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The reign of King Nicholas

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Nicholas Ellenbogen, playwright and theatre director of the wildly popular Raiders series, has missed just one Festival since its humble beginnings in 1974.

And he claims to have uttered the very first words ever at a Festival, while playing the character of Edmund in a performance of Shakespeare’s King Lear: “Thou, Nature, art my goddess; to thy law my services are bound.”

The first Festival had only 64 events, and was originally conceived of as a homage to the English language. It has since evolved into a truly national and inclusive celebration of the arts, one of the world’s largest – Ellenbogen has been along for the whole ride.

While this year marks the 40th anniversary of the first Festival, this is only the 39th actual staging, due to there not being a Festival in 1975.

Ellenbogen, who is part of the Theatre for Africa production group, has produced more than 200 shows throughout the Festival’s history.

He says the Festival has come a long way from the days when he was blacklisted from local restaurants because of the multiracial make-up of his theatre company.

“Today we don’t think about colour,” he says. “Now that is a massive achievement.”

“Today there is plenty of opportunity for young and upcoming playwrights to make their mark,” he adds.

Paul Walters, Emeritus Professor of English at Rhodes, is another festival patron who comes close to Ellenbogen’s attendance record. Walters, 70, resides in Grahamstown and has been warming seats at Festival theatre since 1979.

According to Walters, artists originally camped out on the grounds of Graeme College. “But now flats absorb these people,” he says, referring to recent housing developments throughout Grahamstown. Walters says it was wonderful to see people brave the cold nights in a tent. “There was a sense of pioneering,” he says.

Walters recalls how the original Festival was centred at the 1820 Settlers’ Monument, with performances “exploding into every available room”. Early Festivals also were held according to themes, such as “Mostly Mozart” or “Basically Beethoven”. Walters argues that this was “limiting”.

Walters admits that a few “shocks and horrors” in the broadened programme has made him more conservative. “The programmes are highly educational,” he says, but I stick to the Main programme.”

Like many, Walters enjoys the Festival’s value for money and says he believes in “the principle of the festival, which is celebration.”
“There is something wonderful about celebration,” he says.

– This article was originally published on Cue Online – cue.ru.ac.za

– By Athina May, Cue Online

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