Fighting Stigma

HIV/AIDS Co-ordination - UCT (HAICU) is hosting a live event on the Jammie Plaza on Thursday, May 18 from 13h00 - 14h00 as part of the UCT Candlelight Memorial day to honour those lost to the disease and to renew commitment to fighting HIV/AIDS.

The event will feature music and the spoken word. Construction artist and recipient of the 2006 Designer of the Year award, Heath Nash, will build an installation with the theme Birds in Flight, combined with several haiku around HIV stigma.

We encourage the whole university community - staff and students - to attend. It will give us all an opportunity to reflect on the messages contained in the haikus that have been submitted as part of the anti-stigma campaign, remember friends and family who have died of AIDS and support people we know who are living with, and affected by, HIV and AIDS.

Laughter at the Baxter

The King of Laughter opens at the Baxter on May 18 until June 10. Side-splittingly funny, the play is a hilarious look at finding the laughter within ourselves. It is about the journey of two men, one old and one young, through the minefield of comic timing, which leads them both to the thing they don't have in their lives: laughter. Written and directed by Craig Freimond and starring James Borthwick, Wayne van Rooyen and Stacey Sacks, this hilarious new comedy is about universal laughter, canned laughter, laughter therapy ... well, just laughter. Borthwick plays Barry Sutherland, a disgruntled, middle-aged sound technician who specialises in laugh tracks. Van Rooyen plays Jerome, an affirmative-action appointee destined to take Barry's job. In order to save his retrenchment package, Barry is obliged to train Jerome in the subtleties of laughter. Chaos ensues as Barry also engages in a legal battle to protect his laughter collection from being stolen by the company. The King of Laughter won three Naledi awards in 2004, including Best New SA Play and Best Director.

Africa Day at UCT

Thursday, May 25, is Africa Day and the International Programmes Office (IAPO) is organising a student event to mark the occasion. But staff are also encouraged to celebrate the day by wearing African dress, putting up posters, showing a powerpoint slideshow at the beginning of lectures, or anything to wish everyone happy Africa Day. Please contact the IAPO office should you need any more information.