BAPA | Guest

BAPA
The soft, hazy presence of smoke characterises The Centre for the Less Good Idea’s Season 5 invited work, BAPA.

Under the guidance and direction of Season 5’s co-curator Phala O. Phala, and featuring the collective talents of various musicians and performers, BAPA is the original collaborative work of musical composer and producer Ntsika ‘Fana Mayiza’ Ngxanga, choreographer and producer Teresa Phuti Mojela, and writer and actor Billy Edward Langa.

Through the unique amalgamation of music, dance and theatrical performance, BAPA is as much a play as it is an hour-long existential enquiry into the meaning of existence. Although the work takes place on a single stage, these thematic explorations – dreaming, breathing, communicating, growing, travelling and more – take place across time and space.

In addition to its hefty narrative contents, BAPA is an extraordinary display of vocal and physical performance, as well as a lesson in how the two can build upon and inform one another. Short, sharp movements can be offset by long, languorous choral work to mystifying ends, while the restricted use of the body can be enriched and contextualised through a tight vocal sequence.

BAPA, through its multiple explorations of identity, ancestry, spirituality and more, is a welcome edition to Season 5’s 360 VR and 11-minute epic programmes, in which many of these themes are grappled with. Importantly, it also stands out as a brilliant and necessary bit of solo theatre.

WRITER | Dave Mann
VIDEO ENGINEER & EDITOR | Noah Cohen
STILLS PHOTOGRAPHER | Nina Lieska

Things Fall Together | Guest

“To poison a nation, poison its stories.” Ben Okri

Acclaimed Zimbabwean singer-songwriter Netsayi develops her new show at The Centre for the Less Good Idea with long-time musical ally Ray Mupfumira, Collen Tom and collaborators across a range of disciplines. Things Fall Together is an evocative meditation on the hidden nexus between colonisation, culture and climate change.

Emotive music and imagery weave a story of the interlaced fates of Zimbabwe and South Africa exploring chilling, relevant truths. Things Fall Together dares us yet to hope…

CONCEPTUALISED AND PRODUCED BY | Netsayi
MUSIC CO-PRODUCED BY | Humpfrey Domboka
CO-CONCEPTUALISED AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY | Ziyah Gafić
ASSISTANT PHOTOGRAPHER | Redžinald Šimek
VIDEO EDITING BY | Noah Cohen
PERFORMED BY | Netsayi | Ray Mupfumira | Collen Tom
ADDITIONAL COMPOSITION BY | João Renato Orecchia Zúñiga
ADDITIONAL PERFORMANCE BY | Tshepang Ramoba and Norman Masamba
DRAMATURGY | Lindiwe Matshikiza

PHOTOGRAPHER | Zivanai Matangi

Programme 4 | A RECAP OF 5 EPICS

PROGRAMME 4

History, physical and psychological struggles, and contemporary navigations of spirituality and identity set the tone for the fourth and final programme of The Centre for the Less Good Idea’s 5th Season. Programme 4 comprises five experimental epics performed back-to-back, and traverses the realms of music, physicality, text-based works and more through harnessing the structure of a theatrical epic and condensing it to 11 minutes.

WRITER | Dave Mann

ESCAPE
Conceptualised & Performed by | Mdu Nhlapo
Sound Design by | Wilf Mahne
Music by | The Mass by ERA and The Protagonist by Dead Can Dance

CWAKA
Conceptualised & Performed by | Siyabonga Mthembu, Jefferson Tshabalala & Tony Miyambo
Directed by | Phala O. Phala

THE BLACK CLOWN
Conceptualised & Performed by | Khutjo Green
Directed by | Phala O. Phala
Additional Assistance by | Thenjiwe Soxokoshe

“AND IN IT GOES TO LOSE ITS SENSE AND FIND ITS SOUL”
Conceptualised & Performed by | Thandazile Sonia Radebe
Additional Collaboration by | Shanell Winlock-Pailman & Tony Miyambo
Text by | Jefferson Tshabalala
Costumes by | Shruthi Nair
Performed by | Julia Zenzie Burnham, Zandi Hlatshwayo, Faith Tshabalala, Themba Dredz Mbuli, Phumlani Mndebele, Gregory Mabusela & Simphiwe Bonongo

COMMISSION CONTINUA
Conceptualised by | Tony Miyambo & Phala O. Phala
Dramaturgy by | Dominique Khayelihle Gumede
Performed by | Tony Miyambo

STAGING and STAGE MANAGERS
Emil Lars
Zanele Mthombeni
Toni Morkel
The Market Lab students
Wits Performing Arts Management Students
Fountain of Design and Electrical Solutions

FRONT OF HOUSE PRODUCTION & CREW
Hayleigh Evans & Toni Morkel
POPArt Productions

LIGHTING & LIGHTING OPERATORS
Emil Lars
Matthews Phala
Themba Mthimkulu
Gearhouse Splitbeam (Pty) Ltd

SOUND ENGINEERS
Gavan Eckhart
Kyle Leist
Sizankosi Mahlasela
SoulFire Studio (Pty) Ltd

VIDEO ENGINEER & EDITOR
Noah Cohen

PHOTOGRAPHERS
Zivanai Matangi
Thusi Vukani
Stella Olivier
Nina Lieska

Commission Continua

Commission Continua

Paper becomes a shrewd and incisive metaphor in the 11-minute epic Commission Continua.

Conceptualised by Tony Miyambo and Phala O. Phala and performed by Miyambo, the play traces the history of some of South Africa’s commissions of enquiry –The Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the Marikana Commission of Inquiry being two of the most infamous ones.

Miyambo plays the part of a dowdy, ineffectual office worker who, like SA’s own veneration of the historical archive, is somewhat obsessed with paper and what it represents.

“180million tons of paper used per year, R200million spent per commission. Yes, our inquiries are so important that we have to commission them. We record them and then we print them for our mental landfills and then we repeat the chorus of our traumas,” he says in a seemingly throw-away line early on.

If Commission Continua is slow to start it’s only because what Miyambo’s character builds up to is some of the most overwhelming and heart-breaking theatre across the Season.

Live looped audio mirrors the monotony of government inquiry – an endless and impersonal cycle of clearing throats and ‘yes chair, no chair’ answers – while Miyambo’s own performance, his embodiment of the extraordinary pain of seemingly ordinary people, cuts right through the bureaucracy of it all, rendering tangible the enduring traumas of the past and present.

“Where is the voice of the victim?” he asks, amidst a series of voices endlessly sounding out and crashing down all around us. “Ceasfire!” he screams, in an all-too-familiar register of fear and panic. Finally, as a photocopier drones on in the dark – capturing, documenting, archiving – we are left to wonder: How much more paper will we have to sift through?

COMMISSION CONTINUA

CONCEPTUALISED BY | Tony Miyambo | Phala O. Phala
DRAMATURGY BY | Dominique Khayelihle Gumede
PERFORMED BY | Tony Miyambo

WRITER | Dave Mann
VIDEO ENGINEER & EDITOR | Noah Cohen
STILLS PHOTOGRAPHER | Nina Lieska

And in it goes to lose its sense and find its soul | P4

And in it goes to lose its sense and find its soul

Madness, beauty, and the moments in between are put forward in a brilliant display of physical theatre.

