How Red & Yellow’s BAVC students brought Maynardville Open-Air Theatre to life

This year, our second-year BAVC students took on an extraordinary challenge through a brand-new Mini Brand Challenge. The project consists of a live brief that pairs them with a real-world client, and this year they got to work with the iconic Maynardville Open-Air Festival, a cultural landmark in Cape Town renowned for its outdoor Shakespearean productions and artistic heritage.

The brief was simple but powerful: "Reimagine the Maynardville brand experience for a younger, modern audience while celebrating its rich legacy of art, performance and community."

Nine student groups rose to the occasion, each developing a unique creative campaign that blended insight, design, storytelling and strategy. What followed were nine distinct, imaginative visions for how Maynardville can connect with a new generation of theatre lovers.

Here's a look at what each group brought to the stage.

Group 1 – Written in the Stars

Concept: Connection, magic, and shared experience.
 

Group 1’s campaign reimagined Maynardville as a place where stories, people, and serendipity align under the open sky. Their insight was simple but profound: Maynardville’s real story isn’t Shakespeare or opera — it’s the people who sit on the lawn.

Targeting young adults in their 20s and 30s who crave authentic connection, the team created a warm, whimsical brand identity with celestial motifs and soft pastel tones. The campaign centered on five activation events, like Moonlight Masquerade (a masked dance evening), Starlit Tails (a picnic for pet owners), When Stars Align (friendship speed dating), Sip & Sparkle (a singles mixer), and To Be or Not to Be (a romantic pre-show experience).

Each event was thoughtfully costed, feasible, and connected to Maynardville’s existing calendar of performances such as Twelfth Night and Giselle. The creative team even proposed sponsorships with local partners like Absolute Pets, Cherri Hire, and Pop Mobile Bar, weaving real-world collaboration into their vision.

This concept turned Maynardville into constellation of shared stories that light up the night.

Group 2 – Frame the Present

Concept: Escape the chaos through a window of imagination.

Group 2 took a more minimalist, cinematic approach with their campaign, “Frame the Present.” Inspired by the idea that performance allows us to pause and live in the moment, they positioned Maynardville as a space to breathe, reflect, and reconnect.

Their design language revolved around the image of a viewfinder frame, a metaphorical and literal “window” through which audiences could rediscover art and stillness. The rollout included pop-up performances across Cape Town, a promo card designed like a frame, and a social media challenge inviting people to “frame” their own creative moments.

Visually, the campaign used deep burgundy and cream tones, with a timeless serif font that felt both classic and contemporary. The PR boxes (featuring tickets, wine from Diemersfontein, and picnic accessories) reflected the tactile charm of theatre-going.

Their consumer journey map and detailed three-month content calendar showed strong strategic thinking, mapping the audience’s path from awareness to reflection. “Frame the Present” encouraged people not just to see art, but to see themselves in it.

Group 3 – Mayvilla: The Island of Maynardville

Concept: An immersive fantasy world inspired by African folklore.

Group 3’s project, titled “Mayvilla”, was pure imagination in motion. Drawing inspiration from Walter Battiss’s Fook Island, they re-envisioned Maynardville as a whimsical world of its own, a utopia of creativity where art, mythology, and magic merge.

They built an entire fictional ecosystem complete with its own alphabet (“Maylish Script”), characters (like Egungun and Yumboe, inspired by African folklore), currency, and map. The festival became a literal “island” within Cape Town, an immersive destination where visitors could collect stamps, earn tokens, and explore themed “towns” tied to Twelfth Night’s motifs of love, masks, and folly.

The campaign’s touchpoints were vibrant and multi-sensory, from collectible cards and passports to environmental design mockups showing how Maynardville’s grounds could transform into “The Lover’s Nook” or “Feste’s Tavern.” A partnership with Hendrick’s Gin added sophistication, while the #WhereIsMayvilla social media game invited audiences to join the adventure.

Group 3’s world-building was bold, inclusive and visually spectacular, a testament to how storytelling and branding can coalesce into an unforgettable experience.

Group 4 – Do It For The Plot

Concept: The art of collaboration and creative identity.
 

