Preview: The Bells of Amersfoort by Zakes Mda, directed by Dintshitile Mashile, first recipient of the Theatre Arts Emerging Theatre Director’s Bursary for 2022

The Bells of Amersfoort by Zakes Mda

When: November 1-5, 2022 – scroll down for start times – in box below
Where: Theatre Arts, Methodist Church Hall, corner Milton Road and Wesley Street, Observatory, Cape Town, 7925
Director: Dintshitile Mashile  
Cast: Abongile Ntshuca, Buntu Ceza, Ydalie Turk, Thulani Nzonzo and Aidan Scott
Sound design: Dintshitile Mashile
Lighting design: Motlotlo ”Mac” Makhobotloane
Tickets: R100 and R80 for students
Bookings: Online at www.theatrearts.co.za or purchase at the door
Direct booking link: https://theatrearts.co.za/show/the_bells  

Thrilling news is that Dintshitile Mashile is directing The Bells of Amersfoort by Zakes Mda at Theatre Arts, Observatory – for a short season – November 1-5, 2022. Note the start-times: Tuesday November 1 to Thursday November 4 –at 6.30pm and Saturday November 5 – at 3pm and 8.30pm. There is a cast of five and a fantastic creative team. Mashile is the first in the cohort of the Emerging Theatre Director’s Bursary for 2022, awarded by Theatre Arts. It is a wonderful opportunity to not only see this play [2002] by Mda which has not been staged widely, but to see it directed by Mashile who brings a vivid approach to her work – with a visceral sense for voice and sound. During lockdown, I was enthralled by her direction of the audio play, The Empire Builders and I urge everyone not to miss this production. Info as supplied:

Dintshitile Mashile- Theatre Arts Emerging Theatre Director’s Bursary for 2022

Dintshitile Mashile is the first recipient of the Emerging Theatre Director’s Bursary for 2022. This accolade has been awarded to between three and four directors each year by the Theatre Arts Admin Collective since 2010 with a short gap of three years between 2019 and 2021. Through this bursary and in association with DALRO, Mashile presents The Bells of Amersfoort by Zakes Mda, a 2002 play that is strangely prophetic.

Memories of a South Africa that she left and a South Africa struggling with what it is becoming

Originally commissioned by Die Nieuw Amsterdam Theatre Company and co-produced by Sibikwa, The Bells of Amersfoort, looks at the life of a South African woman living in exile [in the Netherlands]. She gets caught in the massively complex web that weaves her current existence in Amersfoort in the care of a Dutch Anti-apartheid organisation, with the memories of the South Africa that she left and a South Africa struggling with what it is becoming.

“We may not have all the answers to amend the socio-political strife we find ourselves in but we artists do have the ability, responsibility and will to reflect on such narratives in remembrance of those whose shoulders we stand upon who anchor social change. To illustrate these stories to the masses in magical ways: the grain of salt taken with the reality we endure.” – Dintshitile Mashile. 

The Bells of Amersfoort, is on from the November 1-5, 2022 at Theatre Arts, Methodist Church Hall, Observatory

Tuesday November 1 to Thursday November 4 –at 6.30pm
Saturday November 5 – at 3pm and 8.30pm

Dintshitile Mashile, 2022 recipient of The Theatre Arts Emerging Theatre Directors Bursary, is a graduate of The Market Theatre Laboratory, The University of Johannesburg & The Sibikwa Arts Centre Saturday Arts Academy (SAA). She has since worked as a producer, actor, creative arts facilitator and director alongside the likes of Jefferson Tshabalala, Roberto Pombo & Wynne Bredenkamp.   She has directed & facilitated students in multiple devised plays and original pieces. She is currently a facilitator in voice technique, acting and poetry performance. Dintshitile is a former member of The Kwasha Theatre Company 2020 where she performed in Naledi Award Winning Peeling Shadows, a live show she performed on stage during Covid-19 alongside fellow Kwasha members. Dintshitile then directed the Audio Theatre Experience titled, The Empire Builders in partnership with IFAS (Institut Francais – South Africa). She recently participated in the Atlantic Centre for The Arts (ACA Miami, Florida), a three week residency, mentored by Carmelita Tropicana where she was one of six selected artistic residents. Dintshitile is a combination of both a playful and ethical performing artist who likes to create, examine and illustrate thought provoking issues to the masses.    

About Theatre Arts  

Built on the tenets of affordability, inclusivity and accessibility, Theatre Arts (formerly the Theatre Arts Admin Collective) is a vibrant home for local theatre practitioners – a place where they can create work, develop skills, perform, engage in dialogue and meet and work with theatre practitioners who come from diverse backgrounds, whether cultural, social, and economic or simply in skill and experience.  Described as the rehearsal space of choice, Theatre Arts is dedicated to creating the right environment for artists and theatre to flourish.  In an industry which is culturally divided, dominated by a few voices and vastly under-supported financially, both through patronage and funding, Theatre Arts strives to support, enable and provide opportunity for artists to continue developing skills, creating work and generating income.  Open to fresh ideas and up for experimentation based on current trends in economic thinking, Theatre Arts is an organic model and successful training ground for re-conceptualising what a theatre institution, in South Africa, can be and how it can sustain itself.  

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In rehearsal: Dintshitile Mashile is the first recipient in the 2022 cohort of the Theatre Arts Emerging Theatre Director’s Bursary and is directing Zakes Mda’s The Bells of Amersfoort, at Theatre Arts in Cape Town, November 1-5, 2022. Pic: Supplied. Book here: https://theatrearts.co.za/show/the_bells  
Exile and home: Buntu Ceza and Ydalie Turk in Zakes Mda’s The Bells of Amersfoort. This production is on at Theatre Arts in Cape Town, November 1-5, 2022. The director is Dintshitile Mashile – the first recipient of the Theatre Arts Emerging Theatre Director’s Bursary for 2022. Pic: Supplied.

✳ Sponsored content. Images supplied. Featured image- Aidan Scott and Abongile Ntshuca in Zakes Mda’s The Bells of Amersfoort. This production is directed by Dintshitile Mashile – who is the first recipient of the 2022 cohort for Theatre Arts Emerging Theatre Director’s Bursary. The production is on at Theatre Arts, Cape Town. from November 1-5, 2022. Pic – supplied.