Titled And in it goes to lose its sense and find its soul, the Sonia Radebe-conceptualised and directed performance features a powerful cast comprising Julia Zenzie Burnham, Zandi Hlatshwayo, Faith Tshabalala, Themba Dredz Mbuli, Phumlani Mndebele, Gregory Mabusela, and Simphiwe Bonongo.

Bonongo’s heady use of vocals (a great example of the reaches of beatboxing on the theatre stage) open up the show which is otherwise taking place in darkness and in stillness. Torch beams cut through the dark, swinging around the room and occasionally catching the limbs and faces of performers making their way around the stage.

There is a frenetic energy here – a yearning, a madness, a vital search for something outside of our daily navigations through life.

At times, the performance verges on the overwhelming, although not without wonder. Madness and beauty are the twin poles we oscillate between while watching these figures. Throughout it all, a refined synchronicity between vocal and physical performers gives us something to hold onto – a supreme serenity amidst the confusion and the chaos.

WRITER | Dave Mann
VIDEO ENGINEER & EDITOR | Noah Cohen
STILLS PHOTOGRAPHER | Nina Lieska

The Black Clown | P4

Black Clown

Black Clown, conceptualised by Khutjo Green and performed by herself and Thenjiwe Soxokoshe, is an 11-minute epic that challenges our ways of seeing.

Fog horns sound out as the lights go up to reveal a shrouded figure, centre stage – a way of indicating, before we’ve even begun to take in the work, that this figure has been transported here from someplace else. It’s a powerful and uncomfortable opening scene, reminiscent of Saartjie Baartman’s own tragic tale.

Soxokoshe plays the part of the ringmaster or the handler, kitted out in a measuring-tape bow-tie as she adjusts The Clown’s posture and shows her off to the audience, always with long, flourishing movements and a cold, fixed smile.

The politics of the body, of gender, race, and more are all embodied in Black Clown.

Sometimes, they are placed upfront – the balloon constantly inflating in front of The Clown’s face, keeping her from speaking – and other times they are displayed through the uncertain movements of her limbs, the flash of white in her exaggerated eyes, or the multiple lurking shadows that seem to emerge from a sing figure under a spotlight and an ever-present gaze.

CONCEPTUALISED AND PERFORMED BY | Khutjo Green
DIRECTED BY | Phala O. Phala
ADDITIONAL ASSISTANCE BY | Thenjiwe Soxokoshe

WRITER | Dave Mann
VIDEO ENGINEER & EDITOR | Noah Cohen
STILLS PHOTOGRAPHER | Nina Lieska

Cwaka | P4

Cwaka

Contemporary issues of identity, class, and heritage are explored with comedic grace in the 11-minute epic Cwaka.

Conceptualised and performed by Siyabonga Mthembu, Jefferson Tshabalala, and Tony Miyambo, Cwaka takes a look at the idea of belonging in the age of Soundcloud rap and Siri. Equipped with a MacBook air and keyboard sampler, Miyambo and Mthembu’s characters present us with “the first ever listening session slash cleansing slash umcimbi in Mzansi” – cue trap sirens.

Tshabalala plays the part of the cousin “from the village” and while he dons his overalls and speaks only in vernacular, the other two sip champagne, puff on vapes, and lay uninspired, Americanised lyrics over “traditional gqom”. It is a hilarious and sharply written show, all tied together by the discerning directorial skills of Phala O. Phala.

Like all good epics, Cwaka draws towards a memorable climactic point when, after a few failed attempts to slaughter a live sheep (“We’ve got a special guest, his name’s Richard aka Richie Wi-Fi”), Miyambo’s character breaks down. Although the scene is brief, it manages to touch on issues of ancestry, culture, and contemporary identity – a quick shot of reality amidst the laughter.

Ultimately, Cwaka puts forward the question of how we go about navigating our spiritualty in the world of hyper-connectivity. It’s a mammoth inquiry that the cast manage to wrap up and present in a simple line: “Hey Siri,” says Miyambo’s character into his iPhone, “Where do I belong?”

CONCEPTUALISED AND PERFORMED BY | Siyabonga Mthembu | Jefferson Tshabalala | Tony Miyambo
DIRECTED BY | Phala O. Phala

WRITER | Dave Mann
VIDEO ENGINEER & EDITOR | Noah Cohen
STILLS PHOTOGRAPHER | Nina Lieska

Escape | P4

Escape

A theatrical warscape opens Programme 4 of The Centre for the Less Good Idea’s 5th Season.

Conceptualised and performed by Mdu Nhlapo, Escape is a play about oppression, struggle, and sacrifice. Nhlapo, who switches between the roles of dictator and freedom fighter with ease, showcases both his tremendous physical ability as well as his penchant for character-based performance across these 11 minutes.

Escape is a harrowing bit of theatre. It is full of chaos, fury, and loss. The sound of gunfire, explosives and helicopter blades make a battlefield out of a stage and Nhlapo’s traverses it with a charged and dynamic choreography.

Here and there, tender, sobering scenes remind us of the cost of war – physical, psychological or otherwise. Like the sobering moment when the freedom fighter gently and methodically scoops up the ‘bodies’ of his contemporaries and lays them down on the ground, away from the chaos.

Once the dust has settled and the gunfire has ceased we are left only with Nhlapo, arm outstretched and hands wrapped around his weapon as if to say: The struggle continues, for better or worse.

CONCEPTUALISED AND PERFORMED BY | Mdu Nhlapo
SOUND DESIGN BY | Wilf Mahne
MUSIC | The Mass by ERA and TheProtagonist by Dead Can Dance

WRITER | Dave Mann
VIDEO ENGINEER & EDITOR | Noah Cohen
STILLS PHOTOGRAPHER | Nina Lieska

Programme 3 | A Recap of 5 EPICS

PROGRAMME 3

The weight of knowledge, the possibilities of a single note, and the distant reaches of history are all explored in Programme 3 of The Centre for the Less Good Idea’s 5th Season. Bookended by two pieces dealing with the mercurial nature of water and longing, Programme 3 comprises five experimental epics performed back-to-back, and traverses the realms of music, physicality, text-based works and more through harnessing the structure of a theatrical epic and condensing it to 11 minutes.

