Holy Contract at Fringe Festival
South Africa
Holy Contract is an independent and experimental theatre production. Inspired by the late poet and musician, Gil Scott-Heron, the performance is set in context of South Africa’s urban and social challenges, tackling themes around social justice and identity politics.
Dialogue switches between Xhosa and English, as the protagonist faces tensions in a dream-like reality. His frustrations, ethical conflicts and resilient sense of hope are almost tangible as he journeys to overcome fate.
Holy Contract has been accepted into this year’s Cape Town Fringe Festival, an avant-garde arts and theatre festival, which runs from 22 September until 8 October. The local arts festival is a platform for both established and emerging theatre artists and each scheduled show has between three and ten performances.
The production is to be staged at two venues – at an intimate “shack” theatre in Khayelitsha, the Makukhanye Art Room, and an official Fringe venue in Cape Town’s City Hall. Moving the play between contrasting locations supports the production’s ethos and would assist in sparking further debate and discussion around themes explored in the performance.
Holy Contract is a collaboration between Urban-Think Tank, an architectural, art and research studio based in Zürich and Theatre4Change, a non-profit theatre group based in Khayelitsha
The project team is made up of collaborators which include architects, artists, filmmakers, actors, writers and musicians.