Xoli, Bawdy, Sam and Karla are a group of grade 11 girls who attend the Diocesan School for Girls (DSG), Makhanda. The all girls’ school is a 187-year-old private boarding school that delivers an IEB curriculum. Their brother school is St Andrew’s College, a 232-year-old all boys’ school. Classes are shared by boys and girls from Grade 10-12. These two schools are separated by a giant green gate which is locked at 11pm in the evening and unlocked at 6am in the morning by tired security guards in navy blue uniform. While St Andrew’s is a gateless grounds spanning 5 blocks, DSG has recently built a wall around itself with electric fence to keep the outside out and the inside in. The girls roil and suffocate inside.
They are baby anarchists. New free–thinkers. And dreaming together into future liberatory possibility.
Xoli and Sam are in love or falling in love. Something muted and grounded and real. On Saturday afternoons they bunk out of school grounds with Bawdy and Karla to the often deserted train station in the centre of Makhanda to get high, shit-talk, dream, wonder if they will get to the other side of now. They are thinking into critical liberatory pedagogies into building nations that are not the stifled prison-house they feel they are in. They all feel, acutely, the discomfort of something itching – they know something is not right with the world.
There is friction in Xoli and Sam’s fragile relationship; Bawdy fuels the fire while dealing with preganancy and the decisions she must make. Karla’s mother as recently passed and she is moving through the aftermath. They talk about school and boys and race. They talk about disciplinary cases happening at both the boys and girls schools. Bawdy insists the politics will play themselves out. There is an altercation, an ideological impasse at which point one must act. It is the realisation of something euphoric, of power to destroy, of having the real potential to dismantle; and something horrific, no longer romantic, real and with real consequences. Suddenly there is the sound of the school guard and they run. In the panic and commotion as the nearby public rush towards the rising fire, the girls separate pursued on foot. At the normal meeting place, all but one girl return – Sam.
Sam is handed over to her school which immediately begins the process of questioning, gathering evidence and building a disciplinary case. Sam exposes Bawdy. Heads must roll. Sam’s parents remove her from the school before the date of her official tribunal. Xoli gets expelled. Bawdy gets expelled. Karla gets one-month suspension which she will spend at her father’s lake house in Plettenberg Bay.
Playright Aldo Brincat is that first-generation South African of Mauritian, Egyptian and Maltese heritage. Born in mid-60’s South Africa, Brincat, along with his family, find their maturing years playing out against the backdrop of a country in turmoil.
Aldo Brincat’s award winning hit, The Moon Looks Delicious From Here, is a 70 minute, largely autobiographical solo performance, which is driven by a loving father and son relationship – each from different eras and motherlands. Here, Brincat plays an array of characters in and around a fragile young nuclear family – some foreign, some local – all of whom are finding or losing themselves in the ever-changing political landscape that is South Africa. Language, religion, ambition, sexuality, and political leanings are brought into sharp focus as our two lead characters fight off ‘otherness’, while attempting to assert themselves into a volatile new country. Key moments in their lives are juxtaposed against powerful developments in South Africa’s history during the 70s and 80s and, as the effects of apartheid (and its homophobic policies) begin to reach boiling point, family ties threaten to tear apart.
The Moon Looks Delicious From Here is universal in its theme, particularly at this time when the intersectional knock-on effects of migrancy, sexuality, heritage and identity are brought increasingly into our consciousness.
Written and performed by the international multi award winning interdisciplinary artist, Aldo Brincat, and directed by Sjaka September, with music by the multi award winning international composer, performer and producer, Bongiziwe Mabandla.
‘n Meertalige narrespel aangebied in Afrikaans en isiXhosa. Guppie bevind homself in André se kou. Die Republiek van die Kapok Boer Vereniging. Die RKBV het ontstaan na ‘n aardbeweing ‘n skeur getrek het rondom ‘n lappie aarde wat twaalf plase, ‘n kerk en ‘n foefieslide adventure park insluit. André oortuig die gemeenskap dat die mense van buite ‘anders’ is, en dat hulle moet bly op die eiland. Maar op ‘n dag maak ‘n nuwe maatjie, Nkululeko, kontak met Guppie. Die produksie sal die jongspan laat skaterlag, terwyl die produksie vrae vra wat die grootmense sal laat nadink oor ons huidige polêre samelewing.
Mphilo is a country teenager, who is born as a blessing in the eyes of the family because she has albinism. Her grandmother believes that she can cure the disease her older daughter has and that Mphilo’s body parts can make the family rich.
Mpilo and her mother, Nozizwe, journey to confront the myths that allow young girls to be exploited, harassed and abused by authority figures in our communities. United they can reach beyond the wall of society’s myths. Nozizwe meets up with other women from different backgrounds and through Mphilo’s journey, they are able to better articulate their own struggles.
Dlamini brings her strong directorial and aesthetic signature to the work, which does not employ the use of set, but rather uses the performers’ movement and bodies to give shape to the drama.
