WITS Drama for Life will hold their ninth annual Sex Actually festival in order to promote discussions about sexuality, culture and sexual health among students.
The festival will feature a variety of performances daily that will explore different aspects such as the relationship between black madams and black employees as well as a series of short plays that explore topics of love, humour and grief.
SexSports! will be held on the library lawns on Friday afternoon and will engage students during lunchtime. SexSports! aims at encouraging Witsies to discuss important issues in a fun and interactive way.
Zanele Madiba, the media officer for Drama for life, told Wits Vuvuzela that holding the festival each year plays an important role at Wits.
“It’s one of the few platforms available to discuss difficult issues which are considered a taboo in our African society,” she says.
The entire festival is designed to encourage interaction with students to allow for discussion of difficult issues such as sexuality, HIV and sexual health. Madiba says that the festival has helped create discussions about a variety of topics.
“We also have panel discussions with the theatre-makers and invited guests who are experts in the fields of sexuality, culture and sexual health,” Madiba says.
She highlights the importance of the Sex Talks series of the programme which is done with doctors from Wits Health Sciences and offers useful, practical information for students.
A lot of work is put into the festival from a call for productions, processing the applications and ensuring that all performances fit in with the theme of the festival. Fundraising is an important factor in their preparation as they do not have a consistent funder.
The Sex Actually festival will run from September 7-10 at the Wits Theatre Complex. The full festival programme is available online and tickets will be available at Wits Box Office.