8544

Elixer, a new and original South African production was written and directed by Given “W”Maziya and composed and musically directed by Saxola Ketshengane. The all black cast tell a story of a village praying for rain, and their passion, talent and fantastic choreography made it easy to imagine the show running on any international platform.

IMG_8435

Prior to the performance, Advocate Nakedi Ribane, Council Member and Advisory Panel Chairperson, National Arts Council of South Africa presented a welcoming speech. “The highlight for me was seeing her,” said Eazy Moeketsi from DWR Distribution who attended the show. “We grew up watching Nakedi Ribane as an actress on local television series. Today she is an advocate.”

IMG_8417

IMG_8441

Nakedi Ribane is an inspirational story of what can happen when you never give up. In her youth she was an activist, model and actress, studying via correspondence to complete her LLB degree. In July this year, she was admitted to the Pretoria Bar as an advocate, her focus always being on equity and justice.

IMG_8390  IMG_8400

“The show itself was great,” said Eazy. “I’ve never seen anything like it before. It was beautiful.”

Wandile Mgcodo, Project Manager of the Festival and Technical Manager of the Breytenbach Theatre was pleased with the project overall and the show. “The audience were kept amused with the talent on stage, including the great technical abilities our students portrayed during the HELLO Community Theatre Arts Festival,” he said.

IMG_8451

Comment from the Sponsors

Blackmotion’s Kagiso TiroMoima: “Blackmotion SA was involved with the Hello Festival because we believe that our greatest commodity lies in people and most importantly our Youth.”

IMG_8416  IMG_8422

Christiaan Ballot from Blond Productions: “It was great working with young and upcoming technicians and we are looking forward seeing them do great things in the industry.”

IMG_8533

MJ Event Gear’s Theo Rood: “MJ Event Gear were proud to be associated with this event. As a former TUT student, we jumped at the opportunity to assist and empower the very facility that helped and shaped us. I am very fond of Hardus Koekemoer and it was nice to give something back to him, his students and the university. MJ Event Gear will always try and make ourselves available for future events were possible.”

IMG_8427

Duncan Riley of DWR comments: “It was really fantastic, I enjoyed the show and it hit home with the water theme. Drought is a problem in South Africa and Elixer touched on real issues in our country and what people will go through in desperate situations. The performance was good. Considering the cast were not seasoned actors, they did exceptionally well. DWR is privileged to be part of this initiative.”

IMG_8428 IMG_8429

The Hello Festival is bound to grow from strength to strength, and initial planning for 2016 indicate that another district will be added to the Tshwane area, namely Soshanguve. The Hello team are proud to be associated with all our sponsors and supporters, it shows the dedication to support and help train the young people in South Africa. The overall aim of the Festival is to bring education and entrepreneurship to the TUT students and our communities where we come from.

IMG_8562 IMG_8566  IMG_8596

 

Some statistics.

2014 Hello Festival

16 applications

2 venues

11 shows

Classes presented to about 40 community members.

IMG_8559

2015 Hello Festival

85 applications

7 venues

24 shows

6 days community based workshops attended by 62 community members

4 days Breytenbach Theatre masterclasses attended by 50 community members

Total amount of TUT students working on Hello Festival 96, led by 26 third years in charge of venues and managing productions.

Stage-management, sets and set dressing done by 36 second year students.

Loading, and general crew done by 36 1st years.

IMG_8394

IMG_8452

IMG_8396

IMG_8412 IMG_8399

IMG_8386

IMG_8409