Nataniël’s 2015 Emperor’s extravaganza ‘After Animals’, which opens on August 20 in Johannesburg, deals with a world once all the animals are gone, and he regards it as his most ambitious staging yet. Diane de Beer found out more…
‘I’m not trying to save the world,” says Nataniël while explaining his latest show, After Animals. “I’m here to entertain.”
It is his annual Emperor’s extravaganza and this time the story deals with a world once all the animals are gone. It was sparked by a meeting with a painter, Marc le Rest, who paints animals with titles like If These Beasts could Fly or Animals Rule the World.
He had also created an exquisite paper model of a white, empty zoo. The artist handed viewers pens and asked them to write on the base of the model. They had to write the names or descriptions of anyone or anything they thought should live in the zoo. “I wrote, ‘The Beasts That Try To Rule Us’, ‘The Demons That Haunt Us’, ‘The Monsters We May Become’,” says Nataniël. Within days, the idea for this new show had taken shape.
He started thinking about the world’s disregard for animal life yet its constant obsession with animal images and how he had used these pictures in his past 14 shows at Emperor’s – from horses, dogs and giraffes to bears.
“I don’t even have a pet and can’t stand goldfish.”
People, he believes, are moved by animals on a buffet table. “When I asked my brother to complete the sentence, after animals, he said, ‘we serve cheese’. We both praise and condemn animals,” he says and those are all thoughts he’s playing with as he writes his hysterical stories that are the backbone of these fantastical stagings.
He is very excited by the programme which has been done like an old-fashioned art newspaper. “I conceived 10 art projects which will all be included in the newspaper rather than the usual biogs and pictures of the cast,” he says. It will serve as a memento and each artwork featured will make sense for those who see the show because it will be part of the production – almost like an interactive programme. They have also turned some of these artworks into linen throws, souvenir plates, cut-off costumes that have been turned into artworks, all of which will be sold during the run of the show.
“You could also post it to an ex-pat,” he says wickedly, “and it should create a moment.”
For the first time in many years, his costumes aren’t period but set in the future. “It’s modern, has an origami feel and all the costumes were first moulded and folded in paper before they were made.”
He regards this as his most ambitious staging and describes the show as “busy but spacious”. The dancers and the singers are also the sets and the props, and he is holding thumbs that it will eventually be as lavish as always, if in a different way.
From a musical point of view, it’s all original songs which is unusual as Nataniël loves introducing a few of his personal favourite cover songs.
The cast includes Nicolaas Swart (vocals), newcomer Francois Joubert (vocals), Martin van Heerden (dancer), Bradley Dreyer (acrobat), Charl du Plessis (keyboards), Juan Oosthuizen (guitar), Werner Spies (bass) and Hugo Radyn (drums).
* After Animals runs from August 20 to September 27, Wednesday to Saturday at 8.30pm and Sundays at 3pm at Theatre of Marcellus, Emperors Palace.