WRITER | Dave Mann

MINUTE A THOUGHT
Conceptualised by | Themba Dredz Mbuli
Directed by | Themba Mkhoma
Costumes by | Shruthi Nair
Performed by | Themba Dredz Mbuli & Princess Tshabangu

INSTRUCTIONS FOR PLAYING A SINGLE NOTE
Conceptualised & Directed by | João Renato Orecchia Zúñiga
Performed by | Bongile Lecoge-Zulu (flute), Princess Tshabangu (voice), Simphiwe Beatz Bonongo (voice), Netsayi (voice) & Waldo Alexander (violin)

NONQAWUSE
Conceptualised & Directed by | Calvin Ratladi
Dramaturgy by | Phala O. Phala
Performed by | Chuma Sopotela
Costumes & Props | Bronwyn Lace and Shruthi Nair

STAGING and STAGE MANAGERS
Emil Lars
Zanele Mthombeni
Toni Morkel
The Market Lab students
Wits Performing Arts Management Students
Fountain of Design and Electrical Solutions

FRONT OF HOUSE PRODUCTION & CREW
Hayleigh Evans & Toni Morkel
POPArt Productions

LIGHTING & LIGHTING OPERATORS
Emil Lars
Matthews Phala
Themba Mthimkulu
Gearhouse Splitbeam (Pty) Ltd

SOUND ENGINEERS
Gavan Eckhart
Kyle Leist
Sizankosi Mahlasela
SoulFire Studio (Pty) Ltd

VIDEO ENGINEER & EDITOR
Noah Cohen

PHOTOGRAPHERS
Zivanai Matangi
Thusi Vukani
Stella Olivier
Nina Lieska

Plunge Avatar | P3

Plunge Avatar

Plunge Avatar, written and directed by Sylvaine Strike, is a beautiful and devastating bit of theatre.

Performed by Calvin Ratladi and Phumlani Mndebele and choreographed by David April, the performance sees two characters drenched in a deep blue light swimming, floating, flying, falling, dreaming, and sinking. Ratladi assumes the role of the yearning diver and the perpetual dreamer, while Mndebele is the avatar – the persona, the imagined body, the incarnation of desire.

A measured and surreal choreographic sequence opens the performance, a slow wading into the dreamscape. There is a softness here and a perpetual sense of movement, right down to the slow shimmering of their costumes, even in stillness.

Later, we hear Ratladi’s monologue. “I imagine the open air, its flying fish, the sun piercing through the blue,” he says as we watch Mndebele’s mercurial movements under a single spotlight. Though his feet remain firmly planted on the stage throughout, Mndebele manages to leap, dive, descend, and float. It is a sequence that is at once beautiful and catastrophic, airless and overwhelming. It is enormous and full of hope.

And how to emerge from an underwater epic such as this? As Ratladi and Mndebele do: Dreamer and avatar moving together, slowly and deliberately, towards the surface.

WRITER | Dave Mann
VIDEO ENGINEER & EDITOR | Noah Cohen
STILLS PHOTOGRAPHER | Nina Lieska

Nongqawuse | P3

Nongqawuse

How do we begin to excavate and uncover the fragments of a story cemented in history? And how do we understand a figure whose story has largely been reduced to a singular narrative?

Conceptualised and directed by Calvin Ratladi and performed by Chuma Sopotela, Nongqawuse is an 11-minute epic focussed on the amaXhosa prophetess whose prophesies supposedly resulted in the Xhosa cattle-killing movement and famine of 1856-7. This is how Nongqawuse is most-often remembered, and there is supposedly little else about her that is recorded in oral or written accounts of her life.

Theatre, however, is a space for furthering stories. Through the work of Ratladi and Sopotela we are offered a glimpse into the life of this misunderstood figure. Sopotela’s performance is substantial yet restrained to small pockets of space on stage – a shrewd performative metaphor for a story not fully-told. Under Ratladi’s direction, Nongqawuse carries a hallucinatory quality to it as if, restricted by location and the cavernous reaches of time, we have had to meet with her through a dream.

Adding to this, a minimal set allows for the smaller details – costume, light design and a projected artwork made up of animal bones by visual artist Bronwyn Lace – to shine through all the more powerfully.

WRITER | Dave Mann
VIDEO ENGINEER & EDITOR | Noah Cohen
STILLS PHOTOGRAPHER | Nina Lieska

Minute a Thought | P3

Minute a Thought

Knowledge, tension, time and more are unpacked in the 11-minute epic Minute a Thought.

Conceptualised by Themba Dredz Mbuli and performed by himself and Princess Tshabangu, Minute a Thought is a dense and intriguing physical work. Tshabangu, dressed in a suit jacket, is tossing books into the alert hands of Mbuli, dressed in a custom harness of dangling books, and jumping from text to text across the stage. All the while, a clock is ticking away and a chiming bell marks the passing of each minute.

Through the deft performances of both Mbuli and Tshabangu we are made to understand the pressures of time, the precarity of learning, and the heavy burden of knowledge and heritage. Direction of the play by Themba Mkhoma sees all of these themes and more playing out brilliantly, each thought transitioning seamlessly into the next.

Throughout it all, there is a subtle sense of helplessness – a tired and collective exhalation that seems to put forward the question: But what will we do with all of this knowledge? Sometimes, posits Minute a Thought, the more we know, the heavier we become.

CONCEPTUALISED BY | Themba Dredz Mbuli
DIRECTED BY | Themba Mkhoma
PERFORMED BY | Themba Dredz Mbuli | Princess Tshabangu

WRITER | Dave Mann
VIDEO ENGINEER & EDITOR | Noah Cohen
STILLS PHOTOGRAPHER | Nina Lieska

Instructions for playing a single note | P3

Instructions for playing a single note

The possibilities of a single note – whether sung, strummed, plucked, or played – are endless under the conductorial skills of João Renato Orecchia Zúñiga.

Conceptualised and directed by Orecchia and performed by a well-rounded team of musicians and performers, Instructions for playing a single note is a performance that provides audiences with exactly what its name implies. Orecchia, seated just before the stage, is conducting by way of three sign bearers. Each sign contains an instruction directed at a section of the performers – ‘Mezzo Forte’, ‘Pianissimo’, and ‘Fortissimo’ are some of the more traditional instructions given while ‘First 9 items on shopping list’, ‘arms up’, and a sign showing only the ‘<’ symbol lend a wonderful element of playfulness and experimentation to the performance.

Instructions for playing a single note is a humorous work that still manages to stick to the structures of an epic, but it is also a deeply fascinating performance that allows audiences the chance to look beyond the classical structure of a musical performance and into its individual moving parts. It is both a tribute to the length and the possibility of a single note and a shrewd experiment on the attraction and mystification of symbols and instructions.

Possibly, it is a performance that can shift your ways of viewing, hearing, and engaging with a musical performance from here on out.

WRITER | Dave Mann
VIDEO ENGINEER & EDITOR | Noah Cohen
STILLS PHOTOGRAPHER | Nina Lieska

Thirst | P3

Thirst

11 minutes of pure movement kick off Season 5 of the Centre for the Less Good Idea’s 3rd programme.

Directed by David April and performed by Phumlani Mndebele, Thirst is an 11-minute epic explored through the reaches of physicality and the capability of the human form. Mndebele, dressed only in a pair of dancer’s trunks, allows his body to flow, curl, jolt and unfurl across the stage. At times he moves as if in a stop-motion animation sequence. Other times he is as fluid and unbound as the liquid element he is personifying through his performance.

Music is key to Thirst. A section of Zakir Hussain’s ‘The Elements: Space’ is the soundtrack to Mndebele’s performance and, comprising a series of sparse but deeply rhythmic percussive sections, it both informs and offsets Mndebele’s performance throughout.

