Sterkstroom
Name of production: Sterkstroom
Script by: The Company
Director: Gerben Kamper
Venue: Scaena Theatre, UFS Main Campus
Language: Afrikaans
Dates and times:
12 August 2015 18h00
13 August 2015 20h00
14 August 2015 19h30
Prices: R 40.00 for adults / R 30.00 for students, scholars / R25.00 for pensioners.
Bookings: Computicket (0861 915 8000)
Press Release
Sterkstroom (the name of a small town in the Eastern Cape directly translated as Strong Stream) is a devised theatre production that showcases the acting and script writing talents of the honours students at the department of Drama and Theatre Arts of the University of the Free State. This production also serves as this year group’s primary practice based training module.
Sterkstroom presents the audience with the complex narrative of eight, interlinked characters that reconnect after 15 years at their high school reunion. The play investigates issues such as violence, sexuality and racial tensions. Characters include a former rugby player, a successful business woman, a medical rep., the wife of a dominee, a professional dancer, a lesbian and a doctor. Together, they share a secret: a secret which, after 15 years of silence, is laid bare. Each character’s story is based on a real-life event taken from contemporary South African newspapers and magazines, but changed to only highlight societal issues and not to function as a vehicle for these individual testimonials that might be recognizable to the audience.
Under the expert direction of Gerben Kamper, senior lecturer in Drama and Theatre Arts, the production acts as microcosm for the South African theatre industry, and as practice in transition with students taking on the roles of actors, writers, technicians, marketers and designers.
Sterkstroom can be seen at the Scaena Theatre on the UFS campus on the 12th of August at 18:00, on the 13th of August at 20:00 and on the 14th of August at 19:30. Tickets are available through Computicket. The production carries an age restriction of 14.