For those fortunate to see it the South Korean production Dallae's Story was the pick of the festival, a delicate and tender story told through the medium of mime and puppetry. Grahamstown Ovation award winners Graveyard and crowd favourite The Snow Goose were also well received.
Black Coffee, the technical suppliers for the festival once again outdid themselves. Brandon Bunyan (Mr. Black Coffee), for the second year running exposed a selection of COPA (Centre Of Performing Arts) students to the industry. While some struggled to adapt to the demands of the festival, others grew wings and by the end of the festival had most of the experienced technicians taking notice of them.
Black Coffee and DWR will award the two most enterprising and hard-working students, as voted for by the venue technicians, with a prize for their commitment and dedication.
DWR's Michael Taylor-Broderick, the festival's technical director believes that it is festival director Sue Clarence's insistence on the technical aspects being top notch that makes the event so successful. "It is a huge honour to have a legend like Mannie Manim and the hugely creative Wilhelm Disbergen lighting productions at the Festival. If we can't look after them properly they won't come, so kudos to Sue for understanding this," says Michael.
Black Coffee equipped all the bigger venues with DOT2 Core consoles whilst the smaller venues were run off the DOT2 eKing On Pc software. Technicians who were first time users of the DOT2 software adapted with ease and Michael reiterated that it is the ease of use of the DOT2 that makes it a deal breaker. Even the Korean English language barrier that could have derailed the South Korean production became a non-issue as the user friendly DOT2 gently nudged this potential obstacle aside.
(Jim Evans)