If Season 5’s programmes of 11-minute performances are an exploration of epics in the short form, then consider Thirst to be a shining example of an epic that is picked apart and recreated almost exclusively through the human body.

WRITER | Dave Mann
VIDEO ENGINEER & EDITOR | Noah Cohen
STILLS PHOTOGRAPHER | Nina Lieska

Programme 2 | A recap of 5 EPICS

PROGRAMME 2

Programme 2 of The Centre for the Less Good Idea’s 5th Season unpacks, amongst other things, the nature of performance, the language of loss, and the relationship between audience member and performer. Comprising five experimental epics performed back-to-back, Programme 2 traverses the realms of music, physicality, text-based works and more through harnessing the structure of a theatrical epic and condensing it to 11 minutes.

WRITER | Dave Mann

THABANG
Written by | Katleho "Katt" Sekhosana
Dramaturgy by | Themba Mkhoma
Performed by | Katleho Sekhosana & Princess Tshabangu
Music by | Hamba by Katleho Sekhosana & Simphiwe Ntshingila

TO SIT…TO HOLD…O ITIBETSE:- ALLOW, TABA DI MATLHONG…GO THATA BANNA; THE MOMENT. VUMA – NOTHINGNESS… WHEN ALL ELSE FAILS…Devised by | Faith Tshabalala, Bongile Lecoge-Zulu, Phillip Dikotla & Themba Dredz Mbuli
Costumes by | Shruthi Nair
Music by | Nkalakatha by Mandoza

SEE YOU! David April in conversation with Sylvaine Strike
Directed by | Sylvaine Strike
Conceptualised by | David April
Movement and Vocal Coaching by | Shanell Winlock & Bongile Lecoge-Zulu
Performed by | David April & Gregory Keke Mabusela
Costumes by | Shruthi Nair
Music by | L’elisir d’amore, ACT II: Una Furtiva Lagrima (Remastered) by Luciano Pavarotti
Additional Music Composition by | Gregory Keke Mabusela

CRASH LAMENT
Devised & Performed by | Shanell
Winlock-Pailman & Omogolo Onkaetse
Movement & Vocal Coaching by | Nhlanhla Mahlangu

STAGING and STAGE MANAGERS
Emil Lars
Zanele Mthombeni
Toni Morkel
The Market Lab students
Wits Performing Arts Management Students
Fountain of Design and Electrical Solutions

FRONT OF HOUSE PRODUCTION & CREW
Hayleigh Evans & Toni Morkel
POPArt Productions

LIGHTING & LIGHTING OPERATORS
Emil Lars
Matthews Phala
Themba Mthimkulu
Gearhouse Splitbeam (Pty) Ltd

SOUND ENGINEERS
Gavan Eckhart
Kyle Leist
Sizankosi Mahlasela
SoulFire Studio (Pty) Ltd

VIDEO ENGINEER & EDITOR
Noah Cohen

PHOTOGRAPHERS
Zivanai Matangi
Thusi Vukani
Stella Olivier
Nina Lieska

Crash Lament | P2

Crash Lament

What are the many ways of grieving in the world? How many different languages do we have for interpreting loss?

Crash Lament, devised and performed by Shanell Winlock-Pailman and Omogolo Onkaetse is an intimate, painful depiction of the many ways that things may fall apart, and the separate ways in which we try and piece it all back together.

Movement and vocal coaching by Nhlanhla Mahlangu ensures a compelling tension is present from the onset, hooking audiences from the moment the lights go up. The choreography from both performers is tight and narrative-based, each back and forth between them a well-executed metaphor. Winlock-Pailman and Onkaetse grapple with anger, panic, and fear so well, that you feel those same emotions stirring in your own chest, or softly burning behind your eyes.

Ultimately, Crash Lament is a performance that highlights the disparate journeys we embark on in life. It demonstrates the various ways in which we can move through the world, falling and failing as we do, and better understanding one another as a result.

DEVISED AND PERFORMED BY | Shanell Winlock-Pailman | Omogolo Onkaetse
MOVEMENT AND VOCAL COACHING BY | Nhlanhla Mahlangu

WRITER | Dave Mann
VIDEO ENGINEER & EDITOR | Noah Cohen
STILLS PHOTOGRAPHER | Nina Lieska

I see you! | P2

I see you!

I see you!, directed by Sylvaine Strike, conceptualised by David April, and performed by April and Gregory Keke Mabusela, is an exercise in light-heartedness.

Billed as a show that would see ‘David April in conversation with Sylvaine Strike’, many would have been pleasantly surprised to discover that, while there is a conversation of sorts taking place on stage, it’s not a very conventional one and it’s certainly not a conversation that includes the audience.

I see you! takes the form of a short tech-run that pays no mind to the audience watching on. As you try and watch or attempt to unpack the performance, numerous interruptions get in your way. Strike is calling for a different kind of lighting while movement and vocal coaches Shanell Winlock-Pailman and Bongile Lecoge-Zulu are calling out all sorts of instructions to their actors. Maybe it’s the feeling that you’re spying on a private process, or perhaps it’s the frankly absurd sight of David April being bossed about by a movement coach as him and Mabusela maintain deathly-serious eye-contact, but there’s a moment in I see you! where a fever-pitch establishes itself, making everything seem just a little bit absurd.

Theatre has the capacity to showcase the raw and necessary power of storytelling in society, and it also has the power to demonstrate the necessity for play, experimentation, and free-spirited collaboration in the world. Every now and then a play like I see you! comes along and manages to demonstrate all of those things at once.

WRITER | Dave Mann
VIDEO ENGINEER & EDITOR | Noah Cohen
STILLS PHOTOGRAPHER | Nina Lieska

New GallerTO SIT… TO HOLD… O ITIBETSE:- ALLOW, TABA DI MATLHONG… GO THATA BANNA... | P2

TO SIT… TO HOLD… O ITIBETSE:- ALLOW, TABA DI MATLHONG… GO THATA BANNA; THE MOMENT. VUMA – NOTHINGNESS… WHEN ALL ELSE FAILS…

Few people can resist the almost inherent urge to start moving when a good bit of music comes on. How strange it is, then – following the instantly recognisable notes of Mandoza’s ‘Nkalakatha’ –to be confronted with a cast of performers who refuse to move at all.

Devised and performed by Faith Tshabalala, Bongile Lecoge-Zulu, Phillip Dikotla, and Themba Dredz Mbuli, to sit… to hold… o itibetse:- allow, taba di matlhong… go thata banna; the moment. Vuma – nothingness… when all else fails… (an energetic title indicative of the stop-start nature of the performance itself) is a brilliant example of the ‘anti-epic.’

As the performers take to the stage, one at a time, before doing absolutely nothing at all, it's interesting to witness how the focus can shift towards those watching the show. A few coughs here and there, some self-conscious giggles, but not a single call for action from any one of us seated in the audience. Despite the non-performance we continue to sit in silence, only watching and waiting.

