With FTH:K

IMBEW’EMBI

Directed by Rob Murray, shadow puppets by Janni Younge

The premise of Imbew’embi is a doomed love story between a young man and his sweetheart. The love story plays out against the backdrop of a civil war that is set in motion through the maliciousness and jealousy of the heroine’s assistant. This is the “imbew’embi”, the bad seed, whose poison spreads through and affects the entire community.

PICTURES OF YOU

Directed by Rob Murry, masks and puppet by Janni Younge

“Pictures of You” is a nostalgic tale of love, fear and darkness, conveyed with insensate masks and extremely ably maskers. The challenge of sustaining a work with no verbal dialogue, without the facility of labile facial expression and with a story that hinges on mystery and taboo is not an easy feat. The three collaborators who have created this stunningly impressive work really do deserve a full season on the boards. This is a play which attempts to slice open its own red herrings, chops to tail, and explore them with a freneticism that is mesmerising. (My View by Robyn Sassen)

QUACK!

Directed by Rob Murry, masks and puppet by Janni Younge

QUACK! is an Afro-gothic fantasy – a visual tale of clown noir and dodgy deeds. A man lies dying in hospital, lost in fever and seemingly unknown illness. Yes we canIn his delirium, he fantasises himself away into a parallel universe, where the roles are reversed and he is a figure of substantial power. Part quack doctor, part motivational speaker, part politician, and part alchemist, he travels the land spreading his sermon of pop psycho-babble and other homilies. With the aid of his long-suffering assistant, and the dour presence of a number of acolytes, he builds up hope and expectation within his audience, and then harvests that hope, extracting from it the very essence of people’s dreams.