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Building international bridges - What's On | Tonight | IOL.co.za
K returns to the stage with a second new work this year, before the production travels to America as part of the ArtsBridge International Exchange.
Director Rob Murray has been putting the FTH: K graduating trainees through their paces in rehearsal for OfficeBLOCK: … business as usual… the first instalment of a work which is being created in collaboration with Quest Visual Theatre in the US, as part of the two-year ArtsBridge International Exchange.
This exchange is a skills and cultural learning project between deaf and hearing communities in Cape Town and Washington, DC. It comprises workshops, discussion forums, sharing of performance techniques and the creation of a visual theatre piece and an education programme, which will be presented at the National Arts Festival in South Africa and QuestFest, a biennial international visual theatre festival in Washington.
Four performers (FTH: K leading performer Liezl de Kock and trainees Sinethemba Mgebisa, Marlon Snyders and Christopher Beukes) have been rehearsing at the Intimate Theatre in Cape Town.
There’s pretty much no budget for the set, which designer Jayne Batzofin says makes work interesting, since director Rob Murray does so love his visual cues.
“The lack of money is a blessing because it makes us consider exactly what is needed,” said Batzofin.
As well as being a theatremaker and educator with FTH: K, Batzofin plays an integral role in running the company-associated collective, Conspiracy of Clowns.
Earlier this year, she travelled to America as part of the first phase of ArtsBridge, staying on the Gallaudet University campus. She says the South African trainees will find it an eye-opener when they go to Washington next year to develop OfficeBLOCK: … business as usual…
“It’s like something we’ve never seen. Independent, strong, deaf role models who happen to study at a university,” said Batzofin.
“The exchange will give our students a very different mindset about deafness.”
She explained that the visual theatre being created in the US with deaf people in mind was conceptual, while that in South Africa was much more physical.
The short play consists of four vignettes – Boys’ Club, Storm in a Teacup, The Newcomer and Beauty of Invisible Things – which are all centred on the concept of capitalism; but that could change once they hit the US.
Director Murray says it stemmed from a 10-minute play he, Batzofin and De Kock worked on, inspired by one of the places The Little Prince visited in the Antoine de Saint-Exupéry story.
The crazy world where one person’s job is simply to count the stars reminded them of the mean-inglessness of day-to-day jobs.
Since this production has to travel and they couldn’t blow the budget on a production which will grow again soon, they decided to explore themes in an office and not go into another world.
For this week’s performances, though, they want people to engage with the production and give them feedback about what works and what doesn’t.
l OfficeBlock: … business as usual… is at the Intimate Theatre from tonight until Saturday. Tuesday’s tickets are two for the price of one, which is normally R30.
K returns to the stage with a second new work this year, before the production travels to America as part of the ArtsBridge International Exchange.
Director Rob Murray has been putting the FTH: K graduating trainees through their paces in rehearsal for OfficeBLOCK: … business as usual… the first instalment of a work which is being created in collaboration with Quest Visual Theatre in the US, as part of the two-year ArtsBridge International Exchange.
This exchange is a skills and cultural learning project between deaf and hearing communities in Cape Town and Washington, DC. It comprises workshops, discussion forums, sharing of performance techniques and the creation of a visual theatre piece and an education programme, which will be presented at the National Arts Festival in South Africa and QuestFest, a biennial international visual theatre festival in Washington.
Four performers (FTH: K leading performer Liezl de Kock and trainees Sinethemba Mgebisa, Marlon Snyders and Christopher Beukes) have been rehearsing at the Intimate Theatre in Cape Town.
There’s pretty much no budget for the set, which designer Jayne Batzofin says makes work interesting, since director Rob Murray does so love his visual cues.
“The lack of money is a blessing because it makes us consider exactly what is needed,” said Batzofin.
As well as being a theatremaker and educator with FTH: K, Batzofin plays an integral role in running the company-associated collective, Conspiracy of Clowns.
Earlier this year, she travelled to America as part of the first phase of ArtsBridge, staying on the Gallaudet University campus. She says the South African trainees will find it an eye-opener when they go to Washington next year to develop OfficeBLOCK: … business as usual…
“It’s like something we’ve never seen. Independent, strong, deaf role models who happen to study at a university,” said Batzofin.
“The exchange will give our students a very different mindset about deafness.”
She explained that the visual theatre being created in the US with deaf people in mind was conceptual, while that in South Africa was much more physical.
The short play consists of four vignettes – Boys’ Club, Storm in a Teacup, The Newcomer and Beauty of Invisible Things – which are all centred on the concept of capitalism; but that could change once they hit the US.
Director Murray says it stemmed from a 10-minute play he, Batzofin and De Kock worked on, inspired by one of the places The Little Prince visited in the Antoine de Saint-Exupéry story.
The crazy world where one person’s job is simply to count the stars reminded them of the mean-inglessness of day-to-day jobs.
Since this production has to travel and they couldn’t blow the budget on a production which will grow again soon, they decided to explore themes in an office and not go into another world.
For this week’s performances, though, they want people to engage with the production and give them feedback about what works and what doesn’t.
l OfficeBlock: … business as usual… is at the Intimate Theatre from tonight until Saturday. Tuesday’s tickets are two for the price of one, which is normally R30.