Group 4 focused on a campaign called "Do It For The Plot", redefining Maynardville’s visual identity through bold illustration, colour, and type and creating a campaign through prompt stickers on mirrors. This approach put user-generated content and social media sharing at the forefront.

The group also created an interactive card game that would bring the theatre into homes and groups of friends long after the final curtain call, using strong typography and simple design.

They explored the fusion of theatre and art, presenting mockups of environmental design, branding collateral, and poster campaigns that modernised the theatre’s image while retaining its heritage feel. The work reflected a strong grasp of visual hierarchy, brand consistency, and storytelling through form and colour,  demonstrating that sometimes, design is the story.

Group 5 – Reawakening the Spirit of Performance

Concept: Rediscovering the joy of live art.

Group 5’s campaign took a revitalisation angle, focusing on how Maynardville can reawaken people’s appreciation for shared cultural experiences in South Africa today. Their tone was emotive, optimistic, young, and community-driven, using expressive local imagery and design.

Through strong visual storytelling and cohesive campaign elements, they emphasised that theatre is alive, local, and deeply human. Their work captured the delicate balance between sophistication and accessibility, inviting everyone — not just regular theatre-goers — to rediscover the park as a creative gathering place.

Group 6 – Moments that Move Us

Concept: Theatre as emotion in motion.

Group 6 explored the emotional core of live performance — how fleeting moments on stage can spark lasting memories. Their campaign featured elegant typography, poetic copywriting, and evocative imagery, placing Maynardville as a mirror to life itself.

They proposed visual storytelling through slow-motion video content, short vignettes, and minimalist social media layouts. Their presentation showed a strong understanding of branding as emotion — not just aesthetics — and positioned Maynardville as a place to feel, not just watch.

Group 7 – Unscripted Skits

Concept: Every moment is a performance.

Group 7’s “Unscripted Skits” embraced spontaneity and playfulness. Their insight: everyday life is theatre, and Maynardville is where it all comes together.

They proposed guerrilla-style street activations, improv performances in public spaces, and social media reels where audiences could join in on “mini skits”, turning the city itself into a stage. Their tone was vibrant, youthful, and unpretentious, successfully connecting to Gen Z audiences through humour and participation.

Group 8 – Where Are Thou?

Concept: A city-wide mystery that leads audiences to rediscover Maynardville.

Group 8’s witty, immersive campaign “Where Art Thou?” reimagined Maynardville as the center of a playful whodunnit: Shakespeare is missing! Designed for young adults seeking fun, story-driven experiences, the campaign transformed Cape Town into a live mystery game that ultimately revealed the Maynardville Theatre as the “final clue.”

Using a mix of teaser videos, missing posters, AR filters, and influencer posts, the campaign built curiosity through an unfolding story. Each clue, QR code, or sticker brought audiences closer to the reveal. On-site, guests entered a “crime scene,” searched for mini Shakespeares in a scavenger hunt, and pieced together a “Connect the Clues” wall that tied everything together.

Group 9 – Nights of Liberating Mischief

Concept: Reclaim heritage with playful rebellion.

Group 9 reframes Maynardville as a place to “unmask the mayhem”, inviting younger audiences to celebrate history through mischief, colour and participation. The idea comes to life with bold poster art and wayfinding (“The Witch’s Cauldron”, “The Munchery”), interactive staff pranks and face-painted hosts, plus a VIP Fitch & Leedes partnership featuring an AR cocktail menu that links drinks to Twelfth Night characters (think Viola, Orsino, Lady Olivia). 

Together, the touchpoints turn the grounds into a spirited, after-dark playground where theatre, dance, jazz and ballet feel alive, social and shareable.

Want to Create Work That Moves People?

If this kind of creative challenge excites you, where imagination meets purpose, then the Bachelor of Arts in Visual Communication is for you.

This three-year degree equips you with the full creative toolkit: graphic design, illustration, art direction, photography, motion graphics, and digital storytelling — all anchored in strategic thinking and real-world application.

You won’t just learn how to design; you’ll learn how to communicate, how to move audiences, and how to bring ideas to life for real clients, brands, and communities.

Join a generation of creative thinkers who are shaping the future of design, media, and culture. Apply now for the Bachelor of Arts in Visual Communication at Red & Yellow — where creativity meets meaning.