The performance is both a humorous take on the structure of the theatrical epic and a shrewd comment on audience-performer relationships. Here we have comedians, musicians, dancers, and actors – masters of their crafts who are refusing to do what we are expecting them to do.Still, even the absence of performance is performance, and the cast of this particular show had the audience on the edge of its seats at the simple raising of an eyebrow, or the clearing of a throat.

Finally, there is something to be said about the use of the song itself – that infamous Mandoza track that became synonymous with South Africa’s rainbow nation euphoria. Because what do we do, exactly, when the post-apartheid after-party finally comes to an end and we all stop dancing?

WRITER | Dave Mann
VIDEO ENGINEER & EDITOR | Noah Cohen
STILLS PHOTOGRAPHER | Nina Lieska

11 Minutes before assassination | P2

11 Minutes before assassination

“In every fight,” begins Mdu Nhlapo as he and Lulu Mlangeni don their military uniforms, “the one who is most willing to die is the one who is going to win.” It’s a hopeless, gritty ideology and it’s the perfect start to 11 minutes before assassination.

Devised and performed by Nhlapo and Mlangeni, 11 minutes before assassination details the suspenseful, complicated moments building up to the imminent assassination of the Aristocrat. Making use of militarised choreography – dramatic barrel rolls, hair-trigger twists and turns, and the kind of tight, refined synchronicity you’d need down in the trenches – Mlangeni and Nhlapo make use of every bit of the stage in a frantic, fervent performance.

As they move, a clock can be heard tick-tocking away in the background. This is to lend a sense of time – a countdown to an inevitable end – and to add a degree of tension to audience and performers alike. ‘What will happen when that clock stops ticking?’ we ask, despite already knowing the ending of the story.

In addition to their razor-sharp choreography, the two performers also have an undeniable sense of play throughout the piece – like two children crafting imaginary warscapes in the back garden – which, considering the contents of the work, can be a strange thing to witness. Although the strangest thing about 11 minutes before assassination has to be the fact that, throughout the cacophony of gunfire, screams, and explosions, it’s almost impossible to look away.

WRITER | Dave Mann
VIDEO ENGINEER & EDITOR | Noah Cohen
STILLS PHOTOGRAPHER | Nina Lieska

Thabang | P2

Thabang

A cold, blue light washes over the stage, illuminating a lone figure and setting the tone for Programme 2’s opening performance.

Written by Katleho "Katt" Sekhosana and performed by Princess Tshabangu and Sekhosana, Thabang is a solid and emotive work. Sekhosana moves about the stage through long, languorous and somewhat restrained movements, offset by Tshabangu’s vocals which, manipulated ever so slightly with a reverb effect, oscillate between low grunts and shrill cries. The effect of these two on stage is disquieting before it is enthralling. When Sekhosana eventually speaks, it is like being broken out of a trance.

What follows is an internal monologue made public. Heritage, lineage, loneliness and longing are the palpable thoughts and emotions filling up the stage now, all communicated by Sekhosana’s distressed use of the body and voice, and Tshabangu’s quiet, but steadfast presence throughout – both as a conflicting voice and an accompanying thought.

Throughout it all, the presence of blue – sometimes desperate, other times feverish or flirting with the ethereal – is a vast emotional canvas in the capable hands of Tshabangu and Sekhosana.

WRITER | Dave Mann
VIDEO ENGINEER & EDITOR | Noah Cohen
STILLS PHOTOGRAPHER | Nina Lieska

PROGRAMME 1 | A RECAP OF 5 EPICS

PROGRAMME 1

Tension, synchronicity, chaos, prophecy, and more take centre stage for Programme 1 of The Centre for the Less Good Idea’s 5th Season. Comprising five experimental epics performed back-to-back, Programme 1 traversed the realms of music, physicality, text-based works and more through harnessing the structure of a theatrical epic and condensing it to 11 minutes.

WRITER | Dave Mann

CARRIAGE OF MOTHER
Directed by | Phala O. Phala
Movement Direction by | Sylvaine Strike
Performed by | Khutjo Green & Sue Pam-Grant

IMPOSTOR SYNDROME
Devised by | Phillip Dikotla & Joe Young
Written and Performed by | Phillip Dikotla
Puppet Design by | Joe Young

KING-DOM CROSSROADS
Devised by | Julia Zenzie Burnham & Themba Dredz Mbuli
Performed by | Julia Zenzie Burnham, Themba Dredz Mbuli, Khutjo Green, Calvin Ratladi, Bongile Lecoge-Zulu & Simphiwe Bonongo
Music by | Bongile Lecoge-Zulu & Simphiwe Bonongo

GODOT-LOGUE IN GAUTENG
Directed by | Phala O. Phala
Performed by | Bongile Lecoge-Zulu & Calvin Ratladi

SYBIL
Created & Directed by | William Kentridge
Composed & Choreographed by | Nhlanhla Mahlangu
Performed by | Teresa Phuti Mojela
Choral Work by | Xolisile Bongwana, Ayanda Nhlangothi, Zandile Hlatshwayo, Sibusiso Shozi & Siphiwe Nkabinde
Video Editing & Projection by | Žana Marović

STAGING and STAGE MANAGERS
Emil Lars
Zanele Mthombeni
Toni Morkel
The Market Lab students
Wits Performing Arts Management Students
Fountain of Design and Electrical Solutions

FRONT OF HOUSE PRODUCTION & CREW
Hayleigh Evans & Toni Morkel
POPArt Productions

LIGHTING & LIGHTING OPERATORS
Emil Lars
Matthews Phala
Themba Mthimkulu
Gearhouse Splitbeam (Pty) Ltd

SOUND ENGINEERS
Gavan Eckhart
Kyle Leist
Sizankosi Mahlasela
SoulFire Studio (Pty) Ltd

VIDEO ENGINEERS & EDITORS
Noah Cohen

PHOTOGRAPHERS
Zivanai Matangi
Thusi Vukani
Stella Olivier
Nina Lieska

Carriage of Mother | P1

Carriage of Mother

A chaotic, feverish rendering of a classic text, Carriage of Mother kicks off Programme 1 of the 11-minute epic series, brilliantly.

Performed by Sue Pam-Grant and Khutjo Green, Carriage of Mother takes place in the trenches of the contemporary world, placing woman at the heart of war. Gender, class, identity, and interdependence are the key themes that are unpacked, touched upon, and swiftly swept aside in these frantic 11 minutes.

Throughout it all, Pam-Grant and Green are taking turns on a low and nearly non-existent pedestal to air their grievances. “I’ve got a complaint!” they bat back and forth. Around them, in neat piles, are items of clothing which they proceed to dress themselves in over the course of the performance. The clothing grows heavy on their bodies and heaviness, of course, is an enduring metaphor – the weight of the complaint, the weight of womanhood.

But Carriage of Mother, despite its thematic heft, is not without humour. Green and Pam-Grant have a brilliant rapport and manage to oscillate between mirth and somberness with ease. Ultimately, Carriage of Mother is an 11-minute lesson in getting by. Death, humility, sincerity, contentment – none of these things matter. How can they, when the struggles of the past and the present continue to drop like bombs all around us?