‘Puppet Park‘ is a newly written educational & musical production touching sensitive subjects regarding racism, homosexuality, family issues, abuse and bullying etc. Newly written songs will be added to assist with the message from stage. A message of love and acceptance. From the creative pen of Xander Steyn who has a list of productions that he has written, directed and choreographed – www.xanderartproductions.co.za – this is a production is a must see for every school and child in South Africa.
Jade Bowers (2016 Standard Bank Young Artist, Naledi Theatre Awards Best Director for Scorched) and Ameera Patel (Naledi Theatre Awards Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Scorched) join forces to present ‘Black’. Based on CA Davids’ 2014 novel ‘The Blacks of Cape Town’, Gold Standard Bank Ovation Award-winning writer/director Penny Youngleson has written an adaptation for stage which intricately balances the poetry and pain of discovery, of unpacking history and the drama of family politics. Accomplished actress Patel tackles her first one-hander, under the directorial hand of Bowers, and with musical composition and accompaniment by Daniel Geddes.
While based abroad, historian Zara Black (Patel) learns via an officious but vague letter from the South African government, that documents once sealed and implicating her father in an act (which, while not clearly defined, was committed against the anti-apartheid movement decades earlier) will soon be released to the public. The resultant unearthing of her own past begins with Isaiah Black – the grandfather that ‘started it all’ when he stole a handful of diamonds from one of the world’s largest diamond mines in Kimberley. This act, however, is overshadowed by what the family considers his far greater crime – concealing his (mixed) race to escape the harsh realities of the mines before abandoning his mother and ultimately changing his name. His choice of surname is not without irony; because having been classified as mixed, he had passed as white, but had given rise to a line of coloured children and grandchildren. His granddaughter Zara finds herself alone and displaced in New Jersey, caught up in the excitement of an American election of a new and historic president, while trying to make sense of South Africa of the past and present: constructing a history for herself and her family from fragmented recollections and family lore.
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?
The Whale Show is a family production that uses a large puppetry to enlighten and entertain the audience. The two protagonists have spent so much time with whales they behave just like them and even speak whale language, sharing their awe and wonder of these magical creatures. Themes include similarities and differences between whales and humans, threats to whales and whale facts and figures. The audience is encouraged to think critically about their values and the importance of whale conservation when the audience is invited to stop the giant harpoon.
The Whale Show is 45 minutes in duration and is suitable for Grades R – 3. An accompanying drama skills workshop of 45 minutes is also available.
After a 3 year hiatus The Whale Show, based on Heathcote Williams’ ‘Whale Nation’, returned to the stage in 2011 opening with a run at Kalk Bay Theatre. Created in 2001, the play has toured the National Arts Festival; Out The box festival, the Whale Festival in Hermanus; and numerous schools as part of International Fund for Animal Welfare’s (IFAW) outreach education and awareness campaigns including twinning programmes with underprivileged and privileged schools. It has also been included in the YES programme for Marine Week and enjoyed successful public runs in Knysna, Plettenberg Bay and Muizenberg in 2008. In October 2015 The Whale Show traveled to the Overstrand region where it was performed for learners from local schools. The show was last performed at the City of Cape Town, Biodiversity Management Staff at their year end function in November 2016.
Look Before You Leap: Being Right deals with democracy, human rights, racism and discrimination.
Focussing in particular on the issues of diversity and inclusivity such as poverty, inequality, race, gender, language, age, and disability, discrimination on the basis of race, religion, culture, gender, sexuality, age, ability and language, as well as the concepts of institutionalised racism, xenophobia, and other forms of “othering”, are addressed.
The story pivots around the election of a school’s Student Representative Council. The Learners are introduced to the candidates standing for election, their motivation for running and each candidate’s aims and objectives outlined in their campaigns’. The Audience become the electorate, participating actively in the democratic processes that support and promote the promotion and advancement of the candidates, while simultaneously being privy to the ‘real’ experience of the identity, concerns and motivations of the characters.
Personal and individual needs are placed in a social context that encourages acceptance of diversity and fosters commitment to the values and principles entrenched in the Constitution. The show deals with social relationships and human rights and responsibilities, including how knowledge and understanding of diversity and inclusivity contributes to the development of responsible citizenship and social justice.
The aim is that audience will become (more) politically literate in terms of knowing, understanding and actively participating in democratic processes, both socially and politically. The importance of volunteerism, social service and involvement in a democratic society are emphasised, and the causes, consequences and prevention of pervasive social ills, such as HIV, and all forms of violence and abuse, are also addressed.
SENIOR PHASE (Grades 8 and 9)
- Topic 1: Development of the self in society
- Topic 2: Health, social and environmental responsibility
- Topic 3: Constitutional rights and responsibilities
FET PHASE (Grade 10 – 12)
- Topic 1: Development of the self in society
- Topic 2: Social and environmental responsibility
- Topic 3: Democracy and human rights