The City of Cape Town will host its first 'Smart Living' YES Drama Festival in partnership with Artscape’s High Schools Drama Festival on Friday 18 July.

The YES Drama Festival, which forms part of the City's successful Youth Environmental School (YES) Programme, will be staged at the Arena Theatre in Artscape.

This environmental drama festival will explore the messages in the Smart Living Handbook, a City of Cape Town publication, which encourages people to live smartly and sustainably by making wise choices about their environment and resources.

In preparation for this festival, schools have attended creative workshops at Artscape on staging plays, script-writing, acting and technical stage skills.

The Smart Living Handbook was used as a resource for the schools to develop their scripts and explore solutions to environmental challenges, particularly those that are relevant to the community in which they live and where they go to school. Schools have been asked to focus on one of the four themes presented in the handbook — waste, water, energy and biodiversity.

Eleven schools will be participating in the Drama Festival. They are Chris Hani Secondary, Immaculata (RC) Secondary, Isilimela Comprehensive, Islamia College, Malibu High, Rhodes High, Scottsdene High, Simanyene High, St Cyprian's, Table View High and Tuscany Glen High.

The adjudicating panel will be Abduraghmaan Adams, a theatre and film actor, playwright, director and drama educator; Ina Bruce, Curriculum Advisor for the subject Dramatic Arts at the Western Cape Education Department; Luke Ellenbogen, resident director and lighting designer for Theatre for Africa; Dr Glenda Raven of the C.A.P.E. Bioregional Programme, an environmental educationist and trainer and Mzwakhe "Sticks" Mdidimba, the Indigenous Arts Manager for Artscape.

The Festival will be followed on Saturday 19 July by an analytical assessment session where the schools will be able to give each other feedback on their performances. Prizes will be awarded for the best performer and best supporting performer, best production and most promising production, and the best script. An overall Judge's Award will also be presented for a feature in a production which is worthy of special mention.