Do you know why trees are important and do our children know? This show teaches, in a fun way, about why trees are important, what they give us and why they should be conserved. This hilarious show is the perfect, ‘fun’draiser!
Our story takes place in a small, tranquil village where the villagers are working hard to beautify the area in preparation for a wedding ceremony. However, peace is disturbed and the ceremony disrupted, when greedy developers swoop in and begin to wreak havoc on the land. As more trees are chopped down and building continues, Mother Nature has to step in and through the voice of an old man, a great magical tree, airs her concerns to the developers and encourages them to change their ways before it is too late…The Tree Show and workshop program celebrates indigenous trees as a vital part of our existence. This fun and interactive show uses song, dance and drama to engage the audience in a lively and interactive storytelling experience. We look at current threats that trees face in the light of unsustainable development and conclude that we, as custodians of the planet, should work together with nature instead of against her.
The show is completed with an interactive tree planting workshop at the venue where the show is performed. Children from the audience become involved in the planting of an indigenous tree that they will then be able to watch and nurture as it grows over the years. This tree stands as a reminder of the importance of trees to life on the planet.
This production deals with HIV/AIDS and tells the story of 12 year old Vuyo, a hero with a big dream. He is the best singer in his choir and when he grows up he wants to be a choir master, perhaps even lead his own choir to participate in national competitions. Vuyo has a obstacle between him and his goals – his father is very sick. With homework and the extra responsibilities of caring for his father, he has no time to attend choir practice. He deals with the teasing and bullying of other children when they find out that his father is HIV positive. To reach his goal he will have to conquer a monster (iRhamncwa), a personification of fear and shame about HIV/AIDS. The story is about resilience, courage and determination, about not giving up and striving for a dream.
The Magic Shell is set in ancient times on the Wild Coast, before people knew how to tell stories. Manzandaba and Zenzele, a married couple, are two of the first people. They go on an adventure in search of stories that lead to magical creatures under the ocean…
African stories and languages don’t get enough attention with entertainment flooded by Western culture. However, our rich heritage of folktales offer life lessons through the portrayal of human/animal characters. Children have an intuitive connection with wild animals and different languages. Their imaginations are ready to make the connections between wild life and human characteristics. These heart connections are fostered by this portrayal of a folktale.
In The Magic Shell the theatrical representations draw young children into a world where animals and humans are connected. Their imaginations become rooted in culture and nature. They are prepared to make the folktale their own. They become ready to tell this original story in their own words and in their mother tongue.
The Magic Shell is 45 minutes in duration and suitable for children aged 4 and up (grades R to 3).
An accompanying workshop is also available.
The Magic Shell (formerly How Stories Began) made its debut at the Masque Theatre during the July school holidays in 2015 and was performed at the Cape Town Fringe Festival; RASA and the Storievertelfees during September. More recently, The Magic Shell was performed as part of the Muizenberg Festival in 2017.
Within every tree, every river and every creature on this Earth, each of our stories are infinitely told. They whisper our names in the wind and beg that we listen more closely to what we used to know but have recently forgotten. Directed by Kyla Davis. Designed by Godbish Bishedi. Featuring Mandla Moyo, Khutjo Green and Cebisa Fubesi. Winner of a 2014 Standard Bank Ovation Award.
Well Worn, Jungle and Seka Theatre Companies, 3 leaders in their field of ecological advocacy and social activism through theatre, collaborated for the first time across Southern Africa to bring you an outdoor African eco-play with sunset performances daily in the Rhodes Botanical Gardens at the 2014 National Arts Festival. The Baobab appeared as part of the Re-Imagining Programme at the Rhodes Environmental Learning Research Centre as well as on the ASSITEJ Family Fare platform at the 2014 National Arts Festival.
‘The Lost Couple’ is a playful, pop-up mask performance created and performed by Kyla Davis and well-known physical theatre practitioner and ex-Cirque de Soleil performer Daniel Buckland. Working in gigantic masks and relying on their physical improvisation abilities and audience interaction they present Uma and Sebastian: two larger-than-life characters who, in going about their very conventional lives and mostly conservative business, increasingly and inexplicably find themselves ill at ease and lost for words in strange and foreign places that, for them, are difficult to fathom. Uma likes to fuss. Sebastian likes to be precise. The result is both eerie and hilarious. Kyla and Daniel were recently joined by Roberto Pombo, fresh from his intensive training at international clown school Helikos. With Roberto in tow as co-conspirator, ‘The Lost Couple’ have introduced 4 new characters to their family, including over-excitable Derek and big, clumsy Mo who plays the musical saw. Together, these 6 huge characters will inhabit various places and spaces around your school, interacting with staff and students to utterly compelling effect.
‘The Lost Couple’ recently added a Gaggle of Grannies to their repertoire. Twelve adorable and wildly embarrassing Oumas take to the streets packing Zimmer frames, knitting, tog bags and wine for their Grand Day Out. Watch out! Don’t let them catch you. They gotta lotta love to give and you might not make it out of their clutches alive…
‘The Lost Couple’ and their Renegade Oumas are developing a near cult status of their own and have so far been seen at Afrika Burn 2012 and 2013; The National Arts Festival in 2013 and 2014; The WITS WALE Festival in 2013; Sacred Arts Festival @ Sacred Heart College in 2013 and more recently, the Bodibe Children’s Festival in Bodibe in 2014.
