Latoya Newman
THE CATALINA Theatre has been abuzz with activities lately, with the latest being the launch of the Durban Children’s Theatre Festival, just in time for the school break next week.
The festival is scheduled to run from October 6 to 11 at the theatre, which is at Wilson’s Wharf.
Artistic director for Keep the Dream/Catalina UnLtd, Rowin Munsamy, said their vision for the festival is shared and supported by the International Association of Theatre for Children and Young People Assitej, which works in 90 countries.
He said the festival is the brainchild of Francis Bigara, Catalina’s general manager, who conceived the idea in response to a prompting from Warren Farrer of RCL Foods (the theatre’s sponsor) to include a theatre festival for the youth.
Made possible through sponsorship from the eThekwini Municipality and a dynamic team from Keep the Dream and the Catalina Theatre, this festival is set to stage holistic edutainment offerings for children.
“Our line-up showcases diver-sity, which is one of Catalina’s main objectives. We want to offer audiences a wide variety of shows that represent the myriad forms of children’s theatre, in one festival,” explained Munsamy.
He said the selection process, while rushed this year, will grow to include companies from outside Durban.
Munsamy said the performers were mostly professionals, with some newcomers.
“The award-winning Fantastical Flea Circus and Zap and Buttons are two productions from more established companies working in the children’s theatre field. Pot of Stories allows for a newcomer, Mpumy Ndlovu, to break into this growing market.
“Newcomers from uMthakathi offer us a different side of life, or a world view from a different perspective. The cast comprises differently-abled performers. Ntswaki’s Adventure rounds up our productions with established marionette puppeteers, educating the youth about our environment. All the productions are professional and cover many genres and styles.”
Commenting on the importance of theatre for the young, Munsamy (who is also involved in theatre production) said: “Theatre is such a vital component of any society. Everyone loves to laugh and be entertained, yet they don’t want to pay for a ticket, to support artists and their endeavours. Rather than see drama and performance as something that you do as a hobby, we want to introduce children to the significance of theatre and the power that it has in shaping a community or a nation.
“Theatre can educate, entertain and enlighten, and it is this magnificence that we want to introduce into the minds of the young. By doing so we may be able to revive theatre and show that, while we have a lot of fun, it’s not about playing games.
“We are a serious profession, just as important as doctors and lawyers, with the same responsibilities to our communities. We must start training our audiences and performers, like we train our future athletes.
“The theatre is a magical place of escape, but also a place of challenge and protest, all while we entertain. With the arts getting less and less support and funding, we still fight so that future generations of theatre-makers and audiences will get to experience the wonderment that is theatre,” he said.
The festival includes an Assitej SA workshop with Theatre for Youth mentor and award-winning scriptwriter, director and performer, Gisele Turner. On the morning of October 6, Turner offers a Make a Play workshop exploring the capacity to create through play.
The cost of the workshop is R20. To reserve a space, e-mail [email protected] or [email protected]
The Durban Children’s Theatre Festival runs from October 6 to 11. Book at Computicket. For information, call 031 837 5999.
SNEAK PREVIEW
THE FANTASTICAL FLEA CIRCUS RETURNS!: First staged in 2011 at the Catalina Theatre, this popular production scooped all awards in the Children’s Category at that year’s Durban Theatre Awards. A jolly mix of song, dance, rhyming verse and clever tricks, The Fantastical Flea Circus is written and directed by Clinton Marius, creator of the radio soapie, Lollipop Lane. The production stars award-winning actress Shona Johnson as world renowned opera singer, Duchess De Nunu, and talented newcomer Khanyisani Kheswa as her travelling companion and Professor of Fleaology, Dr Khanyisani. Together, the high-spirited duo present a merry band of fleas that perform an exciting line-up of circus acts, including a high-wire routine, car races, a cannonball and bull’s eye stunt, a high-dive act, a strong-o-mometer contest, and a disappearing hand trick.
Zap and Buttons!: Join Zap & Buttons in this show about fitness, health and nutrition. This funny and heart-warming story written by local performing artist Sandy Bigara. Zap the exercise fairy and her ‘bestie’ Buttons the fashion cat join forces to turn a lazy boy named Junk into a fitness star. With loads of help from the audience – this informative show with participation, using song, dance and games – Junk will learn to look after his body, and be fit and healthy!
uMTHAKATI: The cast members are talented performing artists with disabilities such as autism, cerebral palsy and learning disabilities. uMthakati is a musical for children and family audiences. It tells the story about a misunderstood sangoma. It was written and directed by Neena Pitamber, a qualified teacher of children with special needs.
Ntswaki’s Adventure: Nandagram Eco Village NPC was started with the aim of educating society about the benefits of living an ecologically and ethically sustainable lifestyle through setting a practical example. Their main focus is on education, community building and field work. One of their first initiatives is a marionette show called Ntswaki’s Adventure, which is a story about a village boy who saves his community from poverty and ecological disaster by planting trees.
Pot of Stories: Mpumy Ndlovu is a storyteller trained at Kwesukela Storytelling Academy in Joburg. She started storytelling during the World Cup where she told both historical and children’s stories. She has worked with Gcina Mhlophe and has performed at the Joburg and Durban museums and schools. Mpumy takes you back to the old art form of traditional storytelling – entertaining while educating. This is a 25-minutes piece of the brewing of African folklore told in English. The stories are told through games, music and with traditional instruments and include; The Elephant and the Seven Blind Men, The Singing Bird and Two Shelen and Princess Anesu. Fun and interaction with the children is what moves this dynamic piece.
Full show times, ticketing details and bookings through Computicket online or at Shoprite/Checkers.