Thand’ Impilo

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?

uNontombi is a traditional musical play which portrays two men fighting over a beautiful woman in a Zulu village. The young man Mkhonto make use of traditional powers to win the love of uNontombi as our story continues the audience witnesses a crucial turn where love is taking its direction. we see mbuzini a close friend of Mkhonto betrays him by proposing uNontombi and only to find out that she loves Mbuzini more than Mkhonto.

A collaboration between Lashona Arts and Gisele Turner of Happy-go-Lucky Productions and has resulted in an award-winning play ready to tour schools. Set in the Inanda Township, the play, Lucky Strike – which is published as a Grade Seven Set work – focuses on a young boy who is part of a child-headed household. An orphaned puppy wanders into S’fiso’s shack and changes his life. The play addresses various social issues including xenophobia, death of a parent, the vulnerability of young people as well as such positive themes as community support, the joy of owning a pet and feminine empowerment.

Using a life-size marionette for the dog and two mouth puppets the show offers a rich cultural and artistic experience as well as a meaningful message.

6 actors, 5 acts, 75 minutes, 6 puppets and 3 masks – Brett Goldin Bursary winner, Nkosinathi Gaar, uses his training with the Royal Shakespeare Company and experience with The Handspring Puppet Company to take the famed ‘Scottish Play’ to a new level and new audience. A young, exciting cast bring refreshing energy to the well-known play.

Logo-to-go-with-Macbeth-production

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.

An adaptation of Paul Gallico’s classic novella The Snow Goose. Tells the story of storm tossed snow goose who brings together a young girl, Frith, and a reclusive hunchback outcast, Rhayader, together. Set against the second world war and the miracle of Dunkirk. The Snow Goose is a story about bravery and friendship.

Produced by KBT Productions, directed and designed by Jenine Collocott (Sunday Morning, Dirt, A Day in the Desert, High Diving), performed by James Cairns (Dirt, Three Little Pigs) and Taryn Bennett (Kaput!), adapted by the director and the cast.

The story of Fiona and Andromeda who travel from the confines of the inner city to outer space and back… Along the way they encounter an Elephant that changes them and allows them to see the world differently and perhaps a little more.

A Day in the Desert is a collaboration between Jenine Collocott (The Snow Goose, Sunday Morning, Dirt, High Diving) from South Africa and Barbara Draeger from Germany. They studied together at Helikos International School of Theatre Creation under master pedagog Giovanni Fusetti – who is particularly renowned for his clown work. It was here that the first seeds for A Day in the Desert were planted. Jenine and Barbara then teamed up with the internationally awarded writer Nick Warren (Sunday Morning, Dirt) who came on board as dramaturge.

Non-verbal Family performance for children from 4+

Created, directed and performed by Jori Snell/ Baba Yaga Theatre

Review at NAF 2012 ‘Tonite’:

Kitchen Fables in a Cookie Jar is as much of an adventure… It’s a sophisticated piece of theatre-work for kids, set in a kitchen, showing us the dreams of one little girl. Assitej’s mission is to encourage the creation of good theatre for children and youth, and Kitchen Fables in a Cookie Jar fits right in with that idea.’

Those of you looking for a creative experience that is intriguing, innovative and slightly disturbing-all in one go, should look no further than award winning physical theatre performer Jori Snell, and her latest work, “Kitchen Fables in a Cookie Jar”, which captivates both young and old audiences through a delightful mix of sound, visual and movement theatre.

Kitchen Fables in A Cookie Jar”, has a subtle similarity to Alice in Wonderland. It is about a girl’s discovery in a not quite ordinary kitchen, where kitchen tools and ingredients come alive and transform into imaginary friends, or weird, sometimes grotesque creatures of her own fantasy. It is set in the kind of magica/realistic landscapes we get to explore in our dreams.

This non-verbal family performance is theatre for the senses. It creates magical pictures of flying objects, colored lights, enchanting sounds and delicious smells. As the girl’s fantasy spins around, ordinary things are being transformed into living stories and creatures that blur the borders between fantasy and reality.

Her journeys through dreamy landscapes give way for a gradual understanding of what play and friendship can bring in times of solitude and being lost. Combining physical storytelling, dance, music and visual imagery, this performance speaks to the playful, at times cruel imagination of children and adults alike.

This piece aims at playing to children’s imaginative intelligence, creating visual and emotional landscapes, very much like in a dream, letting one association follow the other.

Coming from an intensive touring children-theatre background in Denmark, Jori Snell aspires to bring imaginative, different and cutting-edge theatre to children in various schools and informal settlements in and around Cape Town, and to collaborate with organizations such as Assitej and Theatre Arts Admin Collective, to build up a strong platform for high, qualitative children theatre in SA.

This is a tale that shows the cruelty of life, and how if you don’t respect life or don’t have a direction, you will not succeed. It tackles themes like abortion, unprotected sex with multiple partners, peer pressure, irresponsible teenage parenting, school drop outs and the importance of education in life.