Eight days of thrilling theatre at the Baxter

The festival kicks off with an opening ceremony celebrating 20 years of democracy, in which artistic director Thami Mbongo will present an overview of the various productions on the festival programme in one seamless showcase. The weekend of 8 and 9 March will be a landmark for the Baxter, as the entire weekend is given over to the Zabalaza Fringe Festival with events taking place in the Concert Hall, Flipside Theatre, Golden Arrow Studio and Masambe Theatre, not to mention an open-mike session in the amphitheatre venue.

Theatre groups from Robertson, Bonnievale, Ashton, Riverdale and Worcester will perform their works alongside groups from as far away as Knysna, Port Elizabeth and Thembisa in Gauteng from 10am on Saturday, 8 March all the way through to 9pm on 9 March. In total, 40 performances will take place on the Fringe during the weekend and it's sure to include some memorable moments on stage from up-and-coming artists. Fringe performances begin at 10am on 8 March and continue until 6.30pm that evening. There will also be a lunchtime open-mike session/hip hop show in the outdoors amphitheatre at 1.30pm on 8 March.

The Main Festival

Following the Fringe weekend, the Main Festival begins its run on 10 March and will present five performances daily until 14 March in the Golden Arrow Studio. There will also be two sessions of poetry from the Lingua Franca collective in the Masambe Theatre. Daily performances take place at 10am, 12pm, 1.30pm, 6.30pm and 8pm from Monday to Friday. Performances of the poetry sessions in the Masambe Theatre are at 2pm and 7pm.

This year's festival will culminate in an Awards Ceremony presentation, at which awards will be presented across a number of categories, including Best Production, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress and many more. Previous winners of the festival, such as Phillip Dikotla and Khayalethu Anthony, have gone on to much more success on stages across the country. Indeed, Anthony is back on the Zabalaza stage as a writer/performer with the debut of his one-man show, The Champion. Anthony played opposite Dame Janet Suzman in the hit production of Lara Foot's Solomon & Marion at the Edinburgh Festival last year.

An exciting new partnership

The Baxter Theatre Centre has entered into an exciting new partnership with Junket Publishers to publish in book form two of the previous winning productions of the festival: Worst of Both Worlds and Skierlik. It is committed to preserving and documenting the best work coming out of the festival, so that these plays are available for up-and-coming actors and directors to work with. Robin Malan of Junket Publishers will be launching these plays on the opening night of the Zabalaza Festival will be available for sale at the Baxter bookstore.

The Zabalaza team is spearheaded by Artistic Director Thami Mbongo, with co-ordinator Zoleka Helesi and the production team of Mandisi Sindo and Mhimhi Mabona. This core team is complemented by a number of field workers, various artistic experts who play the role of mentor to these theatre groups leading up to the festival's opening. This year's field workers include theatre-makers and performers such as Mbulelo Grootboom, Chuma Sopotela, Primrose Mrwebi and Poseletso Sejosingoe.

Tickets for the Zabalaza Theatre Festival 2014 are priced at R25 throughout. Booking is through Computicket on 0861 915 8000, online at www.computicket.co.za or at any Shoprite Checkers outlet.

For discounted corporate, schools or block-bookings, charities or fundraisers, contact Sharon on +27 (0)21 680 3962, email az.ca.tcu@draw.norahs or Carmen on +27 (0)21 680 3993, email az.ca.tcu@snraek.nemrac. For more information or further enquiries about the festival contact Zoleka Helesi at the Zabalaza office on +27 (0)21 680 3980 or email her directly moc.liamg@lavitsefazalabaz. Go to www.baxter.co.za/zabalaza for the full schedule.