A long-standing partner of the National Art’s Festival, the French Institute of South Africa (IFAS) will again bring French-inspired works to Grahamstown.

Arthur Rimbaud, the ‘enfant terrible’ of French poetry, will be brought to life in The Alchemy of Words. The play focuses on Rimbaud’s short-lived poetry career and the profound impact it had on the poetry of the 1800s, going on to inspire artists such as André Breton, Dylan Thomas, Jack Kerouac, Bob Dylan, Patti Smith and Jim Morrison. 1,2 and 3 July | Buy tickets

Also made possible with the support of  IFAS and Alliance Française Southern Africa, is The Fortune Cookie Company’s Tartuffe. Directed by former Standard Bank Young Artist Award winner (2006) Sylvaine Strike, the cast heaves with theatre heavyweights and fresh talent from Neil McCarthy and Craig Morris to Khutjo Green and Camilla Waldman. The piece tells the story of destructive influence and power through Moliére’s traditional satire but with Strike’s fresh vision and a pre-war epoch, 1930s treatment. Having toured in Cape Town and Johannesburg, Festival-goers will be treated to Tartuffe’s Eastern Cape premier. 29, 30 June and 1 July | Book tickets [/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]