Sometimes, in war, famine and radical times of change, there is someone still standing. And sometimes, they are not alone. Amongst the dunes of post-2050 earth a mirage of humanity glimmers in the heat.
Directed by Helen Iskander (Nominated ABSA ‘Best Director 2009’ award at the KKNK, for The Famished Road). Designed by Jemma Kahn and performed by Kyla Davis (ImpACT award winner for Theatre 2010) and Mongi Mthombeni (NAF Golden Ovation Award Winners for The Butcher Brothers (2010) and Naledi Award winners for Best Cutting Edge production 2010) this collaboration of award-winning artists brings you an exquisitely visual new play of epic proportions.
Planet B was originally performed as part of the SA Devised Season at WITS Theatre in 2011 and subsequently went on to tour to the National Arts Festival, Grahamstown 2011 and the Out The Box Festival, Cape Town 2011 (where it received a special mention for Excellence at the Handspring Awards.) The play also formed part of the official cultural programme at the international COP17 conference on climate change in Durban (Dec 2011).
In a place not so far away in a world, not all together different from our own, live two men. Separated only by a lake, the two are completely unaware of the others existence. Till one day, the water disappears and the two are forced to work together to find a way to save the lake and themselves. With clowning, physical theatre and puppetry, ZikkaZimba and Dark Laugh successfully come together again to share a beautiful story of overcoming obstacles and coming together. Fun, funny and heartfelt, Lake will leave you salivating for more.
Skillfully crafted by Daniel Buckland, Ryan Dittman, seen in Stranger Things and Othello, and Jaques de Silva, 2011 Impact Award winner seen in The Butcher Brothers, which won the 2010 Standard Bank Ovation Award and 2011 Naledi Award. The two bring to life an epic family adventure.
It’s Valentines day, the staff are all too ready to check out, the chef runs the kitchen like an out of service U boat and the stock is disappearing like textbooks in Limpopo. With his wife on his case like Gordon Ramsey on a dirty kitchen, Bronwyn, the restaurant owner is on the verge of hanging up the closed sign for good. And then things get strange…
Skilfully crafted by Jaques de Silva, Ryan Dittmann creates the world of a restaurant and kitchen while seamlessly transforming from character to character to unveil this wacky story.
Prodigal is an entertaining, moving, absorbing one-man play telling a universally accessible story of loss, love and guilt. It is marked by a powerhouse performance from Tim Redpath, incorporating elements of mime and physical comedy. Written by Lorraine Knox and directed by Dani Marais.
Luke is a poor farmer’s son who rejects family and home in a gamble for quick cash and prestige in the seedy underbelly of Jo’burg. In this coming of age tale Tim Redpath’s split-second character changes take us on a rollercoaster ride of rebellion, pride and sacrifice.
Prodigal played an extended run to packed houses and standing ovations at the Grahamstown National Arts Festival in July 2006 and 2007. In 2009 Prodigal had successful runs in Oxford and London and at the Edinburgh Festival where Tim won the Sweet Venue Best Actor Award for his performance. In March 2010 Prodigal returned to Oxford for a run at the Oxfringe Festival.
A deftly plotted modern classic, Prodigal follows the tale of a young Eastern Cape farm boy as he decides to leave home and seek his fortune in the fast-paced city of Jo’burg, South Africa. Snappy dialogue, split-second character changes, strong physical acting and innovative directing enables one man to bring a fantastic cast of characters to life. From a story-telling Xhosa woman to a morally dubious Middle-Eastern restaurant owner to an opinionated professor to a shady gangster, Redpath’s vocal and physical dexterity takes the audience on a rollercoaster ride of pride, prejudice and sacrifice.
The Pollution Revolution is an original edutainment play that formed part of Well Worn’s pioneering Climate Change Action Programme, funded by the NLDTF and in partnership with Earthlife Africa JHB’s Sustainable Energy and Climate Change Project.
The play toured to 150 primary schools in Gauteng in 2010/2011 and performed to audiences of over 30 000 school learners and teachers. The play was also performed at the Family Festival of both the National Arts Festival and the Out of the Box Festival in 2011.
The 45 minute high energy, physical theatre play aligned to the Grade 4-9 Social Science, Life Orientation and Physical Science curriculums and covered themes of climate change, global warming, energy, water, waste, biodiversity and personal/social/ecological responsibility. Each school performance was accompanied by a ‘Climate Action Toolkit’: a learning resource researched, designed and compiled by the Well Worn Theatre Team. The resource included activities and learning materials to support teachers in carrying the learning over from Stage to Classroom.
The Pollution Revolution was written and directed by Kyla Davis and co-devised and performed by Craig Morris, Jaques De Silva, Joni Barnard, Jerry Mntonga, Taryn Bennett and Lerato Moloi.