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.
Foursight
If you are reading this message, you are obviously aware that water conservation is a crucial issue in our county? However, did you know that through our Last Drop Show we have proved that we can change learner’s behaviour so that nearly 50% of the water your school currently uses can be saved?
Watch this video to get an idea of the power of The Last Drop.
With a Grant in Aid the Knysna Municipality engaged Lunchbox Theatre to bring their educational theatre shows to Knysna schools. And so, an exciting inter-school Water Wise Competition was launched.
Saving water was encouraged through The Last Drop, a fun and educational live theatre show followed by a Water Heroes Workshop to entrench the message and new behaviours.
The competition included Plettenberg Bay Primary and Formosa from the Bitou Municipality and Hornlee Primary from Knysna. The Bitou shows were funded through a crowdfunding campaign supported by the Department of Arts and Culture.
Water readings were taken at each school before the show and 3 times thereafter. Hornlee Primary School reduced their usage by 52.7% from May to June 2016 and won the title of the Water Wise School of the Year in Knysna. The winners certificate were handed over to teachers and kids at the school on 25th August.
Our story starts in the year 2060 and we have just found the last drop of fresh water.
There are no more trees, no fruit or vegetables, we can no longer build houses and everyone is suffering. Something must be done!!
Join Neptune and his younger brother Triton as they try to save us all from this terrible drought. They are joined by the mad professor and the villain Davy Jones on a fun, interactive and informative journey through time searching for ways to put an end to the problems so we can save our future.
This program includes a 30-minute theatre show followed by a 30-minute interactive theatre workshop. The workshop acts a reminder of the themes raised in the show. It offers the learners an opportunity to come onto stage and enact various scenarios that are relevant to water conservation.
The age old African art of storytelling comes alive on stage with this original production of traditional African animal folklore tales. Through comedy, song, dance and drama these stories are made relevant to a contemporary audience as they bring their ‘lessons’ into a modern day context.
Our story begins with a family preparing for a feast. Khokho (great grandfather) is returning home after a long journey of collecting stories from around Africa and his granddaughter and great granddaughter are hard at work readying themselves for his arrival.
We join Khokho on the last leg of his journey and discover that a villain, who wishes to steal his suitcase of stories, is secretly pursuing him.
Along the way Khokho rests often, as he is tired from his long journey, and opens his suitcase to recount the many stories that he has gathered. These stories come to life using physical theatre and the creative use of props and costumes.
We are constantly aware of the villain in the background and are humored by Khokho’s ability to unwittingly ward him off.
The themes of the stories are linked to incidents that we see occurring back home between mother and daughter. They tackle issues such as respect, patience and greed.
Khokho’s final story is told after his well-celebrated arrival back home. He cleverly incorporates local townsfolk and his family to enact the story. Then much to the villain’s surprise Khokho involves him in the story and through this the villain learns about sharing and the power of storytelling.
Do you know why trees are important and do our children know? This show teaches, in a fun way, about why trees are important, what they give us and why they should be conserved. This hilarious show is the perfect, ‘fun’draiser!
Our story takes place in a small, tranquil village where the villagers are working hard to beautify the area in preparation for a wedding ceremony. However, peace is disturbed and the ceremony disrupted, when greedy developers swoop in and begin to wreak havoc on the land. As more trees are chopped down and building continues, Mother Nature has to step in and through the voice of an old man, a great magical tree, airs her concerns to the developers and encourages them to change their ways before it is too late…The Tree Show and workshop program celebrates indigenous trees as a vital part of our existence. This fun and interactive show uses song, dance and drama to engage the audience in a lively and interactive storytelling experience. We look at current threats that trees face in the light of unsustainable development and conclude that we, as custodians of the planet, should work together with nature instead of against her.
The show is completed with an interactive tree planting workshop at the venue where the show is performed. Children from the audience become involved in the planting of an indigenous tree that they will then be able to watch and nurture as it grows over the years. This tree stands as a reminder of the importance of trees to life on the planet.
Did you know that over the past decades man has done some terrible things to elephants? Is this a history we want our children to read about or do we want to show them some good news about our wild animals and diversity?
The Eden to Addo Corridor have to re-established the ancient elephant migration paths between the Garden Route National Park, The Baviaanskloof World Heritage Site and the Addo Elephant National Park and restore ecological balance of the region. They commissioned The Great Eden to Addo Adventure to depict the story. This is perfect as an educational live theatre masterpiece as well as a great vehicle for fundraising drives.
