Acclaimed Save the Pedestals makes debut
HAILED as a unique, international, artistic collaboration between the Baxter Theatre Centre, Handspring Puppet Company and Halle Puppet Theatre, Save the Pedestals makes its African debut at the Baxter Flipside for four performances.
The acclaimed South African creative team behind the production have combined their collective skills to bring to life the narrative, which is based on writer, Ivan Vladislavic’s, short story, under the direction of choreographer and director, Robyn Orlin and featuring puppets by the Tony-Award-winning Handspring Puppet Company, led by Adrian Kohler and Basil Jones.
The cast of five is made up of puppeteers Mmakgosi Tsogang Kgabi (Botswana and SA), Lambert Mousseka Ntumba (DRC) and Franziska Rattay, Ivana Sajevic, and Nico Parisius (from Halle Puppet Theatre company). Torsten Mass is responsible for the idea, concept and co-ordination, dramaturgy and play development is by Francesca Spinazzi and Andreas Hillger, with German translation by Thomas Brückner.
The iconoclastic work follows the adventures of two Struggle comrades, Comrade A and Ma Z, who find themselves in a world of public monuments that have passed their sell-by dates.
They wander around Johannesburg, sharing their recent dreams as they contemplate the half-life and the disappearance of historical monuments.
Ma Z’s journey is grounded in and motivated by dreams where monuments recur – in her sleep, she sees a glass pedestal in which, like bones in a casket, are the names of the children of the statue. Comrade A, on the other hand, imagines that at midnight the statues climb down from their pedestals and go in search of better prospects.
The work is described as a poetic-political discourse that encompasses both the fall of Saddam Hussein’s and South African monuments (such as the Cecil John Rhodes one at the University of Cape Town), as well as the rise of Lenin monuments. The title is derived from a saying by Polish writer and poet Stanisław Lec, “When destroying monuments, save the pedestals.”
“The idea behind this production of Save the Pedestals is to bring together the best German puppet theatre with the best puppet theatre from African countries,” said Mass.
“The performance has its finger on the pulse from a historical perspective and simultaneously addresses and encourages discussion around this global problem, in an interesting and provocative manner.”
Save the Pedestals runs at the Baxter Flipside from March 28-30.
Booking is through Webtickets on 086 111 0005, online at www. webtickets.co.za or from Pick n Pay stores. For discounted school or group block bookings or fundraisers, contact Sharon Ward on 021 680 3962 or email sharon.ward@uct.ac.za or Carmen Kearns on 021 680 3993 or email her at carmen.kearns@uct.ac.za