Shows to watch on Thursday, at NAF in Grahamstown.

I’m easing into the day with a family theatre production A Tale of Horribleness at 10am at Princess Alice Hall.

Then I’m seeing a UKZN production at midday of Mob Feel, an examination of gang rivalry and ethnic violence in Joburg in the 1950s.

There’ll be no graveyard shift after lunch today unless you want to end up as dinner for the wolf in The Three Little Pigs, described as a taut, subversive adaptation of the children’s story.

At 4pm, I’ll attend Plasma, brought to Grahamstown by Izandla productions, which looks at parenting – or the lack thereof - in a cyberspace era.

In the Rhodes University production, Intranceit 2012, The Memory of Water, which I’ll see at 6pm, three sisters gather following the death of their mother and look back on their lives.

Master of the Café Society at 10pm is the Steven Berkoff story of one man’s inability to rise beyond his shortcomings.

My first jazz jam is at 11.30pm at DSG and will set me up perfectly for a hectic round of sessions over the weekend.

I have a special date at 8pm Thursday to watch Tweet - The Musical from the Waterfront Theatre School in Cape Town. Directed by Paul Griffiths, it looks at cyber and real connections between people. One of the Tweeters is Rebecca Hartle. Should be fun but don't expect an objective review on this page.

It starts with what you know

How to decide what you want to see and do at the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown? There are more than 2000 events ranging from drama, dance and physical theatre to music, comedy and exhibitions, from the serious discussions at ThinkFest to the moving experiences of SpiritFest.

Split between a Main festival which carries the nod of support of the arts patrons in public and private sectors - and a fringe, where anything goes - if your stomach or other sensitivities can take it. And on a tight budget, nogal.

Are you in the mood for some hectic life lessons? There are 90 productions listed on the drama programme, which include works by the best writers in their field and showcasing world class acting skills.

Want to escape the cold realities of your life and tickle your funny bone? Dip into a couple of the 60 zany plays and standup comedy shows on offer.

The winter chills may also be chased away by any of the many physical theatre or dance productions.

And then there's music. Jazz and soul and jazz and orchestral and jazz and choral and jazz and hip pop and jazz and acoustic and jazz and Broadway and jazz and traditional and jazz and acapella and jazz and opera and jazz and pop and jazz and jazz and jazz.

If all of this confuses you, a good place to start is to go with what or who you know, or with the flow of where the crowds are headed.

What you know may include a Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare, Louis Armstrong and some friends, the world premier of Athol Fugard's The Blue Iris, George Pemba's art, Zackie Achmat and Ahmed Kathrada on the ThinkFest, Pieter Dirk Uys, Nicholas Ellenbogen, Rob van Vuuren, Arno Carstens, Richard Cock, Eastern Cape Rhythms, the Bala brothers and Andy Narell.

Certainly, the crowds will be following them too.

But don't discount the newbies - too many too mention. Often, their productions create the hits at festivals, on the back of word-of-mouth buzzing.

"No name" Eastern Cape brands at festival opening

I wish I knew the names of all the groups which were the first to tread the boards at this year's National Art s Festival in Grahamstown. I think they're all outstanding Eastern Cape performers. At least, I think they're all from the Eastern Cape. They were all outstanding.

A youth big band with a swinging brass section and a vibrant dance troupe performed outside the Monument against a stunning, crisp winter sunset. Giant puppets jived and played amongst the audience gathering for the official opening in the Guy Butler theatre. One of the dancers told me as they rushed into the relative warmth of the Monument foyer that they were from Mdantsane near East London, but attempts to confirm this with Eastern Cape government officials hosting the opening were fruitless.

Inside, one might assume that, on the stereotyped face of it, the audience might not appreciate the langarm-sakkie-sakkie played by a three-piece outfit. But the crowd goes ballistic at the sound of Kurt Darren's "Loslappie". There is no mention of this band or the one outside throughout the programme, a shortcoming I point out to MEC for Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture, Ms Xoliswa Tom, afterwards as a missed opportunity to boast about our talents.

At the end, the Eastern Cape Indigenous Dance and Music Ensemble provided a tableau of precise rhythm and movement with sounds against the backdrop of a rather potted - and suspect - history of some of the people who inhabit South Africa.

The group of 52 performers reflected the diversity of Abathembu, Amampondo, Amagaleka, Amabhaca, Amakhati, Khoisan and Indian groups, with musical and dance forms that included foot stomping, animal-like movement, a wide variety of traditional instruments and singing. The performance was interspersed with a random sprinkling of historical anecdotes, including Mahatma Gandhi's arrival in South Africa and the birth of the ANC as reflections of our struggle towards "the happy ending" of a united nation.

I wonder about all the other cultural and religious strands which are part of our national DNA. Is there a recognition that not all the strands in our heritage are gifted musically and rhythmically? I'm told the group assembled for the first time 10 days ago in Uitenhage, so perhaps the shortcomings in its presentation are forgivable.

Not so, those of the director of ceremonies who, by his own admission, was so appalling that he risked being fired from his day job in the provincial department of Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture. Considering the amount of money that government spends on the arts, surely it's possible to inveigle one of our pre-eminent artists to do this annual gig of fronting the festival opening for next-to-nothing, if not for free.

The entertainment was interspersed with speeches by the Premier of the Eastern Cape, Ms Noxolo Kiviet and other officials, reflecting the policy and financial efforts government is making to ensure sustainable growth in our cultural outputs in the Eastern Cape.

These efforts are substantial and their successful effects are everywhere in this year's National Arts Festival programme and even in the entertainment laid on for this official opening, which makes the failures of the opening stand out like a sore thumb.

The successes include, said Kiviet, the transformation of the festival initiated in 1974 by a foundation committed to preserving the culture and heritage of the 1820 Settlers in South Africa, into an event that reflected the diversity that characterizes our South African-ness.

Kievit noted that some poor people in Grahamstown had a seasonal and once a year opportunity for employment during the festival.

Grahamstown - the lull between term and fest

End of university term and not yet start of festival week.
Grahamstown in this inbetween time is always a strangely enjoyable place. It's that lull between the flight of the Rhodes University students from campus and town, and the descent of the artists and audiences to take up their places and spaces.
The frenetic edge is gone during this lull. There is space to breathe and think and walk. You don't have to fight your way into the pub for a quiet drink, although you wonder that the service is a bit poor - maybe the hungry hordes queueing to get in on a busy term or festival night actually ratchet up service levels. The locals get a chance to take back the streets and the shopping malls, aware that their re-occupation is a temporary one and that their patronage alone cannot sustain the economy.
The posters have not gone up yet. You can still see the walls of buildings, sidewalks, trees - dull and bland, guaranteed not to distract you as you walk along from anywhere in the city.
But it can't last. It's 24 hours before the curtain goes up on the first of some 2000 performances between Thursday morning, June 28 and Sunday evening, July 8. This town is beginning to hum again. The early bird productions which have been setting up since the weekend have been joined - overnight - on the streets, in the venues, residences and on the lampposts by scores of fellow artists. Today, the serious festinos will start trekking into town and the lull will be properly over. And South Africa's biggest gathering to enjoy, appreciate, applaud, hear, critique, reflect on or dismiss the offerings of our artistic community will be well and truly undErway.
Grahamstown is the better for it. And so is our country.