But first. This morning I followed up brunch with Ten Bush a play about witchcraft and deceit in a small African village, the village of Ten Bush. It was an excellent performance, with its limited set design and raw stage feel of the Box Theatre. It did have its slightly explicit moments, and left one feeling slightly odd, but was really made by the voices. I am going to be hearing “Ten Buuush” (not that this does it any justice) for ages to come.

This was followed, finally, by Richard Cock’s Gala Concert, which included The Orchestra, some Opera, some Sax, and even Audience participation. It was also a tribute to the Festival CEO who has retired after being at the helm of the festival for many years.

The performance was a superb mix of classical and modern music, all chosen because of some significance to the year 2008. Unlike the performance yesterday, Richard Cock continuously addressed the audience and the whole occasion was less formal. (Indeed he was an a bright yellow shirt!) The grand finale was The 1812 Overture which made use of the audience and paper bags to create the cannons. An effect which worked quite well. For an encore, they performed (almost to my horror) the song NAFG – or National Arts Festival, Grahamstown. Richard Cock claimed that this had been commissioned for the festival, but it turned out to be the YMCA.

Quite appropriately, the sun was just setting over the horizon as we left the monument. A builtiful red and orange orb to place an air of finality on what was a wonderful celebration of culture.

The first was a play entitled The Quiet Violence of Dreams and was – like 4.48 Psychosis – centred round mental hospitals. Unlike the former, however, it was set in South Africa. It also seemed very complicated to me. I’m uncertain if I actually understood the play completely. With an age restriction of Sex, Nudity, Violence and Language, it came as little surprise that it contained such things as rape and much sexual innuendo. Unlike Equus, however, there was no full on nudity, nor any very graphic sexual scenes. The set contained a projector which every now and then played a clip over the set. I found these clips to be a waste and did not add anything to the story. Indeed, I felt that they distracted from the overall production.

This was followed by the first of the Orchestral Performances which I booked. Like the ballet, I had a pre-assigned seat in the Guy Butler theatre and made my first use of the Festival Hopper Buses to get to (and from) the monument. I thoroughly enjoyed the concert. The performance was very classical – the conductor was even in Tails! We were even treated to an unexpected dose of Opera. (Although, I would have known that if I had read the programme properly.) It was good to get the opportunity to see an orchestra for a very rare change. I am looking forward to tomorrows performance.

It was a recount of the live of the political activist Steve Biko and followed a number of important points in his life. I did, however, feel that it encompassed a number of points which were of little interest and which dragged the play along for me. A slightly shorter production would have been preferred. The use of a screen to recount time was reminiscent of Cissie but unlike Cissie, I found it poorly integrated and distracting.

I usually associate the Guy Butler Theatre with Grad and other Rhodes functions, and tend to forget that it is actually a theatre – Orchestra Pit and all. This evenings performance was superb, certainly the highlight it was supposed to be. The two ballerinas were superb and their male counterparts were also excellent. I did, however, feel that the Corps de Ballet could have been better – there were a few minor mistakes.

I did struggle to follow the story (from the programme blurb) in the actual performance, and the division of Scenes into Acts was different in the programme than on the evening. It was also significantly shorter than the programme indicates.

It was certainly an enjoyable performance, and the addition of an orchestra was an added pleasure not usually offered in South Africa. I know many of the people at the performance and I know a number of people going tomorrow.

Equus is usually regarded as one of the best “post war” dramatic productions, and it more than certainly lived up to expectations. At this stage of Fest, it is a tossup between Equus and Romeo and Juliet for my favourite production. It is a long play and has an interval – the first production I have seen at Fest to have one. Simply the story is of a child psychiatrist investigating the motive of a young man who stabbed the eyes out of six horses.

There is much, much more to the play, however. It is a complex and potentially unnerving play. It tackles Religion, alternate Religious views, alternate sexuality – and does so in a very passionate way. It is an uncomfortable play and contains nudity, strong language, even cigarettes (although these were not the real thing).

In contrast to 4.48 Psychosis, it is not immediately disturbing, but leaves you thinking. Well recommended.

Unfortunately a combination of last night and my uncomfort at the possibility of becoming cast (a feature of Raiders) made me unsure before it even started. It was, however, hilarious and incredibly clever.

The story is of a South African aviator who reached the top of Everest two days before Sir Edmund Hillary. Utter nonsense, but great fun. They turned ordinary everyday objects into props to great effect. I concur, a must see of any Festival programme!

This afternoon I attended a presentation entitled “Let’s Talk Whisky!” which explained the differences between Whiskies from different parts of the world and included a tasting of six different ones. It was a very interesting presentation and it was good to find differences in it. One in particular tasted of cigarette ash! It was very interesting and I am considering going to their other tasting where they explain the components of Johnnie Walker Red and taste each of those components. It was, however, a pity about the drunk.

Oh, and Whisky has an ‘e’ if it’s not made in Scotland… Apparently.

Then this evening was the first of two comedies I am seeing. Entitled Australia vs. South Africa, it was set in Sydney about the time of a big rugby international. I personally didn’t enjoy it that much as it didn’t suit my sense of humour. It was about two guys from Durban who were in Sydney for the big game, and it told their story of disaster whilst there. It was full of excessive stereotyping, but most of the audience seemed to really love it.

Thereafter, Shane and I attended 4.48 Psychosis at PJ’s. In stark contrast to the music, this was a very serious – disturbing play. It was Sarah Kane’s last play and was directed by Ingrid Wilde (also of Saints ilk). It is about mental illness and the thoughts of a suicidal mind. I felt that it was an excellent performance, but was not enjoyable. However, this was expected from a play of this nature, and is still worth seeing. The set and cast mimicked the tone of the play, with a very simplistic set and just three members of the cast.

There was a long queue at the door to get tickets, and very few of them got in. The performance was excellent. A very modern dance interpretation of Romeo and Juliet, but the story was followable just from the performance. The music could, however, have been of a better quality, one of the tracks sounded like a scratched CD.