A Girl Called Owl charts a friendship that starts in the heat of the Overberg summer between two ten-year-old girls, finding them again six years later. Olivia arrives in the town with her Dad; she is the new girl, the quiet girl, the weird girl. Then she meets Kay, the girl with the scar. Horwitz performs over ten characters, from the two young girls and their teenage counterparts to both their fathers and a group of boisterous men. Owl is a story about climbing trees, punching boys and kissing girls, touching sensitively, and not without humour, on issues including: coming of age – identity and choice; teen sexuality; homosexuality; domestic abuse; being/feeling different; friendship; love; violence – physical/implicit; changing relationships with authority figures/parents/teachers. The lead character is a girl so the play may be classed under ‘women’s issues’. However, the way in which she relates to the men in her environment, and they to her, makes this play important for men as well.
Written and directed by Jon Keevy, performed by Briony Horwitz, with staging by Fiona du Plooy and music composed for the show by Brydon Bolton, A Girl Called Owl premiered as Owl in 2012, receiving praise such as ‘Horwitz delivers an enchanting performance. Her versatility as an actress is astonishing…moving and evocative.” (Cape Times); “… beautifully observed…totally delicious …” (Megan’s Head) and four stars from the Cape Argus. Since then it has travelled all over SA and at the 2012 National Arts Festival it was invited to the Brighton and Prague Fringe festivals. At Brighton it gathered more praise, including two 5-star reviews and a nomination by Latest magazine as Best International Performance.
Written by Clinton Marius and directed by Mpume Mthombeni, this is a heartwarming story about a young Zulu herdboy who learns that the little calf he loves is to become a gift for the king. It is about Nguni cattle and their role in African society, growing up, honesty, and doing the right thing.
The production is available in English or isiZulu, as a puppet show, and also as a stand-alone reading.
In a very hot country a man lived with his wife and son, Slindelo, in a little hut, which was surrounded by grass and flowers. They were all perfectly happy till Slindelo stopped helping around the hut and started playing dirty tricks on everyone.
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.
TACTICS is a collection of daring short plays written by young South African writers who have worked with The Framework.
Five short plays are performed by performers, they will play different parts, and the plays will be performed in a different order to create a completely new whole. In keeping with the Framework’s ethos, no two performances will be the same.
All the plays are multiply cast, allowing the actors to play different roles each time. Both actors and audience formulate relationships and meaning afresh at each showing. To this end, the actors have been Framework-trained, but not rehearsed, so that they have to thrash out their virgin choices before the audience.
The Framework’s team brings this new, totally edgy, intersection between text and performance in a style that demands the following of the performers: Play yourself, play the best part of yourself, don’t ever apologise and play to win.
- It is low cost: there is no set, no costumes, no lighting and no sound equipment. The performances can take place in any simple performance space, without having rehearsed in that space.
- Props are provided by the audience who are asked to bring things to give to the performers. These are supplied to the actor at the moment of necessity at the beginning of the act or scene – whatever they may be: a blow-up dolphin, an Alice-band, a laptop, a sock etc.
- Each actor has prepared two or more roles. Which of the two (or more) he or she will perform on the night is decided by a game of chance five minutes before the show.
- A multi-venue production style that revisits classic and other texts, in which the performance is informed by the venue, audience engagement and the performers themselves. No two shows are alike.
- The productions use adapted text, which is contextualised during performance. This makes it entirely of the moment. Its spontaneity allows each performance to be uniquely relevant for each audience and venue.
Designed by Jenni-Lee Crewe and Alistair Findlay, Performed by James Cuningham.
Mat is a successful photographer who has his life exactly how he likes it – ordered, neat, and beautifully composed – until the day his girlfriend tells him she is pregnant. In an attempt to process this disturbing information he goes out for a run. Straying from his regular route, he ventures into a strange part of the city where he makes a gruesome discovery that changes everything.
A play targeted at communities and families, ages 10 and above. Issues addressed adherence to ART, disclosing HIV status to children and family, family relationships.
Foursight explores a High-school killing a year after the event and is told through the experiences of 4 characters. In attempting to understand how and why it happened the play cracks open the shells of our education system, bullying in schools, the media, the teenage mind and the role of absent the parent, who is willing to take responsibility? The play tackles identity, prejudice, self-image, violence, abuse and tolerance. Few stones are left unturned.