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.
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.
A barman, trapped by the codes of the bar that render him invisible; a flamboyantly macho cowboy, with a flair for the Argentine Tango; and a guarded woman, whose sensuous alter ego is released as she nurses her wine as if it were mother’s milk; all hover at the edge of existence, ever short of bridging the gaps between them. The one minute they’re keeping time to the music, the next they’ve slipped out of the real time of their unfulfilled lives and into the vacuous space of the bar. They flirt, fight, drink and forget, fuelled by the answers they find at the bottom of the glass.
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.
Comedy-drama. In a country on the Mediterranean Sea that has seen many decades of war, two brothers live a peaceful, unfettered existence. Then a foreign occupation disrupts their lives in unimaginable ways.
Kaput has played to many school audiences, including the National Schools Festival in Grahamstown 2012, with an over-whelming audience response.
Directed by James Cuningham (Jutro; Black and Blue; Sunday Morning), featuring Helen Iskander (Planet B; The Famished Road; Baobabs Don’t Grow Here), Taryn Bennett (Sie Weiss Alles; Doctor Collinger’s Funeral Services), Dorian Burstein (Pictures of You).
One day Nomonde finds out that Che is playing with her life. Players, sex, love, family and tv shows…
What is true, what is real, what is fake?
In this play which is a mixture of puppetry,drama, dance and music we follow Nomonde in her search for a way out.
This play has been made based on research about loverboys, interviews with youngsters on several schools.
Despite being predominantly French-speaking, Cameroonian audiences were charmed and entertained by the new South African children’s musical Snake Magic when it was staged in Yaounde recently as part of an international arts festival.
“It is a work that is able to transcend language through its use of puppetry and music and seems to enjoy a universal appeal,” says its creator, well-known Cape musician Heather Mac.
Adapted from an African legend, the play was selected for staging at the African Festival of Children’s Theatre in Cameroon last month. “As only 20% of the population speaks English, we were concerned that some of the children may not understand the narrative. I was delighted to be proven wrong,” she laughs.
Mac relates that Cameroonian children became so emotionally engaged with the story, that during one performance in a scene when one of the characters is frightened, audience members stood up and told her how sorry they were. “Some even gave the cast member fruit and snacks to help her! It brought tears to my eyes that in country where poverty surrounds everybody, such generosity exists.”
Snake Magic features Deon Nebulane, Lindelwa Kisana and David Muller is currently on at the Baxter’s Sanlam Studio at 11am until December 20.
During its first run at the Kalk Bay Theatre earlier this year, critics were extremely complimentary about the way Mac has breathed life into this uniquely African tale. “We’ve basically integrated a vibrant musical score with an adventure-filled story and in the process we’ve created the ideal holiday fare for the whole family,” she says.
Mac and the cast feel the show has grown since its first staging and believe its new incarnation and has been polished in such a way that it gets children in the audience to really engage with its underlying message. “Snake Magic tackles many different current issues that face children today, namely bullying, jealousy, gender conflict, animal rights and conservation,” says Heather.
“We hope that the play is one of the ways we can help nurture respect within children by highlighting the value of their environment, ‘mother earth’ and the importance of being kind, honest and caring within our family and our community.”