The Centre for the Less Good Idea is an interdisciplinary incubator space for the arts based in Maboneng, Johannesburg

ON AIR: VISUAL RADIO PLAYS

From 4 to 6 April 2024, The Centre for the Less Good Idea hosted the first iteration of Collations, inviting a gathering of writers and performers in the realms of theatre to explore and expand upon the medium of the radio play by staging a series of Visual Radio Plays for a live audience.

PROGRAMME 1

The Dalmatian and the Duck

Set in a South African family home in leafy suburbia, The Dalmation & the Duck follows a dinner party gone hilariously wrong.

WRITER | Andrew Buckland
DRAMATURG | William Harding
PERFORMERS | Qondiswa James, Simphiwe Bonongo, Vanessa Cooke & Gerard Bester
MUSICIANS & FOLEY ARTISTS | Micca Manganye, Daniel Stompie Selibe & Mfundo Kekana

World-Class African Citizens

Following the 2023 fire at the 80 Albert Street building that claimed 77 lives, World-Class African Citizens tells the fictional story of a journalist visiting and interviewing a group of people who chose to remain in a burned building in Johannesburg.

WRITER | Matthew Wilhelm-Solomon
DIRECTOR | Phala Ookeditse Phala
PERFORMERS | Gerard Bester, Mfundo Kekana, Qondiswa James, Katlego Letsholonyana & Tshegofatso Mabutla
MUSICIANS & FOLEY ARTISTS | Micca Manganye, Daniel Stompie Selibe & Sello Pesa

A Tempest (for the sea under the city)

In Johannesburg, a group of municipal workers are swept into the sea beneath the city and must find their way back to the surface. The radio play reimagines William Shakespeare’s The Tempest in the setting of Maboneng, the Diamond District and the inner city of Johannesburg, where thunderstorms, lightening, but also the sometimes explosive breakdown of infrastructures in the city are the contemporary storm.

WRITER | Bettina Malcomess
PERFORMERS | William Harding, Daphne, Mfundo Kekana & Vanessa Cooke
MUSICIANS & FOLEY ARTISTS | Micca Manganye & Daniel Stompie Selibe

PROGRAMME 2

Chosi Instomi!

An experiment in how stories are transmitted, distorted and re/configured. Chosi Ntsomi! is divided into several chapters that examine various storytelling formats and media, including word-of-mouth, personal narrative, gossip, and contemporary media. It considers the various ways that stories are passed down between people, across time and space.

WRITER | Koleka Putuma
DIRECTOR | Balindile ka Ngcobo
PERFORMERS | Jaques de Silva, Tshegofatso Mabutla & Katlego Letsholonyane
MUSICIANS & FOLEY ARTISTS | Micca Manganye & Daniel Stompie Selibe

eMalahleni

eMalahleni examines the lives of those working in the artisanal mining sector as coal miners. The story is in relation to the Just Energy Transition and the way information and opportunities are disseminated (or not) by government and corporations.

WRITER & DIRECTOR | Qondiswa James
PERFORMERS | Tony Miyambo, Balindile ka Ngcobo, Simphiwe Bonongo, Katlego Letsholonyana & Tshegofatso Mabutla
MUSICIANS & FOLEY ARTISTS | Mfundo Kekana, Micca Manganye & Daniel Stompie Selibe

And Then the Sea

A departure from the original script, And Then the Sea is a one-hander that explores the translation of an experimental and surrealist text into a physical and sonic performance for the stage.

WRITER | William Harding
PERFORMER | Jaques de Silva

***

PRODUCTION FOR THE CENTRE

Special thanks:

John Culverwell, Anthony Fridjhon, Linda Leibowitz, Natalie Dembo, Damon Garstang, Anne McIlleron, Anne Blom, Taryn Buccellato, Jessica Jones, Chris-Waldo de Wet, Jacques van Staden, Joey Netshiombo, Diego Sillands, Thandi Nkabinde, Laurie Cearley, Rachel Chanoff & THE OFFICE performing arts + film