Press: Finding New Light at the Cape Town Fringe with At The Edge of the Light

As part of the 2017 Cape Town Fringe Festival, the creator of multi-award winning Salt presents a new adult production: At The Edge of The Light. Continuing her love for folding the intensity of movement into the drama of text, director and writer Wynne Bredenkamp brings alive a delicate familial story of loss, perception and the consequences of inherited behaviours. A stellar cast made up of Sarah Potter, Margot Wood, Emma Kotze and Andrew Laubscher bring the performance to light.

‘You are here because of me’

‘I guess I should thank you’

Hurtling through the drenched night, Girl finds herself at the threshold of the last safe place she knows, hoping to find solace in the grandmother she remembers of her childhood. Instead, Gran has shut herself away, scared of the noises in the dark, suspicious of the knocks on the door and terrified of the things that lie just at the edge of the light. As Girl teases out the strange and fantastical tale of her family’s history out of its agitated matriarch, the women begin to realise that to get to the truth, they must face the monster’s inside themselves, and as well as those outside.

At The Edge of the Light was first performed in November 2016, under the Theatre Arts Admin Collective Emerging Director’s Bursary. Mentored by Tossie Von Tonder, the production ran for seven nights with Sarah Potter, Margot Wood, Rehane Abrahams and Mark Elderkin as the original cast. This year it is revived with Emma Kotze and Andrew Laubscher stepping in to replace Abrahams and Elderkin respectively.

Audiences informally reviewed the production as ‘gripping and intensely dark…beautifully written and performed’ (Wojtek Lipinski), ‘eerie and gripping and I didn't want it to end. Exceptional performances…’ (Donna Cormack-Thompson), ‘Sarah Grace Potter steps right in to the light and delivers a haunting and emotionally charged performance’ (Tracey Saunders), ‘gut-wrenching, resonant piece of theatre’ (Kira Koopman). Caroline Calbun, the organiser of TAAC, found it ‘an exceptionally brave piece of work - uncompromising, odd, magical and violent - the kind that claws at your insides the next day.’

Venue: The Alexander Bar (76 Strand Str, Cape Town)

Tickets: Full Price – R100

Bookings: https://capetownfringe.co.za/

Dates: 22 Sept to 8 Oct (at various times 4pm/6pm/8pm/9pm)