WRITER | Dave Mann
VIDEO ENGINEER & EDITOR | Noah Cohen
STILLS PHOTOGRAPHER | Nina Lieska

Godot-logue in Gauteng | P1

Godot-logue in Gauteng

An off-key offering of the South African national anthem by way of the audience is a fitting start to Calvin Ratladi and Bongile Lecoge-Zulu’s Godot-logue in Gauteng.

The piece, a reworking of the well-known nonsensical monologue delivered by Waiting for Godot’s Lucky, sees both characters kitted out in military uniforms, Ratladi as the knife-wielding conductor and Lecoge-Zulu as the performing soldier. The text, being the anchor of the show, is littered with Gauteng-isms – Mandoza, Maropeng, Agrizzi, Nkandla, and fast, same-day abortions all make an appearance.

Ratladi’s conducting skills are at once chilling and humorous. The flick of a blade or the aggressive nod of the head sees Lecoge-Zulu dancing between timid recital and booming monologue, at times culminating in a shrill falsetto on a knife’s edge. Direction of the piece by Phala O. Phala does not go unnoticed. The performance is short, sharp, and powerful – a rich and profound narrative performance packed into 11 minutes.

Attempting to make immediate sense of a work like Godot-logue in Gauteng is futile. Watching the piece is something like taking a whirlwind trip through Gauteng, or standing in the centre of the city as the noise, the people, the endless stretches of concrete and metal race past you: You are only along for the ride.

There are people who step into the theatre to gain a bit of respite from the outside world. There is also the kind of theatre, such as Good-logue in Gauteng – that reminds us of what it means to be a part of that world in the first place – as chaotic, hilarious, tragic, and full of hope as it is.

WRITER | Dave Mann
VIDEO ENGINEER & EDITOR | Noah Cohen
STILLS PHOTOGRAPHER | Nina Lieska

Imposter Syndrome | P1

Imposter Syndrome

What becomes of a person when they’re completely consumed by self-doubt? At what point does humility become shame, and disenchantment turn to depression? Don’t worry, it’s not as bleak as it sounds.

Imposter Syndrome is a smart and experimental 11-minute tragicomedy performed by Philip Dikotla and devised by Dikotla and Joe Young. Merging the responsive and improvisational beats of stand-up comedy with the rigour and narrative-driven execution of theatre, Dikotla dons a horse’s head and becomes a washed up and disillusioned Hollywood actor à la Bojack Horseman.

While Dikotla’s dry, awkward brand of humour shines through brilliantly in the piece – “You don’t recognise me? I played a zebra in The Lion King! I was there when Mufasa died” – he also manages to build up and carry a subtle, but devastating edge of tension throughout.

Lines such as “But who cares?” and “Nobody sees me” are littered here and there, grumbled at first, but spoken with more desperation later. Beyond his comedic cadence and despite the presence of a large, paper mache horse’s head resting on his shoulders, Dikotla’s shrewd and economical use of body language also lends a tremendous amount to the mood and tone of the piece.

Ultimately, Imposter Syndrome is a 21st century fairy-tale (or horror story) for the aspirational artist. Through the work of Dikotla, it also serves as an excellent example of the kind of storytelling we can look forward to as we continue to explore the merging of stand-up comedy and traditional theatre.

DEVISED BY | Phillip Dikotla | Joe Young
WRITTEN AND PERFORMED BY | Phillip Dikotla
PUPPET DESIGN BY | Joe Young

WRITER | Dave Mann
VIDEO ENGINEER & EDITOR | Noah Cohen
STILLS PHOTOGRAPHER | Nina Lieska

King-dom Crossroads | P1

King-dom Crossroads

Tensions, both physical and psychological, take centre stage in the 11-minute epic King-dom Crossroads.

Devised and performed by Themba ‘Dredz’ Mbuli and Julia Zenzie Burnham, with music by Bongile Lecoge-Zulu and Simphiwe Bonongo, the piece traces the narrative of two incongruent characters. Burnham, a young and indecisive bride, is mostly left at home alone with her thoughts while Mbuli, an overworked and ill-tempered husband, labours away.

It is within this antiquated marital structure that things begin to fall apart, and it is through this collapse that King-dom Crossroads shines. Both Mbuli and Burnham showcase their penchant for astute, evocative physicality through their telling of these disparate journeys. Loneliness, confusion, violence, and the slow burning of a body and mind held hostage through societal binaries are made all the more significant through their performances.

Lecoge-Zulu (on flute) and Bonongo (on vocals) are present throughout, without taking away from the physicality of the piece. Their use of improvised sound lends an undeniable structure and tangibility to the overall piece further illustrating, as with almost all of the works in Season 5, the crucial role that music plays in the creation and execution of the epic.

WRITER | Dave Mann
VIDEO ENGINEER & EDITOR | Noah Cohen
STILLS PHOTOGRAPHER | Nina Lieska

Sybil | P1

Sybil

Concluding Season 5’s 1st programme of 11-minute epics is William Kentridge’s Sybil, a rich and poignant collection of sound, imagery, language, and physicality.

There is the tale of The Cumaean Sibyl, a priestess or prophetess who prophesied by ‘singing the fates’ and writing on oak leaves which would become scattered and rearranged by the wind. In Sybil, created by Kentridge, composed and choreographed by Nhlanhla Mahlangu, and performed by Teresa Phuti Mojela, the audience bears witness to these jumbled prophecies.

Mojela performs before a series of projections showing revolving sculptures and figures rendered in charcoal, as well as short, affecting lines of text. Throughout the performance, a small choir comprised of Xolisile Bongwana, Ayanda Nhlangothi, Zandile Hlatshwayo, Sibusiso Shozi, and Siphiwe Nkabinde belts out sweeping melodies and frantic conversation in perfect harmony and discordant susurration respectively.

Much like its 360 VR counterpart Day Will Break More Than Once, this piece is testament to the compelling and enduring nature of the voice, the written word, the moving body, or the drawn image – those simple, powerful pieces of art that help us to make sense of the chaos and the contradictions of the human world.

Sybil is a dense, but tightly composed bit of theatre that makes full use of its 11-minute structure. Like so many of this Season’s works, it is a reminder of the possibilities that arise through the free-spirited, collaborative nature that’s refined through The Centre for the Less Good Idea.

WRITER | Dave Mann
VIDEO ENGINEER & EDITOR | Noah Cohen
STILLS PHOTOGRAPHER | Nina Lieska

INVISIBLE EXHIBITION

The Invisible Exhibition, a core component of Season 5 was made in collaboration with TMWR and featured 5 new Virtual Reality films and 10 new Augmented Reality artworks.

UNGASABI

It begins in darkness, followed by an empty room which you alone occupy. You are not sure where you are, exactly. A figure appears – he is a healer of some kind, and shortly after he appears, the space begins to populate itself with more figures. These figures, you come to understand, are your people.

Conceptualised by Siyabonga Mthembu and directed by Nhlanhla Mahlangu and Mthembu, Ungasabi draws on Mthembu’s own experience of seeking consultation with a traditional healer some years back. Through the use of performance, sound and space, the piece utilises the pre-existing conditions of 360 Virtual Reality – disorientation, temporary isolation, the act of stepping in and out of time – and crafts a narrative journey into which the viewer is placed as the central character.

