INSPIRED by the sound produced from beating an African drum (especially by the hands) is the production, Dim-Dep Faces of Environmental Success which stages at the Playhouse Company from Thursday to Sunday.
Carrying a strong environmental and heritage theme, the South African musical is founded, written, produced and directed by Atlas Philani Duma. The story talks to responsible, environmentally-aware living, reminding audiences of the need to be self-sufficient, nurture the environment, minimise pollution, limit use of power and look back to age-old skills such as agriculture; emasimini (crop fields); subsistence farming; the responsible use of animal products and environmental sustainability.
In an interview with Tonight, Duma explains how the concept of the production came about: “I am a drummer and my music is dominated by a lot of syncopated drumming rudiments. I always get fascinated by the sound ‘dim-dep’ as it is produced by an African drum, especially when it is beaten by hands. An idea came to my mind that if I can create a theatre piece that will portray this aspect of art, it will be of a great phenomenon.
“In 2014, I involved myself in a study about the human impact on natural resources. That triggered me to use Dim-Dep as the mouth-piece to share vital information with the entire community of South Africa to teach and remind them about the importance of the conversation of natural resources.
“That idea was motivated by the fact that I want to promote Dim-Dep as a tuition programme that will be used in all art centres as a universal/identical syllabus that will cater for arts development in South Africa.”
Duma created Dim-Dep as an edutainment production and believes it is central to learners of history, geography, life sciences, music, drama and English: “It carries the history of the origins of black South African people. With geography, I have unfolded the subject about the human impact on the natural environment. Dim-Dep focuses more on the human as hunters, keepers and it also deals with domestication, the side effects on urbanisation, industrialisation, commercial agricultural methods etc. With regards to musical development, the show reflects on the journey in musical development and also mentions who is who in the music industry and their fate.
“With drama, this production is designed in such a way that it provides a lot of academic information from text and dramatises it in such a way that a learner can understand the subject in a way that any general person is able to understand.
“Lastly, Dim-Dep consists of 70 percent English and 30 percent Zulu, while its content is understandable, describing difficult terms in a simple way.”
Shedding light on the dialogue and song, Duma says the show is told over two time periods – contemporary urban and Stone Age: “Based on the fact that Dim-Dep portrays its first act as the Stone Age era, the music is in line with the earliest musical elements that are dominated by the drumming of membrophones made out of wood and animal skins.
“In act 2 (21st century), the music makes the audience relate to the story of nowadays that educates us about relevant issues that regards the conversation of natural resources and other themes. Due to the fact that this production is a two-hander, some of the music is pre-recorded and the cast are singing along.”
l The production runs from Thursday to Sunday at the Playhouse Loft at 7pm with the Sunday show at 3pm. Tickets R80 at Computicket.