They're on track at Pretoria's State Theatre, says Aubrey Sekhabi, acting CEO and artistic director who, for the past few months, has been carrying a heavy load following the death of CEO Michael Lovegrove.
He knows that theatres around the country will be re-positioning themselves with the launch of two major musical theatres first at Montecasino and then at Gold Reef City.
But Aubrey has a very clear focus with the work he presents at the State Theatre and if there's one thing he has to pay more attention to, it is winning his Afrikaans theatre audience back. Eventually, we will have a crossover audience as people get to know the quality of theatre all round.
"I want to get back to the artistic side of things," says the talented playwright/director who will be bringing back his provocative Not With My Gun, which deals with a group of black men celebrating their friend's upcoming wedding.
With the party up and running, they discover a white man making off with all the wedding suits. What follows is a heated discussion on the kind of punishment the culprit deserves and some fascinating arguments emerge.
"The casting will be interesting because we did it a few years back and while some of the original cast will want to return, one also has to give young actors a chance," he says.
There's more excitement lined up for 2007. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, starring Fiona Ramsay and Sean Taylor, as well as the hit Broadway play Doubt, to be directed by Janice Honeyman, will be touring from The Baxter Theatre in Cape Town.
The big news for local theatre, however, is the return of Sello Maake Ka-Ncube later this year in a play titled Who Killed Mr Drum? He plays what a review refers to as "the self-proclaimed Shakespeare of the shebeens, Can Themba" in a play that was first staged in London in 2005. At the same time it will also be his first time performing at the State Theatre.
There are four residencies including Mpumelelo Paul Grootboom who is developing his new play, Inter-racial. Jerry Mofokeng, Lara Foot Newton and Zinzi Mbuli from Gumboot fame will all be back with new work.
For Afrikaans theatregoers there's some good news. Steve Hofmeyr will be performing his popular Dis Hoe Dit Was and Hoor My Lied and a new production of Fiela se Kind will be staged.
Aubrey is also investigating the return of Afrikaans farce.
South African musicals will have a platform here with Mbongeni Ngema's 1906 opening in April. This latest musical deals with the Zulu strategist Mabatha and tells his story from a new perspective.
The Black Ties are still in residence at the State Theatre and the ballet companies, The South African Ballet Theatre and Ballet Afrikan, will have regular seasons at the State Theatre.
The first big ballet event will be the St Petersburg Ballet staging of Swan Lake and Giselle in March. Aubrey is also exploring a collaboration with Opera Afrika to do Aida in 2008.
Another addition to this year's programme will be the development of two new young directors from Tshwane University of Technology. Head of their theatre department, Woutrine Theron, and Aubrey are starting a programme which will hopefully introduce talented new graduates to the theatre.
"We need new directors," says Aubrey, who believes that these development projects should be happening around the country and the first youngster, Clive Mathide, is already directing the first 52 Seasons production which opens on January 30, Kgwadi Ya Marumo, under the mentorship of Aubrey himself.
With their promising development project, 52 Seasons, Aubrey has raised the stakes. Many of the participants are here for a second time and he has urged them to bother their mentors day or night. "They have to get it right the second time," he says.
And he knows that if they develop a play with legs, it could mean anything from local seasons to touring around the world, as is happening to Paul Grootboom's Relativity.
Success stories from previous years are the classic Sizwe Banzi is Dead, directed by Aubrey, which will have a season at London's National Theatre this year, and his collaborative effort Mother of Rain will also tour to the UK. It was performed at the State Theatre in 2005.
"One just needs patience with these things," says Aubrey.
Theatregoers spoilt for choice with this programme
The new year's 52 Seasons Programme line-up from which Paul Grootboom's Relativity emerged is as follows:
- Kgwadi Ya Marumo is traditional praise poetry accompanied by indigenous music and dance. It celebrates the achievements of the past, but does not forget the social issues of today. The work is accompanied by musical rhythms and African foot stamping.
- Beef by poet Kgafela oa Mogogodi is being rehearsed at the State Theatre under the mentorship of Sekhabi. This will be Mogogodi's second work in this particular programme. It opens with the narration of a journey of a warrior scribe whose fury is inspired by the mutinous scream of the earth's hungry masses. The allegorical story of Unhurt, a human-headed cow with eagle wings, awakens Gogoa's appetite for the word. When Unhurt is exiled from the land, Gogoa undergoes a spiritual upheaval. In the company of bass, drum and song, Gogoa keeps strong.
- Maloba by Frans Sema dates back to 1910, which marks the exclusion of the indigenous people of SA in the running of the land. The story celebrates our living heritage as a nation which has transcended our evil past to a more optimistic and resolute nation.
The show features music, song, dance and the spoken word celebrating a nation now living with hope. The cast includes the North West Ten Tenors; The Strings Double Quartet; the North West Big Band and dancers.
- Director Kholofelo Kola returns with the Ambie Sisters from Kimberley with a pantsula musical extravangaza and introduces new artists from the Northern Cape.
- Asma Ayob is back with another children's production, Farah, which deals with the breaking down of the barriers of culture, class and creed. One night of passion between an Indian woman and a Jewish man in SA results in the birth of a daughter who cannot be acknowledged by her biological mother due to cultural confines and society.
- Abie Litheko's Ratlolela is a two-hander and the title means "jumping the fence". Set at Seisa Ramabodu Stadium in Bloemfontein, it is about two die-hard fans of Bloemfontein Celtics Football Club who make sense of life through their observations of their club over the past 20 years.
- Kola directs another piece written by Mbongeni Ngema, Wilhelmina. Because of her strength, men in her township fall in love with her. She married very young and was blessed with a baby girl. Her husband left for the mines in Joburg and that was the last time she saw him. She travels to Joburg where she starts a singing career.