A Conspiracy Of Clowns

 AUDITION NOTICE: Performer-Manipulator

Written by Lara Foot, and developed in collaboration with Leila Henriques, Brian Webber, and Joss Levine, Womb Tide was first performed to high acclaim in 1996.

At its heart, Womb Tide is an unconventional love story. Told through the memory of a child, Womb Tide is at once deeply moving, funny, dark, heartbreaking, and ultimately redemptive. Set in the mid to late twentieth century South Africa, it follows an eccentric and somewhat dysfunctional family through a story of love, loss and hope, and paints an impressionistic portrait of the complexities of family life.

More than just simply a remounting, Womb Tide is a complete overhaul of the original story, given FTH:K’s approach to creating fresh, startling, visually accessible work. Featuring a stellar crew of collaborators, Womb Tide is a paean to love and perseverance and a tour de force of visual and physical storytelling.

Directed by Rob Murray

Design by Craig Leo, Leila Anderson, and Emilie Starke

Sound Design by James Webb and Brydon Bolton

AUDITIONS (in the form of a workshop) will be held:

Date: Wednesday 28 April 2010

Venue: Arts Admin Theatre, Corner of Wesley and Milton Road, Observatory, Cape Town

Time: 09h00-12h00 (please arrive 08h30 to register)

We are casting for the character of the KID. In the play, the KID injects a chaotic energy into the lives of his mother and father that binds the family together closely. Participants need to be able to play both young and old, exhibit a youthful energy and the spirit of a clown. Participants should have experience of working within an ensemble-based, devised theatre process. Physical performance skill (mime/clown/physical theatre/movement) is a must, and experience in puppet manipulation a bonus, though not necessary.

Dress comfortably for a physical performance/puppet manipulation workshop.

Rehearsal Dates: May/June 2010

Performance Dates:

• 22 June – 7 July 2010 (National Arts Festival & National Schools’ Festival)
• 22 August – 27 September 2010 (Market Theatre, JHB)
• 28 September – 3 October 2010 (Aardklop, TBC)
• 8 November – 4 December 2010 (Baxter Theatre, Cape Town)

For more information, or to book your place, please contact Tanya Surtees on 021-448-2838 or email tink@fthk.co.za and send through an updated CV by Monday 26 April 2010.

And with that, we finally open at The Intimate Theatre!  It’s been a hectic last few weeks, but now the stuff is done, and the show can now settle and find itself properly and we can truly test our progress and process.

The collaborators on the project have been stellar – truly amazing artists all of them.  What has been so great is their openness to continue developing and changing their initial designs as the show has morphed and changed.  So huge love and thanks to Janni Younge (masks), Leila Anderson (costumes – pictured above with the cast), Jesse Kramer (set and props), and James Webb and Brydon Bolton.  These guys rock, and the strange fantastical world of QUACK! would be nothing without them.

Last night kicked ass!  We had a full house of great people, members, funders, press, and long time supporters.  Leila designed a number of installations for the outside patio and foyer of The Intimate, and it set the mood for a great evening.

And the show?  Well, it’s finding its feet, and settling into its rhythms.  The cast is being fantastic and trying new stuff all the time, and one can’t wish for more than that.  It’s a challenging work – not so much in terms of its content, but its approach.  Like people say – it’s hard work watching the full show with no dialogue.  And it is.  We know that.  It’s hard work putting the whole thing together with no dialogue and so on.  But it’s a pretty unique and different experience all round.

Needless to say there’s room for improvement – there always is in this kind of work.  And the strength of ensemble work is also sometime its weakness – a number of storylines that try thread together and sometimes do, sometimes don’t.  Each show is a walk on a very thin tightrope, and some nights one’s on one side, the next on the other.  The tiniest thing can make or break it.

But that’s the thrill, that’s the challenge, that’s the life we choose to lead.

So here’s to the next week and a half, and may it rock as much as the first few shows have!

It’s a week of announcements, clearly.  Not only does Megan announce the imminent arrival of Noah of Cape Town, but at FTH:K we are proud to announce our latest venture – QUACK!

It is simply an exceptional team: on the performance front is Liezl de Kock (Pictures of You and GUMBO), Lysander Barends (GUMBO and Ek Roep vir Jou Vanaand), Taryn Bennett (Frogs and Dr Collinger’s Funeral Service), and Marlon Snyders (GUMBO and Ek Roep vir Jou Vanaand).  Masks are by Janni Younge who designed and made our excellent masks for Pictures of You).  Set and props are by Jesse Kramer (of Koos Sas, Ghoema!, The Kramer and Pieterson Songbook fame).  Costumes are by Leila Anderson (BeLongings and Isabella).  And the sound design is by the award-winning James Webb (of Pictures of You, Rump Steak, Orpheus, and…ooh, just about everything else).

And the whole shebang is produced by FTH:K which means that the hottest up and coming theatre manager, Tanya Surtees, is behind it all.

Yes. Stop right there. Read back and let those names wash over you again. Those are like your director’s wet dream, and I am the lucky, lucky director.

So what is QUACK!?

From the makers of Pictures of You and GUMBO comes a new venture into the unknown.

So many lies, so little time…welcome to the shadowy, clown noir world of QUACK!

In a world where everything is for sale, and nothing has any value anymore, an ambitious drifter, addicted to quick scams, dreams up his definitive deceit - his masterpiece of mendacity.  Enlisting the aid of his long-suffering partner, a quiet and melancholic woman, he sets his plan in action.

But lies have the habit of consuming the liar.  And karma is sometimes waiting just around the corner.  And then there are the ghosts and victims of a million failed scams and past misdeeds…

In a thrilling blend of physical and visual performance, infused with their signature approach to creating accessible, non-verbal performance, QUACK! is FTH:K upping the ante and boldly leaping out of the frying pan and into the pyre.

It’s a battle for the soul of humankind.  It’s a visceral, visual bombardment of the senses.

Listen with your eyes!

Step right up!

QUACK! drops 2 July 2009 in Gatstad.  Capetonians, hang onto your dominoes – you have a sneak preview that you’ll hear about in a little bit right here.

Set your clocks.  Set your minds.  Ssh!  Don’t say a word…tell a soul…the clowns are coming…