Outstanding Shows on the National Arts Festival Fringe Scoop the 2025 Ovation Awards

Fresh work, energy and excellence awarded on the Festival’s Fringe stages

The National Arts Festival comes to a close today after last night’s Ovation Awards recognised the top talent that emerged from the Fringe this year. The Ovations are a longstanding award that recognises qualifying Fringe productions that have moved audiences, echoed in conversations, showed skill and technical prowess, shone in reviews and reflected on its context.

Through a rigorous judging process, nominations were put forward by a panel of judges, comprising Tebogo ‘Artslave’ Gxubane, Bisi Bangiwe Ka Jobela, Faye Kabali-Kagwa, Garreth Robertson and Yaaseen Barnes. The panel was led by Hayleigh Evans, Ranique Roberts and Zizipho Bam. During the Festival, white Ovation award recipients were announced most days, culminating in the final announcement of the Gold, Silver, and Bronze winners during the Ovations Awards Ceremony on Saturday, 5 July 2025.

Says the National Arts Festival’s Associate Producer, Zikhona Monaheng, “The Fringe was packed with new ideas and new themes this year. A lot of work asked deep questions about family, values and how to show up in a challenging world. Coming to the Fringe is an act of bravery but it’s also an entry point into a warm community. To everyone who came, our deepest thanks for being here.”

The National Arts Festival congratulates the following Gold, Silver and Bronze winners.

Gold Ovation Awards

Afropocalypse

Presented by the Market Theatre Laboratory.

This imaginative and witty production took audiences through a world of traveling storytellers exploring themes of greed, love, laughter, and grief. Directed by Daniel Buckland, the play was cast from second-year students at the Market Theatre Laboratory, and posed a profound question: When everything else is lost, what or who will remain?

Ubufakazi

Presented by Ulujo House

A musical performance that debuted original songs from KG Moepyë’s upcoming EP, the show was a journey through faith and hope for the Johannesburg-born Moepyë. The judges felt this show stood apart as a superb new voice.

Silver Ovation Awards

***State of Numb

*Presented by Motsau Motsau

A gripping solo dance piece, STATE OF NUMB follows one individual’s fight to hold onto identity in a world that demands conformity. Driven by ambition and fleeting hope, the protagonist dances through moments of struggle, intimacy, and rejection, all while society’s cold, relentless pressure pushes her toward emotional numbness.

Circle Song

Presented by 031 Collective

Reimagines ancestral stories and the migrations that have shaped a family’s history, while addressing the larger questions of what it means to be human, to belong, and to navigate the shifting landscape of memory and time.

A Childhood in Chalk

A collaboration between the Rhodes Drama and Education Departments.

Explores the period of school boycotts in Fingo Village (in Makhanda, formerly known as Grahamstown) from 1975 to 1985. The narrative follows the experiences of seven 12-year-old learners from a local primary school who find themselves caught in the escalating conflict of anti-Bantu Education revolts.

Umnqophiso: The Covenant

Presented by NK Productions, TSL Music and the University of the Free State

An evocative installation performance that explores South Africa’s rich pre-colonial tapestry, inviting introspection, cultural connection and renewal of identity.

The production brings insight in a gritty and raw manner through the main protagonist’s journey through questions about her beliefs as she wonders which path to take.

s’il vous plaît

Presented by Fruity Lix Productions (Pty) Ltd

Mistress Mae Aisitahn-Yafais takes audiences through a risqué journey of liaisons and rendezvous with past lovers, while she extends a gloved hand of invitation to prospective admirers, tempting them to come inside her boudoir.

Bronze Ovation Awards

A Fool For You

Presented by Spark in the Dark Hub

Two clown best friends, Yanni and Laurel, look for love. But on this quest they have to face many 21st-century challenges like dating apps, romance novels, coffee dates and clubs… Can their friendship survive it? Koegelenberg and van Niekerk guide you through a whirlwind of emotions in this non-verbal clowning comedy about friendship, forgiveness and the search for love.

Umthelo Imiyalo

Presented by Run of the Arts

This production follows the journey of two boys who didn’t listen to their parents. Chased from home to see what being independent is really like, they struggle to get by day by day, they come to realise the importance of listening to the advice of older generations.

Ndingekafi: Whispers of Redemption

Presented by Kwantu Designs

“Ndingekafi”(isiXhosa for “Before I die”) delves into themes of the human spirit, exploring ideas of mortality, legacy, relationships, spirituality. Through a carefully crafted and curated repertoire the production gives voice to themes from the mystery of birth, flowing through the urgency of self expression, the complexities of loss and failure, to the seeking of renewal and redemption before the last Amen.

