HOLIDAYS!!!!

At last, FTH:K is working its last day before the well-deserved holidays kick in, bringing 3 weeks of fun, sun and beer (and a Mexican New Year for some of us ;-). That’s before we come back to take 2010 by the scruff of its neck and shake what its mama gave it in true FTH:K style.  But for now, just fun, sun and beer! As we reflect on 2009, we are reminded of how lucky we are to do what we love for a living, and how grateful we are to all of you who have supported us over the year.  Everything FTH:K achieves happens through collaboration in one way or another, and so from all of us here we say a huge, hands-flapping THANK YOU for your role in our development. We really wouldn’t be here were it not for people like you.  Go team!

Whew. Ok, so 2009 has been one hellova year for FTH:K. I know we say that every year, but seriously, this time we really mean it! And if you don’t believe us, have a look below at some of the highlights of our year:

THINGS THAT KICKED ASS IN 2010:

• Pictures of You clocks in as the highest grossing theatre production on the National Arts Festival fringe programme, and 12th highest across all categories
• Besides the NAF, Pictures of You plays to huge success at the Suidoosterfees, the Baxter Theatre, the Western Cape School’s Festival, the Festival of Fame, and the Witness Hilton Arts Festival
• Company Manager, Tanya Surtees, is invited to present the Keynote Address at the Western Cape School’s Festival
• FTH:K features at South Africa’s first large-scale Deaf and hearing party called SenCity (click here to see the DTV clip – and see if you can spot Frank and Janet of Pictures of You boogieing down on the dance floor)
• GUMBO travels to Argentina to have its 124th (and final…sniff…) performance in Buenos Aires (click here to see the tribute made by Clare Louise Thomas)
• QUACK! plays to sell-out houses at the National Arts Festival and the Intimate Theatre
• Ek Roep Vir Jou Vanaand, FTH:K’s first all-Deaf performance, tours to schools around the Western Cape and enjoys a run at the Intimate Theatre
• FTH:K launches a new level to its Tell-Tale Signs training programme to prepare talented Deaf learners for employment in the Company
• Compared with 2008, FTH:K doubles its beneficiaries in the Western Cape, doubles its reach to previously disadvantaged individuals, trebles its Deaf beneficiaries, and doubles the number of people employed by the company

No bad huh??  And there’s actually more but we can see we’re making you blush already…

So, what’s next, you ask?

COMIN’ ATCHA IN 2010:

• Pictures of You is back by popular demand for a 2-week run at the Baxter Theatre (1st – 13th February)
• QUACK! heads off to QuestFest in Washington DC and the team tours around the Mid-Atlantic region with an education programme (29th Feb – 16th March)
• QUACK! returns to wow Cape Town audiences at the Out The Box Festival (+/- 24th – 27th March)
• Womb Tide premieres in the National Arts Festival’s Arena Programme (watch this space for details)
• FTH:K presents a month-long festival of visual theatre, workshops and discussions at the Market Theatre (23rd Aug – 26th Sept)

Yes, we are going to be one busy little company next year…

And with that, the only thing left to say is

EXIT

(and happy holidays!!)