First published in 1945, the production tells the timeless classic novel’s story; with a uniquely South African slant to ensure it has relevance and topicality for contemporary audiences.
Animal Farm has recently been selected as a nominee for the Naledi Awards Showcase organized by Assitej at the Soweto Theatre in October 2014.
First published in 2002, the play tells a complex South African story exploring subtle issues of family, siblings, rivalry, truth, justice, forgiveness and reconciliation.
Complexion is about a girl who grows up in the township facing different challenges at different stages of her life. We see the world through her eyes from the time she is born, we are introduced to the various people in her life who shape and mould the complexities of her complexion.
I developed this play with an interest in telling stories about the world I know and grew up in. Not only did I want to tell a story about a young black girl who grows up in a township, I also wanted to speak back to how the township is a mechanism that informs, consumes and cripples children. Using some of my own personal narratives, observations and investigations I created a 6 minute work which I performed for my 4th year performance exam. I was encouraged to extend and develop the performance text. In the process I have been intrigued by how social systems have been normalized and how these norms have a way of shaping and affecting humans. Do we have the agency to change ourselves and/or our context? TO BE OR NOT TO BE… has been the leading theme of this play; to survive or not to survive? To be oppressed or to not be oppressed? To be …
Hans is baie ongelukkig, want sy broers het elkeen ‘n groot erfporsie by hul pa gekry, en hy het vir Kiets gekry. ‘n Kat. Wat doen mens met ‘n kat? Of eerder, wat kan ‘n kat vir jou beteken as jy honger en werkloos is? Maar Kiets laat hom nie onderkry deur Hans se negatiwiteit nie, Hy maak ‘n plan, of drie!
Emperor Loxly’s court is in turmoil, because his designer quit the day before his birthday, and left His Highness without a new show-stopper outfit. That is, however not the only problem. The much bigger issue is Wonty, the unenthusiastic court jester, who stole the emperor’s prized watch, and is planning to take over the kingdom. The emperor’s loyal servant, Wilma, tries to maintain the status quo: keeping Loxly happy and Wonty quiet, but then Wonty is banned, Loxly almost loses his mind, and a stranger makes his appearance. Can the smooth talking, never-heard-of designer called Wontier, save the day?
In the workshop, learners evaluate all the characters in the play, and decide who displayed good leadership skills. They also apply it to their own environment and lives.
A poignant, bunraku-style puppet play for older children and adults based on the life of Sadako Sasaki. At two, Sadako survived the Hiroshima atom bomb but ten years later developed leukemia. A Japanese legend tells: ‘if you fold 1000 origami cranes, your wish will be granted’; Sadako began folding paper.
We leave our children a complicated legacy, growing up in a world where they face the consequences of adults’ actions: war; nuclear power; global warming; HIV. Sadako’s experience transcends culture and period and is able to speak to a contemporary South African or French youth audience. Young people who have shifted from picture books to art galleries; from nursery-rhymes to pop music. They are ready for theatre that can offer them cathartic and transformative experiences; challenge them with profoundly moving and thought provoking ideas. Sadako is real theatre for young people.
Ubom! is back with THE WANGAI! directed by Andrew Buckland and Noxolo Donyeli. This Lorax-inspired story is a dazzling, clever and action-packed theatre adventure for the whole family! It is an electrically charged, zany, multi-coloured, and flavoursome story of friendship, difference, adventure and magic! Taking inspiration from Nobel Peace prize winner, Wangari Maathai, who spoke for the trees, Ubom! creates a little hero, “The Wangai”, who goes on an ecological adventure with the earnest desire to protect his luscious Eastern Cape habitat from an eager young entrepreneur whose eyes are too focused on ‘Commercial Success’ without regard for the extraordinary natural balance of the environment.
Germinating and growing out of local Eastern Cape history, ecology, culture and contemporary world views the result is a vibrant, exciting theatre work which can be accessed and enjoyed by children and adults from a wide range of cultural backgrounds.
And so the wondrous manipulation of language, rhythm, character and fantastical locale which so characterizes Dr Seuss’s work is honoured in a version of the story that offers the possibility of a world inhabited by people and creatures who care for each other and for the planet on which we depend.
Mahlatsi Mokgonyana, the winner of Sibikwa Storytelling without Borders Competition 2011 for Bohlale bja Tswene and other stories and the judges included Gcina Mohlophe. It was encouraging to see so many young entrants and the winner is only 18. “This bodes well for the future of storytelling in South Africa,” said Phyllis Klotz, the artistic director of the Sibikwa Arts Centre, which hosted the event.
Bohlale bja Tswene and other stories is a set of African folktales put together giving children and young people half an hour of exciting, energetic and funny African storytelling experience. The stories include life lessons and also help us understands why are things the way they are in this world that we live in. All the stories are told through the use of old age African songs, puppets, and visual arts.
Hailed as “Wonder-flea entertaining” (The Daily News) and “BIG fun from tiny stars” (The Mercury), The Fantastical Flea Circus is written by Clinton Marius, the creator of the popular radio soapie, Lollipop Lane.
A fun-filled frolic, The Fantastical Flea Circus (Durban Theatre Awards 2011 Best Children’s Production, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress) stars award-winning actors Shika Budhoo and Dhaveshan Govender who appear as the widely-respected Fleaoligist, Dr Dhaveshan, and his companion, the world-renowned singing sensation, the Duchess de Budhoo.
The production’s Small Top antics continue to delight children, from those just out of nappies to those with zimmer frame, as the Duchess and the Doctor put their troupe of performers – Flearoy, Fleanne, Fleadini, Justin Fleaber and Bruce Flea – through their paces.
Come join in the magic and mayhem of this jolly show.
Greig Coetzee directs the latest exciting offering by physical theatre performer Craig Morris.
The story of Gecko, a boy who has an oblique, out-of-sync way of seeing the world, of his childhood among the green hills of Natal and of his jagged school days in the Cape, where the Simonsberg drinks the Blood Orange sun at dusk. James Dean and Wilbur Smith have two-bit parts in this drama that begins with man landing on the moon and ends with Mandela riding a mermaid to freedom. A zany “Catcher in the Rye“! Festival favourite Greig Coetzee is well known to Natal audiences, and has performed extensively here over the last decade. He has recently decided to devote more time to his first love, writing, and less to performance.
Craig Morris was schooled at Port Shepstone High before studying at Rhodes University under Andrew Buckland and Prof. Gary Gordon as a founder member of The First Physical theatre Company. Festinos will remember Craig from Attachments 1-6, and Hero (directed by Andrew) which performed at Hilton last year.
Troy Blacklaws is the author of the original novel Blood Orange. He was born in Pinetown, studied at Rhodes and now teaches and writes in Germany! He recently flew out from Germany to attend the premiere performances of Blood Orange in Grahamstown!
Three very distinctive creative voices have come together to create, in collaboration, what is fast becoming a contemporary Physical Theatre classic!