12 Dogs

Presented by 12 Dogs

12 Dogs is an experimental rap collective from Johannesburg’s East Side, known for their genre-defying sound and poetic lyricism. Comprised of Justin Blanckensee, Thabi Holele, Kabir Jugram, Lukas van Garderen, and Lumko Ntshikila, the group first gained underground acclaim with their 2021 debut Consequence of Sound — a fiercely political album recorded in their teens during the pandemic.

Tiro’s Toughloop Testimony

Presented by Lwandle Arts Academy

A play that zooms in on the life of Onkgopotse Tiro, who became the first across-the-border victim of the malicious Apartheid regime. Moving from documentary to poetry and from history to the present time, the contribution of this important figure of the Black Consciousness Movement is remembered in a touching and enlightening manner.

Mqambi weNyembezi Vuka

Presented by Lukho Noyila

Mqambi weNyebezi Vuka is a poignant exploration of the profound impact of absent fathers on the lives of young men. Through a series of interconnected vignettes, the production delves into the challenges faced by individuals navigating the transition from boyhood to manhood without the guidance and support of a paternal figure.

Listed – The 2025 OVATION AWARDS

Gold: Afropocalypse – Market Theatre Laboratory

Gold: Ubufakazi – Ulujo House

Silver: A Childhood in Chalk – Rhodes Drama and Education Departments

Silver: Circle Song – 031 Collective

Silver: s’il vous plaît – Fruity Lix Productions (Pty) Ltd

Silver: STATE OF NUMB – Motsau Motsau

Silver: Umnqophiso the Covenant – NK Productions, TSL Music and University of the Free State

Bronze: 12 Dogs – 12 Dogs

Bronze: A Fool For You – Spark in the Dark Hub

Bronze: Mqambi weNyembezi Vuka – Lukho Noyila

Bronze: Ndingekafi: Whispers of Redemption – Kwantu Designs

Bronze: Tiro’s Toughloop Testimony – Lwandle Arts Academy

Bronze: Umthelela / iMiyalo – Run of the Arts

Ovation Awards given out throughout the Festival included

**#Time – PentaFusion

12 Dogs – 12 Dogs

18 Years Later – Chris Mapane

A Childhood in Chalk – Rhodes Drama and Education Departments

A Fool For You – Spark in the Dark Hub

Afropocalypse – Market Theatre Laboratory

Bad African – Spark in the Dark

Becoming Benno – Mamba Productions

Behind van Vuuren’s farm – The Tx Theatre Hub

Chasing Laughter – Generation of Stars

Circle of Quest – Arise and Shine Production

Circle Song – 031 Collective

Conrad Koch & Chester Missing’s “Puppet Power” – Conrad Koch

Date Night – Macbob Productions

Filled – Spark in the Dark Hub

Ganga Nyoko! Inzima Nyoko! – Spark in the Dark Hub

Grommels – Angelique Filter – Glennie Hall

How To Get Away With Marriage – Devin Gray

Jaiva Pantsula – Rhythmic Indigenous Dancers Organisation

KA-BOOM – Spark in the Dark Hub

Liminal – Prestige School of Dance

Love me, Feed me, Never Leave me – Origen Productions

Lowe’s Children – Tswelelang Cultural Dancers

Messy – Spark in the Dark Hub

Molora – Wits Theatre

Mqambi weNyembezi Vuka – Lukho Noyila

NETPHLIX – Spark in the Dark

Ndingekafi: Whispers of Redemption – Kwantu Designs

Pillayboy – Jaryd Pillay

Saulspooort Dam the Musical – Dikabo Tsentle

s’il vous plaît – Fruity Lix Productions (Pty) Ltd

So Over The Rainbow – MVG Productions

Songs for My Father – Sipha Plaatjies

State of Numb – Motsau Motsau

Sullied – Gauteng Sport, Arts, Culture & Recreation in partnership with the City of Joburg Municipality

The Baby is Crying – Maqadi Art and Entertainments company

The Confession – Khalazome Performing Arts

The Forest – Contemporary Dance Laboratory

The Preacher – The Preacher Production in Partnership With Emalahleni Civic Theatre

The tragedy of Samuel Omunye – Masai Sepuru

Thoughts I Thinked – Yaaseen Barnes

Tiro’s Toughloop Testimony – Lwandle Arts Academy

Ubufakazi – Ulujo House

Umnqophiso The Covenant – NK Productions, TSL Music and University of the Free State

VIVA! A Vegas Magic Show – Brendon Peel Entertainment

Weighing In – Markham Court