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.
uNontombi the Musical
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
About Us: Playing For Keeps follows two school friends whose carefree lives just got complicated. The class joker discovers that his sibling, who he thought was overseas, is actually in hospital with AIDS, and his personal search to try to come to terms with and understand it – bringing his family back together in the process. Meanwhile his pretty classmate is overwhelmed by the attentions of an older boy, who showers her with company, and gifts, and attention – but what does he want in exchange?
Through the course of the action the audience is introduced to HIV and AIDS and Tuberculosis; how they affect the body, as well as the prejudices and misinformation that surround them. They are also led to explore the nature of their own wants, desires and role in society, as well as the role and responsibility of the adults around them and, what is and what is not acceptable. The show stresses the importance of family, and examines how friendships provide support and assistance in difficult times.
INTERMEDIATE PHASE
- Study Area: Personal and Social Well-being (PSW)
- Topic 1: Development of the self
- Topic 2: Health and environmental responsibility
- Topic 3: Social responsibility
SENIOR PHASE:
- Topic 1: Development of the self in society
- Topic 2: Health, social and environmental responsibility
- Topic 3: Constitutional rights and responsibilities
Presented by Here Manje and KB Theatre Productions.
Choreography by Cleo Notcutt and Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi.
Resident photographer and cinematographer: Dex Goodman.
Once upon a time, a boy named Tommy who lived an unadventurous life was presented by a challenge from the new kid at school – join us on an adventure of the imagination and magic. Come see Tommy’s journey to becoming a hero.
The Incredible Journey premiered at Fringe World 2015 in Perth, Western Australia. The show received a Standard Bank Ovation Award at the 2015 National Arts Festival in Grahamstown, South Africa.
MEMORY is a story for all ages that speaks about the universal impulse of loving animals.
They say that somewhere in Africa the elephants have a secret grave where they go to lie down, unburden their wrinkled gray bodies, and soar away, light spirits at the end.
Robert R. McCammon
MEMORY is a truly African story. It has been created for a purpose to allow the public into why man has hunted/hunts the elephant. Using equal demographics and four part harmonies to original music throughout the show, MEMORY has been well received by all aged audiences especially for the well-known Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi’s highly detailed animal passion images. It is like going to a real life zoo in the safe space of the theatre.
First adapted in 2014 and set in a classroom, this production brings eight of the most famous short stories writers (that include South Africans) to life. Stories include The Dube Train, by Can Themba, Manhood, by John Wain and many more!
FISHY FLIPPERS is an interactive, spontaneous and playful storytelling show, about a boy who finds a penguin on his doorstep. The clowns invite the audience to explore the shores of their imagination as the boy and the penguin set off on an adventure in search of home, only to find it within each other. This is a story of an unusual and delightful friendship, told by two (very silly) clowns!
Brought to you by CREATIVE BEANS, this award-winning clown and storytelling show for children has been performed internationally since 2011. In 2013 Fishy Flippers won the Audience Favourite award at Musho! Festival and went on to enjoy great success during the ASSITEJ Family Season in the Western Cape. The show was created and performed by Nadia Woodward (clown & performer from South Africa) and Annabel Morgan (clown & storyteller from Swaziland), in collaboration with Clowns Without Borders South Africa.
When an 8 year old girl loses her beloved half brother to a car accident and she is forbidden from attending his burial because of family rivals; that moment changes how the rest of her life unfolds. By sixteen she struggles to relate to her peers and people placed in her path because she is trapped in the past. She begins to communicate with her late brother through letters she writes to him in her diary and through trying to “tap into death”, she writes him stories of how her life has been without him and wonders whether things would be different if he was around. We see her at her happiest when she is in a realm between life and death. The society perceives her as suicidal and a danger to herself but she does not really want to die. In the midst of fighting for her life her biggest wish is that she could somehow run away from life while her brother runs away from death and they could meet each other halfway, to sit at the edge of the world and confide in one another. Everyone has come to a point in their lives where they have questioned whether they would be better off in the spirit realm or if they should fight for just one more day in the physical world – Running is about that very reality.