Karoo Moose tackles the disintegration of
the family unit and the violation of innocence endured by so many South
African children. It cleverly and creatively combines African
story-telling and magical realism.
In a small village struggling to survive, a young girl
called Thozama, ends up killing a moose. But what is the moose doing there
and how did it get there? “The themes of the story for me were bound up in
the idea that the children in the village needed some kind of magical
event to free them from abuse, neglect and poverty. Something magical was
needed to break the cycle of violence,” says writer and director Lara
Foot-Newton.
Well-known arts writer Anton Krueger described it as “A
theatre for the senses,” while arts editor Dianne de Beer, one of the
judges called it “overwhelming” and “an exceptional work.” Herman van der
Westhuizen, chairman of the panel of judges says, “The theatre-style is
fresh – African storytelling, song, music, visual theatre, rituals and
healing theatre. It shifts the boundaries of traditional South African
drama to a palette of magical realism, folk tale, story-telling and
musical theatre.”
The dynamic cast who bring the story to
life include Zoleka Helesi (Udaba Bafazi, House of the Holy Afro), Mdu
Kweyama (Shooting Stars, Onnest’Bo), Bongile
Mantsai (Udaba Bafazi, Big Dada), Thami Mbongo (Shooting Stars,
Onnest’Bo), Chuma Sopotela (Beneath Silent Waters,
Death and the King's Horseman) and Mfundo Tshazibane (Mrs Kaplan
and the Witch-Doctor, Romeo and Juliet).
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