RICHARD ANTROBUS - DSG STAFF - ARTS AND CULTURE
GRAHAMSTOWN NATIONAL ARTS FESTIVAL 2011
Richard performed in two plays: “Beelzebub” and “3 Acts of Love”, as well as directing “Tshini Kwedini”, a street theatre production which featured on the main festival programme. The 14 or so individuals who performed in Tshini Kwedini are part of a Makana street theatre development initiative which Richard started in 2009 as the Phezulu Project, training 5 local disadvantaged and unemployed performers from Joza township to walk on stilts, bring the carnivalesque atmosphere back to the streets and give the festival a face-lift (literally). The success of the project has seen them return to festival each year. This year, with funding from the National Arts Festival, Richard was able to expand the project to include other township groups to form the OddBody Theatre Collaborative, where a dozen or so performers received training in stilt-walking, jumping stilts, poi, juggling, balloon sculpting, gumboot dancing, pantsula acrobatics and clowning. This training culminated in the production of Tshini Kwedini, which delighted festival audiences – young and old alike.
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Richard say “I was also fortunate to give the OddBody Theatre performers the opportunity to use these skills in other events at the festival including the Arts Festival Opening Ceremony, the “Move Your Mind” street parades, “Mnet’s Moments of Magic” flash-mob performances as well as collaborate with two international productions: Fidget Feet’s “A Fairies Tale” and Projecto 34’s “Machitun” (of which Matthew Sabine's (DSG Staff) involvement in the latter was instrumental to the show's live musical score). If this wasn’t enough, the stilt-walkers also spent their spare time roaming High street and the Village Green, silhouetting the festival skyline with their lofty presence.”
In total Richard was involved in 8 different shows (32 performances over 11 days), not to mention another 12 hours of facilitating schools festival workshops immediately afterwards.
After the festival Richard was awarded a Standard Bank Ovation “Encore” Award, which was one of 3 awarded for “Excellence and Innovation in the Arts”. The official citation was as follows:
“A total of seven Silver, two Gold and three Encore Ovation awards were presented at the end of this year’s National Arts Festival…Encore awards are presented to individuals or productions that have made a noteworthy contribution towards the Festival Fringe in various capacities, or who have shown significant potential… Richard Antrobus is awarded an "Encore!" for his evolving artistic skills, creativity and flair for developmental theatre. These qualities position him at the fore-front of an exciting movement in South African theatre with his ability to bridge cultural and aesthetic gaps”
