Litnet

Today we need the voices of artists, thinkers, writers, and arts educators to help us examine and navigate this new world that is not only experiencing a physical pandemic, but witnessing reactions to the pandemic of racial discrimination that has for centuries divided and enraged communities across the world.

"The idea of whites in colonial Africa conjures up images of pith helmets and khaki shorts, rural landscapes and vast estates, madams and masters parked on verandas alternately sipping gin and barking orders at African servants. Such stereotypes present whites as a uniformly wealthy and homogenous group, secure atop a binary power structure." Duncan Money and Danelle van Zyl-Hermann, editors of Rethinking white societies in southern Africa, 1930s–1990s. 

"[E]ngage in dialogues with other artists; take a duologue and Zoom it with another actor; join the Facebook Shakespeare soliloquy group and learn and perform a favourite soliloquy online; plan a season for a small theatre venue for the first six months after lockdown …"

The festival’s website is readying itself to become a virtual stage: all events will be accessed through the website portal – both curated work and un-selected "fringe" events. The curated programme is a schedule of events that will be released each day from 25 June to 5 July. 

Concerts Connect is proud to present the second concert in a premier series of three concerts on 14 June 2020 at 15:30. From the magnificent Casa Labia in Muizenberg, Nina Schumann will present a solo piano recital featuring an eclectic programme of works by Bach, Haydn, Debussy and Rachmaninoff.

Judges praise winning stories "that are striking for their lateral leaps, their use of language, voice and subversion – and their sheer courage".

The Zabalaza team has come up with a new and exciting model for applications with the introduction of a Script Writing Programme, which came about in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic and its effects.

"This three-letter plague is also responsible for a few strange symptoms. It causes blindness in its followers."

"We mourn with him and feel his helplessness when patients, friends and colleagues commit suicide. But then, he squares his shoulders and soldiers on, dispassionately analysing the circumstances."

Join Lana Crowster in a one-hour performance with Shaun Johannes (bass), Amanda Tiffin (keys), Marc de Kock (sax) and Unity Mzi (drums) on Saturday, 6 June at 18:00 for an evening of Rhythm, Blues, Soul and Funk.

"It offers fascinating insight into a dying art – editing – and the industry that is killing it instead of treasuring it for what it can contribute to the wealth of our knowledge and the joys of our entertainment."

Penguin Random House and The Reading List invite you to the launch of Grown ups by bestselling author Marian Keyes. Keyes will be in conversation with another bestselling author, Paige Nick. The launch will take place on 3 June (18h00) on Facebook Live in a video stream on The Reading List’s Facebook page. 

The Fugard Theatre’s new digital platform The Fugard at Home launched on 1 June, presenting a unique opportunity to access a range of theatrical content on The Fugard Theatre’s website.

"Besides its wonderful historical detail, the book truly lives up to hope – but also hard work and commitment – to achieve and to serve."

"On 18 May, I had the opportunity of participating in an insightful FB discussion on a topic we are all obsessed with – COVID-19. Our discussion focused on the much celebrated 'Swedish way' of dealing with the virus. At the time, South Africa was under a strict level four lockdown, while Swedes seemed to be going about business as usual. Towards the end of May, most countries in the world were easing their lockdown regulations – it seemed that we were now all becoming Swedes."

"How your writer then gets to the conclusion, as voiced in the title – that the [Afrikaans] language may be under threat of extinction – is wholly unclear. If the language is under threat, then so are all other South African languages."

The South African International Ballet Competition (SAIBC) is pivoting! The highly anticipated event that was scheduled to take place at the Artscape Opera House from 13 to 18 July 2020 has taken a leap into the online space and will now be held virtually.

"I remember writing about Grandmother and Grandfather in one of my poems in Because sadness is beautiful?. The two loved dancing. The dancing started with casual humming of a traditional tune soon after supper. The dancing would go on late into the night, so late that it would take the first cock’s crow to remind us that it was time to sleep."

Penguin Random House is proud to announce that Pieter-Louis Myburgh has won the 14th Taco Kuiper Award for Investigative Journalism. Myburgh’s bestseller, Gangster State, exposes the dealings of ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule. 

With a Tony-winning score by Cyndi Lauper and book by four-time Tony winner Harvey Fierstein, The Fugard Theatre’s South African premiere production of Kinky Boots was seen by a staggering 58 000 people over an incredible eight months to sold-out houses and rave reviews.