Durban
Learning maths might not be as easy as Pi, but a Durban theatre company hopes they have hit on a formula to help pupils see beyond the dramas that sometimes come when mastering maths.
Chasing Gold: Mathematics! It’s Not a Monster, which is on at the Stable Theatre, uses song and dance to explain important concepts and to dispel the notion that the subject is impossibly difficult or boring.
The play tells the story of an intelligent girl from a rural village who is struggling with mathematics.
Her school results are suffering and she even thinks of committing suicide. Her whole tribe is affected, and the king asks his people to find a solution. Thabani Mahlobo, one of the cast of six, who plays the role of a traditional healer, said the play also aimed to encourage more children to study mathematics and to pursue careers underpinned by mathematics.
Mahlobo, 60, said this would help address the skills shortage.
Bongumusa Nzama, managing director of Gcugcwa Creative Productions, which is responsible for the play, said two years ago they realised there was a need for a theatre piece to spark children’s interest in maths.
He said he found out that children would skip mathematics class because they found it too difficult.
“Mathematics is life; you walk, sleep, eat mathematics,” Nzama, 35, said, explaining that maths was part of everything we did.
The play, aimed at high school pupils, runs at the Stable Theatre until Friday, with three performances daily at 9am, 11am and 1pm. Thereafter it will tour to schools on request
.