A Stellenbosch University (SU) student theatre production will be broadcast on national television later this year as part of the Toyota SU Woordfees 2021 (Woordfees).
This was according to André Gerber, a senior lecturer in the drama department at SU, and the founder and co-ordinator of the local Première Theatre Festival. The production, The Tumble Inn, won multiple awards at the Première Theatre Festival, which took place from 10 to 14 August at the SU drama department, according to Gerber.
A poster for The Tumble Inn, a Stellenbosch University (SU) student theatre production, is used to advertise the show in lead up to the Première Theatre Festival, which ran from 10 to 14 August. INFOGRAPHIC: Kirsten Schouw
The production was filmed and virtually presented at the Première Theatre Festival. It won a total of R11 000 from the four awards it received at the festival, which included the award for Best Production, said Kayla van der Merwe, SU drama student and co-director of The Tumble Inn. It will be given further financial support by Woordfees to re-record the show, she said.
“It’s obviously a huge opportunity. The students’ productions will be re-recorded using more professional equipment. [The plays are] going to be re-recorded with resources that the Woordfees will provide, along with the drama department, which will provide the professional equipment,” said Gerber in WhatsApp correspondence with MatieMedia.
Woordfees has worked with the Première Theatre Festival since the festival’s first run three years ago, according to Corné Kruger, artist communication co-ordinator for Woordfees.
A number of student productions are usually selected from each year’s Première Theatre Festival to be showcased at the Toyota SU Woordfees. This is the first time since the Première Theatre Festival’s inception that only one show from the festival has been selected to perform at Woordfees, said Kirsten Schouw, co-director of The Tumble Inn and drama student at Stellenbosch University. PHOTO: Alistair Seymour
“[Woordfees] will be broadcasting on a pop-up channel from 1 to 7 October, and so that means that this production will be scheduled along with the theatre programme to Première plays,” said Kruger.
The student theatre production will be given an off-peak time slot, with the potential to repeat at a later stage in the Woordfees broadcast schedule, according to Kruger.
“Woordfees asked us, and we then looked at what is required in order for us to film again, like paying for the house and petrol money. Stuff like that,” said Van der Merwe. Woordfees then approved the costs, she said.
Kirsten Schouw and Kayla van der Merwe, co-directors of The Tumble Inn, just after hearing that their production won Best Production at the 2021 Première Theatre Festival. PHOTO: Alistair Seymour
The production has also been assigned two mentors from the theatre industry, Mmatumisang Motsisi and Marthinus Basson, who are well-established theatre practitioners, said Kirsten Schouw, SU drama student and co-director of The Tumble Inn. The mentors will assist with the rehearsals, and furthering the conceptualisation process, she added.
Kayla van der Merwe, co-director of The Tumble Inn and drama student at Stellenbosch University, discusses the significance of broadcasting The Tumble Inn as part of the televised Toyota SU Woordfees 2021. Van der Merwe also talks about the plans to re-record the show.
“During the rehearsal process, [the mentors] will sit in and apply the crit that the judging panel at Première gave us,” said Schouw.
The Tumble Inn will re-record their show in a house in Noordhoek from 4 to 6 September, said Van der Merwe.