Following its premiere at the Augsburg State Theatre in Germany, Isingqala Samanzi/The Call of Water, a play about global water scarcity, makes its African debut at the Baxter Flipside. The limited season runs from 22 to 24 September 2022.
The South African/German collaboration, presented by Staatstheater Augsburg, in association with The Baxter, takes the audience on a journey with puppets handmade by the Cape Town-based Ukwanda Puppet Company.
Through a poetic interweaving of play styles, languages and perspectives, a picture of water scarcity emerges. While this vital element has shaped urban architecture and history in Augsburg for centuries and is available in abundance, Cape Town (and other parts of South Africa) have suffered from drought. The water-saving consequences drawn from this are ground-breaking for the handling of this valuable resource in the 21st century.
The cow that brings water
In this play, the world-famous fountain figures of the Augustus Fountain in Augsburg, Germany, meet Inkomo Yamanzi (the cow that brings water) and Roman deities meet ancestor worship. What at first glance could hardly be more different, on closer inspection, proves to be less of a contrast than an affinity of essence.
Written by Andreas Hillger and the ensemble of six performers – three South Africans and three Germans – comprises Sipho Ngxola, Thomas Prazak, Karoline Stegemann, Siphokazi Mpofu, Luyanda Nogodlwana, Franziska Rattay, directed by Dorothea Schroeder.
Puppet construction is by Ukwanda Puppets & Designs Art Collective, with training by Craig Leo, music by Fabian Löbhard, lighting by Günter Zaworka, costumes by Marie Wildmann, set design by Luyanda Nogodlwana and dramaturgy by Kathrin Mergel and Sarah Mössner.
What: Isingqala Samanzi/The Call of Water
When: 22 to 24 September 2022, 8pm, matinee 24 September, 6pm
Where: Baxter Theatre Cape Town
Book: Webtickets, Pick n Pay
Tickets: R180, R150 block bookings, students, seniors
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