Saturday was a rather intense day at Festival. It was also a good day. In the space of 6 hours, we saw 3 solid theatre pieces, each more dramatic and intense than the last.

We started with Dinsdae by Morrie. This engaging and satisfying theatre piece kept the audience laughing and crying and left me filled with with emotion and homesick for Stellenbosch.

Next up was Scott Sparrow and Emily Child in a masterfully crisp and controlled performance of Berkoff’s Decadence. You know the performers have the audiences enthralled when the ringing of a phone does not disrupt the show in any way. Not for the faint of heart but excellent.

Finally, Normality. How Pedro Kruger managed two shows of such intensity in one day (this and Dinsdae by Morrie) is beyond me. Normality twists laughter and love into a striking piece that resists stereotyping and challenges ideas of ‘normal’ without being angsty or overdone.

An excellently but emotionally charged day that may be tough to top at this Fest. I skipped the last show (some nice calm jazz – that’s how intense the day was) and had a beer with an old friend instead. Looking forward to a gentle Sunday before we hit the ground running on Monday again.