The 2012 Standard Bank Young Artist Award winners were announced in Johannesburg last night, hosted by Standard Bank. All the winners said that they are honoured to follow in the footsteps of the past winners of this prestigious award.

Westley Engelbrecht (vocals/guitar) and Charles Dubber (drummer) are the band Acoustic Liquid. Their music is a mix of Spanish flamenco guitar and tribal drums rhythms which evade a general allocated genre title.

Jonathan Shapiro (Zapiro) is the man who bestowed a leaking shower head on President Jacob Zuma’s paper-and-ink likeness and transformed Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille into a rampaging representation of Godzilla.

If the contemporary situation in Africa can be compared to the aftermath of a rape by colonial cultures (as Jay Pather maintains), then some of the Festival's endeavours to encourage indigenous isiXhosa performance might be seen as ways of dealing with the lingering effects of trauma, as ways of healing.

Themes of alienation, existentialism, spirituality, self-sacrifice and… cannibalism? South Africa's adventurous student theatre practitioners are certainly not sticking to tried and tested recipes, if you'll forgive the pun.

Twangy, Arab-like sounds weave through the night on one of Morocco’s busiest squares. Smoke from hundreds of food stalls fills the air, men prepare their food, and groups of performers belly-dance while snake charmers pack up for the night.

If classical music combined with jazz intrigues you then you may want to taste the Luca Ciarla Quartet, which will be performing a unique Mediterranean jazz repertoire this afternoon.

So, it's time to draw the curtain on another Festival and reflect on what can be gleaned from this year’s programme. Theatregoers have witnessed more sold-out signs than anyone can remember, heated debate and some salutary indications of the current state of South African theatre.

With circus as one of this year's Festival themes, Machitún is a genre-hopping addition to productions such as Madam Silk, Angel Heart & Fourteen, A Fairie's Tale and Kardiãvale.

The Soil is a Johannesburg-based a cappella group consisting of young artists Buhlebendalo Mda, Ntsika Fana Ngxanga, Luphindo Ngxanga, Tshwarelo Maluka and Asanda Mqiki.