Londoloza is a South African childrens’ play that tackles nature and water conservation. The show is an awareness of how can save water, use it in a responsible manner and the show also looks at the various things that effect our environment such as littering and pollution. All of which are linked to wasting and polluting water. The show is comprised of 4 actors, who use dance, singing and puppetry in order to get the narrative across. The show encourages recycling and informs its audience on the various methods there are to recycle or re-use items instead of littering or throwing them away. Thabo and Namhla are childhood friends who love their community and find various ways of saving water and taking care of the environment. Mabutho and Makapisi are the community rebel children who do not care about preserving water and the environment. They are rude and bully Thabo and Namhla every time they try to do something good for their community. It is not until Mabutho and Makapisi ruin the whole environment and wastes all the community’s water, that they get a wakeup call and finally turn their lives around after seeing the effects of not taking care of their environment and water. This show is highly interactive and allows the children to be part of the story so that they are actively involved in the development of the story. The cast will ask the audience questions and at various intervals ask some of the audience to come up on stage to help the characters in the show with whatever they need at the time. This show will run for 30 minutes and at the end the cast as well as the audience (teachers are also welcome)will have a brief questions and answers session after the show to unpack some of the things that came up in the play.
Londoloza
Does anyone have any idea what the impact of the pandemic of HIV and AIDS is having on our children and their family life? How does one approach this sensitive subject? Did you know that a live theatre show like, Tand’ Impilo can open up a safe space to discuss the subject and this forum can save lives?
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.
Rommella litters, because everyone is doing it. If she can do it the best, she can be the queen of waste, and be better than lovely Lalie and princess Pinky. Even better if she can get rid of Lalie, the oxygen-producing flower… To get away from the people who protects the environment, she starts a jogging routine, but doesn’t get far, because the polluted air makes it difficult to breathe properly. What to do now? If only she new how to recycle.
Icky Plasticky is building a huge island in the middle of the ocean. The more plastic he finds in the sea and on the beach, the bigger he gets. If he can an accomplice, the quicker his island will become bigger than the entire ocean. Maybe he can convince Zoe, the singing fish, to help him. She is a big fan of The Voice, and Icky Plastic is very good at imitating people… But what will happen to Zoe’s friend, Popper the penguin, and Miss Octopus, if the sea is full of plastic?
A new play by Craig Higginson
First commissioned by the National Theatre, London, for the 2012 Connections Festival
Directed by Malcolm Purkey
Production Design Neil Coppen
Little Foot was first commissioned by the National Theatre, London, for the 2012 Connections Festival. Craig Higginson is one of ten writers from around the world participating in this prestigious festival, and Little Foot is to be performed at the National Theatre prior to the 2012 Olympics. The National Theatre has generously agreed to allow the Market Theatre, in association with the Grahamstown Festival, to put together a South African production of their own – a production that will be an extended version of the original play.
This powerful and poetic new South African play is situated on a farm in the Cradle of Humankind, where much of the world’s pre-human remains have been found. It takes the audience down into the vast network of caves where the three-million-year-old hominin Little Foot was discovered. Out of sheer co-incidence, the production will be released at the same time that Little Foot’s remains will finally be freed from the rock. It has taken thirteen years to extract the hominin’s calcified bones, using brushes and dentists’ drills.
In Higginson’s play, we experience the caves through the eyes of a group of young South African university students – who went to school together and are having a reunion on New Year’s Eve, exactly a year since they last saw each other. One of them (Wizard) brings along a new girlfriend from England (Rebecca). He wants her to meet his oldest friends, not suspecting that a terrible trap is being set for him. What starts as a practical joke soon leads to a series of events that appear to have tragic consequences. As the students delve deeper into the caves – and we travel ever deeper into their psyches and their shared histories – a Chorus of ancient hominins steps through the walls of the caves. The play finally dramatises the coming together of our most primal and contemporary identities
Little Foot draws on Greek theatre, Philosophy, Palaeontology and South African mythology to create a powerful portrayal of modern relationships. Not only does the audience come to a deeper understanding of their common ancestry, but the play powerfully illustrates how the best and the worst of us has its roots in the ancient past, and how these two capacities are carried through into our contemporary democracy.
Since we first learned to control fire, light has been used to satisfy our best and our worst impulses as a species. It is what we do with the light handed down to us that we define ourselves. The theatre – which provides a darkened space into which we introduce light for the telling of our stories – is surely the perfect place to explore these themes and concepts.
For this production, writer Craig Higginson and director Malcolm Purkey are collaborating with Standard Bank Young Artist of the Year award-winner Neil Coppen to create a multi-media event that will include a composer, videographer, sound designer, sculptor, editor, choreographer, as well as a lighting, costume and set designer. Huge cloths will be used to create different spaces and textured surfaces, as well as being used for surfaces for video projection and shadow puppetry. The Chorus will be created using masks, sculpture and projection. In both content and form, this promises to be a unique piece of storytelling that will redefine the boundaries of contemporary South African theatre.
Previous collaborations between writer Craig Higginson and director Malcolm Purkey include the internationally acclaimed plays Dream of the Dog and The Girl in the Yellow Dress – both originally produced by the Market Theatre.
Performers
- Dylan Nicol Horley
- Jenna Dunster
- Phumzile Sitole
- Khayelihle Dominique Gumede
- Glen Biderman-Pam
- Mlondolozi Bradley Zondi
- Chorus – Kyla Davis, Jaques de Silva, Sibulele Gcilitshana, Peter Langa, Sello Sebotsane