The Great Eden to Addo Adventure follows a brave young girl who leads an escaped circus elephant on an epic adventure from Knysna to the Addo Elephant Park. En route they encounter a leopard, a sunbird, a dung beetle and a tortoise who each teach the travelers about the challenges they face. Together they find ways to work together to overcome these challenges.
This fun, entertaining and interactive show uses puppetry, mime, comedy, song and dance to convey its message and is followed by an interactive drama workshop for the whole audience.
This show uses the innovative Lunchbox Theatre style to highlight biodiversity and the need for humans, plants and animals to live in harmony.
Children who suffer at the hands of adults often have no idea that they have rights and what better way to teach them through a story?
Vulnerable children and good adults are mesmerized by this adventure. They become emotionally involved as they watch the ‘baddies’ denying basic rights to the children they have taken prisoner. Being part of this highly interactive show, makes them feel:
- excited when Themba is told he must find his Inheritance,
- empathy when he is captured and used as a slave with other children,
- appalled by the greedy gluttons who scoff at the notion that everyone is equal in South Africa, even children,
- warmed by the loving guidance of the guardian angel,
- repulsed by the anti-heroes,
- shocked when Themba stands up for his rights and his fellow prisoners,
- angry when the bad guy tries to hurt Themba,
- protective of the children when they escape,
- and delighted when Themba triumphs and the rights of children which is their real inheritance are indelibly imprinted in their minds and emotions.
The children in the story triumph over the abusers in the end which gives them the courage they need to speak out. The more children who can see this show the better.
iLifa was inspired by the 40th anniversary of the National Arts Festival and the 20th anniversary of our Democratic Constitution.
Rubbish Wrap uses waste as a resource for the imagination. A talking tree’s leaves make homes for worms. A bottle top shark sings “Free the Sea!!” A magical musical recycling machine lets some surprises emerge at the other end.
Rubbish Wrap is a play about the creation and cycle of waste and the transfer of energy in nature’s own recycling system from one organism to another through the food chain. It contrasts the chain of consumption from raw materials to the dump sites of the industrialised world. The play enables learners to break the consumption and waste cycle through participation, fostering efforts to reduce, reuse and recycle.
Rubbish Wrap is 45 minutes in duration and is suitable for Grades 4-9.
Jungle Theatre Company was commissioned by City of Cape Town Environmental Resource Management Department to create a short 20 min play to complement the waste chapter in The Smart Living Handbook in 2008. Rubbish Wrap was toured to schools as part of the Youth Environmental Schools’ (YES) Waste Wise Week in 2008 and 2009 and was accompanied by a 45 minute workshop. For the YES Blue Flag beach programme in March 2009, which focussed on marine and coastal pollution, the play and workshop were combined in a 45 minute interactive play and returned to the Blue Flag campaign in 2011.
Currently starring:
Unathi Speelman; Mfundo Hashe and Vincent Meyburgh.
The Ogreling / Izim’elincinci, by acclaimed French Canadian playwright, Suzanne Lebeau and directed by Yvette Hardie is a rich visual feast for learners, with set and costume design by Illka Louw and shadow puppets by Daya Heller. The production can be presented in English or in isiXhosa (translated by Sindiwe Magona). It introduces learners to exploring moral dilemmas and choices through the exciting story of a six year old son of an ogre (or izim), who discovers his nature and decides to escape his destiny. To do this, he must overcome three ordeals. The Ogreling explores the never-ending struggle between good and evil that resides within each of us.
Drawing on ntsomi storytelling traditions, this haunting and magical tale crosses cultures and continents to bring you an audacious and beautiful creation… that gives us all we deeply need to live and grow…
The production is a strong support to the Life Orientation curriculum for Intermediate and Senior Phase learners which teaches the use of acquired life skills (self-management, problem-solving, personal discipline) to achieve and extend personal potential to respond effectively to challenges in the world. It can also support the Language curriculum, as well as introducing learners to aspects of the Creative Arts. The published text (in both English and Xhosa) provides a rich resource for language learning, language extension and creativity.
Immediately after the production, there will be a talk-back with the actors and director, where learners will be able to engage with the issues in the production, as well as learn a little about how the shadow puppetry is achieved. Workshops in life skills, drama and shadow puppetry are available on request.
The touring of the production to the Eastern Cape in 2012 is an ASSITEJ South Africa project.