Beyond its performance-based merits, Ungasabi stands out as a brilliant work of art largely due to its use of storytelling across the realities presented through interactive technology. Dancers move all around you, never staying in one fixed position and, in this way, you are both a viewer and an active participant in the work. You can choose to follow the movements of one character, or you can traverse your full scope of vision and try and take in the performance as it plays out around you.

Music, here, is crucial. As the performers weave their way throughout the space, so does the choral work of the collective. It is a soothing song, almost dream-like, and adds a texture to the space that almost makes it seem as if you are home, or perhaps in that transitory space between this reality and the next.

Finally, you are left only with the healer again, before he leaves, too. It ends as it began: You are alone, and then there is darkness. Although this time, you do not feel quite as alone.

DAY WILL BREAK MORE THAN ONCE

A room full of papers and not much else. As you orientate yourself and begin the futile process of trying to make sense of these pages, they begin to leave you. They do this in a manner that is at once unsettling and mystifying – floating, as if in reverse, towards the sky and up into the hands of a group of individuals a floor above. Have they been there the whole time? From the corner of your eye, a figure emerges. She is dancing her way through the space in long, languid movements of the body. Another figure emerges and begins to follow her, the two of them circling you as they move.

Day Will Break More Than Once, conceptualised by William Kentridge and composed and choreographed by Nhlanhla Mahlangu and Kyle Shepherd, is a meditation on mortality, hope, purpose, and those heavy, burdensome things that may plague our minds when we begin to consider our place in the world around us. Through the use of arresting choral work, razor sharp video editing, Kentridge’s text-based works, and Masilo’s evocative movements, viewers are placed in a reality in which thoughts, fears, hopes and dreams are rendered tangible.

You can listen to the choir and you can watch these two characters move around you, yes, but the heart of this work rests in its text-based narrative:

‘Wait again for new gods’

‘It is not enough’

‘But it is not nothing’

So read the short, affective texts, dispersed one at a time by Masilo, and snatched out of mid-air by Kentridge as they move around you. Experienced in such a way, Day Will Break More Than Once positions its viewer as a passive observer – an individual sitting back and watching their life being narrated (or prophesied) before them. Those above you, then, become gods, diviners, bringers or death or of life. They are singing, harmonising throughout, and the effect is wonderfully soothing. Depending on how you hear it, it could be the backtrack to a life well-lived, or a swan-song sounding out in those last, desperate moments.

Like all great works of art, Day Will Break More Than Once is an enduring performance that is felt long after it ends. Because once you remove the headset and begin the slow, groggy process of acclimatising yourself to the world around you, there are two ways of proceeding: Will you continue along the same course, or will you begin anew?

THE DINNER TABLE

Viewing The Dinner Table can feel a lot like attending a dinner party in real life. In fact, it’s a work that’s closer to our lived realities than one might expect.

Conceptualised by Sue Pam-Grant and directed by Sylvaine Strike, The Dinner Table situates its audience smack bang in the centre of a formal dinner party. In the centre of the table, to be exact. In this way, the work can feel somewhat overwhelming, or it can make one feel like a fly on the wall, bearing witness to a private function, hidden in plain sight.

Everyone is dressed well, and an attentive waiter is topping up champagne flutes as he goes along. The meal has yet to commence and it is in these small, telling moments filled with the clearing of throats, sideways glances, and awkward silences that you begin to measure up those in attendance.

Some are coupled off, while others have come alone. An old white man is somewhat taken aback by a same-sex relationship while his own wife, the host, seems to be flirting on-and-off with another man. Further tensions announce themselves through class and language – private conversations and heated debates about cutlery start up all around you, but are never finished. Someone at the table is pregnant and this, possibly, is the only thing that seems to bring everyone together. A baby is on the way – there is hope or, at the very least, something to look forward to.

Amidst the outbursts, the venomous looks, the snickering and muffled laughter, the waiter (who we find out is named Nelson) is trying his absolute best to get a table filled with people of different races, classes, ideologies, and languages to get along. If only until the night is through.

EMPTY NOTE

There’s something to be said about an audience’s seemingly insatiable appetite for performance. Theatre’s and gallery spaces are where we’ll typically go to get our fill, but we wouldn’t, for example, show up at an artist’s house and demand a performance from them right there in the living room, would we?

In Empty Note, the collaborative 360 VR film by Janus Fouché and Nhlanhla Mahlangu, the audience is situated inside the very mind of the artist and, by virtue of being there, demands a story. The artist is Mahlangu and although he doesn’t seem very pleased by the intrusion, he does what is expected of him as a storyteller. He begins to tell stories – using the voice and body – of history, struggle, identity and more. With each story, Mahlangu multiplies. Ghostly, ethereal versions of him move around the space, lingering long after they have finished telling their story. Items of clothing also begin to occupy the room around you until the space is full, almost overwhelmingly so, with language, movement, and presence.

Ultimately, Empty Note is a work that is as much about the nature of performance and narrative as it is about the enduring power of stories and their way of helping us live on, throughout it all. Finally, it is a work that could serve as a gentle reminder: Stories – those rich and complex things we build up and leave behind – do not begin and end in books, on stages, or even in the outside world, whether we want them to or not.

INHUMAN THEATRE

What will the world look like once the very last of us has departed from it? What will remain, and how will it be documented? Inhuman Theatre, Jonah Sack’s 360 VR film, explores all of this and more in a striking display of immersive art.

Viewing Inhuman Theatre allows you, for a few fleeting minutes, to become the last person on earth and to glimpse upon what remains there. Through the use of virtual reality technologies and Sack’s own penchant for considered and affective animation and drawing, a world inhabited by the presence of dust, burning, falling, and rain is put forward.

Rather than taking the form of a burned-out and dystopic landscape, what remains is a thing of beauty. Light streams down in magnificent columns, highlighting motes of dust, or the soft plumes of smoke from a fire smouldering nearby. Somewhere, it is raining, while elsewhere great, concrete structures are collapsing – their slow rumble the last echoes of our existence – with only the surrounding landscape (and you, the silent viewer) bearing witness to their fall.

Throughout it all, new things are being drawn and etched into the surrounding landscape before fading away and being drawn anew. Finally, a curious process of stepping in and out of time and reality begins to play itself out once you set the headset down and venture through Sack’s installation, Four Movements To Outlast Us: Dust, Rain, Falling, Fire, situated a floor above. Comprised of projections, drawings, and small sculptural works, the installation serves as another version of the world you just inhabited, only far more populated with humans. Still, there is dust and rain, and things continue to burn and fall just as they always have, and likely always will.

