Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Giving wing to imagination
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THE SNOW Goose, an adaptation of Paul Gallico’s novella, premiered at last year’s National Arts festival and, almost a year later, it will be at the Kalk Bay Theatre from June 4 to 28 before returning to the National Arts Festival in July.
The project was initiated by Simon Cooper, owner of the Kalk Bay Theatre, and until a few months ago, its operator. He has handed over the running of the venue to Follow Spot Productions, run by husband and wife, Ashley Searle and Vanessa Harris.
Cooper has an agreement with them to reserve at least two slots a year for his productions.
As evidenced from his 10-year tenure at the theatre, he puts his money behind projects that he is passionate about. He takes chances with new work, such as Nicholas Spagnoletti’s superb London Road.
Recently, he produced the outstanding play Undermined.
What led Cooper to choose The Snow Goose?
“The idea originated with my wife, Helen. Her mother read the book to her as a child and it stuck with her. My mother read the book to me as a child. It remains one of my favourites that I read every year. My father named his boat Snowgoose after the book and I spent many happy hours fishing with my dad. But I wanted to do it primarily because it is an amazing, timeless story.”
The Snow Goose, subtitled Story of Dunkirk, was first published in 1940 as a short story and then extended by Gallico into a novella, published in 1941.
It is framed against the evacuation of Dunkirk in World War II, when Allied soldiers were rescued in 1940. A young girl and a recluse are brought together by a wounded snow goose. It’s a story that resonates with images of friendship, love, healing and war.
Jenine Collocott – who has also designed the show – has used masks, music ( including period music) and snippets of news reports to convey the emotional
Aand physical landscape.
Collocott is a director with a keen eye for images and has a quirky sense for design, as we saw in the props she conjured up for the brilliant one- hander Cairns.
It will be a busy National Arts Festival for James Cairns, Taryn Bennett and Collocott. Cairns and Bennett are performing in Hamlet! – directed by Collocott. Cairns is also performing in the acclaimed Three Little Pigs – directed by Tara Notcutt.
In addition to The Snow Goose, Kalk Bay Productions is producing three shows at the National Arts Festival: Vaslav, Mr Johnson Presents (a cabaret with Johnson) and Same Time Next Year. The fourth show under its banner, Undermined, is co-produced with Here Manje Productions.
● For The Snow Goose at the Kalk Bay Theatre, book at www.kalkbaytheatre.co.za. Tickets cost R95. To book for dinner, call 079 361 8275. Other bookings at www.nationalartsfestival.co.za or call 0860 002 004.
cohenry@ netactive.co.za
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