FOUR MOVEMENTS TO OUTLAST US: DUST, RAIN, FALLING, FIRE

CONCEPT AND INSTALLATION BY | Jonah Sack
wood, hardboard, cardboard, ink, acrylic, paper, found slides, digital animation, slide projectors, digital projectors.
Special thanks to: Janus Fouché, Josh Ginsburg and the A4 Arts Foundation

AUGMENTED REALITY ARTWORKS
William Kentridge, Mbongeni Fakudze Artist, Fatima Tayob Moosa, Lady Skollie, Marcus Neustetter artist, Mmabatho Grace Mokalapa, io makandal, Cow Mash, Blessing Ngobeni and Ana Pather

WRITER | David Mann

SEASON 5 CURATORS | Phala Ookeditse Phala and David Thatanelo April
FOUNDER | William Kentridge
ANIMATEUR FOR THE CENTRE | Bronwyn Lace
PROJECT MANAGERS | TMWR, Ann Roberts and Brooklyn J. Pakathi
CINEMATOGRAPHY AND EDITING | Noah Cohen
PRODUCTION DESIGNER | Shruthi Nair
CREATIVE TECHNOLOGISTS | EDEN, New Reality, Ambrosia XR, Left Post Productions
SOUND | SoulFire Studios
APPLICATION DESIGNED AND PROGRAMMED BY | Brent Robinson
STAGE MANAGEMENT | Hayleigh Evans and PopArt Productions

Visuals and Virtuals of Season 5

Here we see some of the making of the Invisible Exhibition, made in collaboration with TMWR and featuring 5 new Virtual Reality films and 10 new Augmented Reality artworks.

Unit 9, Arts on Main
24 - 28 April
12 to 8pm daily

AUGMENTED REALITY ARTWORKS
William Kentridge, Mbongeni Fakudze Artist, Fatima Tayob Moosa, Lady Skollie, Marcus Neustetter artist, Mmabatho Grace Mokalapa, io makandal, Cow Mash, Blessing Ngobeni and Ana Pather

SEASON 5 CURATORS | Phala Ookeditse Phala and David Thatanelo April
FOUNDER | William Kentridge
ANIMATEUR FOR THE CENTRE | Bronwyn Lace
PROJECT MANAGERS | TMWR, Ann Roberts and Brooklyn J. Pakathi
CINEMATOGRAPHY AND EDITING | Noah Cohen
PRODUCTION DESIGNER | Shruthi Nair
CREATIVE TECHNOLOGISTS | EDEN, New Reality, Ambrosia XR, Left Post Productions
SOUND | SoulFire Studios
APPLICATION DESIGNED AND PROGRAMMED BY | Brent Robinson
STAGE MANAGEMENT | Hayleigh Evans and PopArt Productions

Storytelling of Season 5

What does the shape of the epic look like when explored in the short form? How do we begin to run such great, far-reaching narratives and thematic queries through the constrictions of time and form?

SEASON 5 consists of a series of 11-minute EPICS over 4 programmes.

24 - 28 April 2019
Unit 11, Arts on Main

MOVEMENT OF SEASON 5

Season 5 presents a series of 5 short form 11 minute performative EPICS per programme. There are 4 programmes to choose from. Details and booking online at www.lessgoodidea.com

24 - 28 April 2019
Unit 11, Arts on Main

Here we see and hear some of the dance and movement developement towards the Season.

SOUNDS OF SEASON 5

Season 5 presents a series of 5 short form 11 minute performative EPICS per programme. There are 4 programmes from which to choose.

24 - 28 April 2019
Unit 11, Arts on Main

Here we see and hear some of the sound and music development for the Season.

Phala Ookeditse Phala

Season 5 is curated by Phala Ookeditse Phala and David April

Taking place 24 - 28 April 2019
Programmes starting at 6:30 and 8pm daily

Co-curated by Phala O Phala and David Thatanelo April, Season 5 of The Centre for the Less Good Idea sees traditional forms of art and performance being re-imagined through free-spirited, transdisciplinary collaboration and the alternative realities made possible by technology.

Through a series of short-form 11-minute epics as well as 3-minute 360 VR films, Season 5 will attempt to make sense of embodied narratives and contemporary spiritualities. It will present performances that refuse to begin, and posit the outcomes of stories that have been lost to history. Internal monologues will be rendered tangible through virtual reality, and cityscapes will find grounding in an experimental opera.

Above all else, vulnerability, imperfection, and a move towards the unknown will find resonance through a pursuit for the less good idea.

Phala O. Phala | Co-curator

Phala O. Phala is a multi-award-winning theatre-maker and director and is the co-curator for Season 5 of The Centre for the Less Good Idea. Phala champions storytelling in this Season’s body of work, and employs a keen eye for interrogation into the many narratives that have taken shape over the making of Season 5’s works.

For Phala, who prizes emotional and psychologically-stimulating storytelling in his work, process is the guiding factor in his role as co-curator, starting with the generation of a multitude of materials from various angles, and allowing form and structure to follow. As such, many of the final works in Season 5 have taken their lead from an intensive free-writing exercise led by Phala during the workshopping sessions.

In addition to co-curating and helping to form many of the works and 11-minute epics in Season 5, Phala will also bring his directorial skills to the collaborative work BAPA and will be collaborating on pieces with writers, directors and performers such as Calvin Ratladi, Khutjo Green, and Sue Pam-Grant.

David Thatanelo April

Season 5 is curated by Phala Ookeditse Phala and David April

Taking place 24 - 28 April 2019
Programmes starting at 6:30 and 8pm daily

Co-curated by Phala O Phala and David Thatanelo April, Season 5 of The Centre for the Less Good Idea sees traditional forms of art and performance being re-imagined through free-spirited, transdisciplinary collaboration and the alternative realities made possible by technology.

Through a series of short-form 11-minute epics as well as 3-minute 360 VR films, Season 5 will attempt to make sense of embodied narratives and contemporary spiritualities. It will present performances that refuse to begin, and posit the outcomes of stories that have been lost to history. Internal monologues will be rendered tangible through virtual reality, and cityscapes will find grounding in an experimental opera.

Above all else, vulnerability, imperfection, and a move towards the unknown will find resonance through a pursuit for the less good idea.

David Thatanelo April | Co-curator

Co-curator for Season 5 of The Centre for the Less Good Idea, David Thatanelo April is a director, teacher, choreographer and lobbyist in the realms of South African dance and performance with over two decades of experience in the industry.

As former Artistic and Executive Director of Moving into Dance(MID), and currently Creative Entrepreneurial Officer of David April Arts Consultancy, he contributed significantly to the status of MID as a leading force amongst South Africa’s diverse dance aesthetics and continues to be a dedicated mentor and advisor to many other young dancers and choreographers.

Season 5 sees April bringing an open mind to the possibilities that can arise when technology and performance merge in creative spaces. Together with co-curator Phala O. Phala, April has worked to craft and facilitate a host of new works loosely centred around the themes of spirituality, becoming, and the integrated approach to dance, performance, music and more.

April also lends his longstanding knowledge of the performing arts to this Season’s artists, encouraging them to experiment beyond their conventional practices and familiarities.

In addition to co-curating and helping to form many of the works and 11-minute epics in Season 5, April will be collaborating with theatre-maker Sylvaine Strike, and will be choreographing a work with Phumlani Mndebele, Mdu Nhlapo and Strike amongst other pieces.