speeltheater show

RED EARTH (Rode Aarde)

Macebo Mavuso and Tau Qwelane and the Stork

Every year a stork migrates from the fresh green North-Holland polder landscape to the deep warm South of Africa. He can tell lots of stories. One of them is the true story about Nongqawuse, a Xhosa girl. A 15 year old girl that radically changed the history of the Xhosa people.
One day Nongqawuse comes back from the river. She tells that the ancestors appeared to her with the prophecy that the dead will arise, the white people and unbelievers will be driven into the sea and the once powerful Xhosa people will be as strong as before.
To make this all happen they have to kill all their cattle and burn all their grain. This prophecy brings hope to the people. They are tormented by colonial wars and mysterious cattle diseases. But it also brings discord among the Xhosa people, manipulation and betrayal and at the end a terrible famine.

Everyone points at Nongqawuse. But was she really the bad genius behind all this? What about her uncle and which role played the British governor?

Maybe this mystery can never ever be unraveled. Everyone has his own interpretation of the facts. And can a bird that has his roots as well in the North as in the South ever understand?

Direction: Onny Huisink (Speeltheater Holland)
Script: Saskia Janse (Speeltheater Holland)

Actors/puppeteers/music and dance: Macebo Mavuso and Tau Qwelane (Sisonke Arts) and Jawi Bakker

Puppets and set: Onny Huisink (Speeltheater Holland)

This production is made possible by: The Ministery of Culture (OC en W) in the Netherlands, The Fonds voor de Podiumkunsten, The Netherlands, VSBfonds, NOVIB/Linkus, the National Arts Council of South Africa, Dutch Embassy South Africa and NCDO

Macebo Mavuso of Sisonke Arts & the Cattle

Red Earth’ is a co production between Speeltheater Holland from the Netherlands and Sisonke Arts from South Africa. The two actors of Sisonke Arts have a lot of experience on South African stages. They worked for the Hand Spring Puppet Theatre and a lot of other theatre companies in South Africa and the Netherlands. The artistic team of Speeltheater Holland met the actors of Sisonke Arts in 2004, who made their first production in the Netherlands at that time at the Noorderzonfestival in Groningen. They decided to work together on this play. A visual story with puppets, dance and music. For Sisonke Arts this presentation on the Grahamstown festival was the kick off for a tour in different townships in the Eastern Cape followed by a tour in the Netherlands for Dutch children.

Also read the article from the Noord-Hollands Dagblad

and the English review

	RED EARTH (Rode Aarde) Macebo Mavuso and Tau Qwelane and the Stork Every year a stork migrates from the fresh green North-Holland polder landscape to the deep warm South of Africa. He can tell lots of stories. One of them is the true story about Nongqawuse, a Xhosa girl. A 15 year old girl that radically changed the history of the Xhosa people. One day Nongqawuse comes back from the river. She tells that the ancestors appeared to her with the prophecy that the dead will arise, the white people and unbelievers will be driven into the sea and the once powerful Xhosa people will be as strong as before. To make this all happen they have to kill all their cattle and burn all their grain. This prophecy brings hope to the people. They are tormented by colonial wars and mysterious cattle diseases. But it also brings discord among the Xhosa people, manipulation and betrayal and at the end a terrible famine. Everyone points at Nongqawuse. But was she really the bad genius behind all this? What about her uncle and which role played the British governor? Maybe this mystery can never ever be unraveled. Everyone has his own interpretation of the facts. And can a bird that has his roots as well in the North as in the South ever understand? Direction: Onny Huisink (Speeltheater Holland) Script: Saskia Janse (Speeltheater Holland) Actors/puppeteers/music and dance: Macebo Mavuso and Tau Qwelane (Sisonke Arts) and Jawi Bakker Puppets and set: Onny Huisink (Speeltheater Holland) This production is made possible by: The Ministery of Culture (OC en W) in the Netherlands, The Fonds voor de Podiumkunsten, The Netherlands, VSBfonds, NOVIB/Linkus, the National Arts Council of South Africa, Dutch Embassy South Africa and NCDO Macebo Mavuso of Sisonke Arts & the Cattle Red Earth’ is a co production between Speeltheater Holland from the Netherlands and Sisonke Arts from South Africa. The two actors of Sisonke Arts have a lot of experience on South African stages. They worked for the Hand Spring Puppet Theatre and a lot of other theatre companies in South Africa and the Netherlands. The artistic team of Speeltheater Holland met the actors of Sisonke Arts in 2004, who made their first production in the Netherlands at that time at the Noorderzonfestival in Groningen. They decided to work together on this play. A visual story with puppets, dance and music. For Sisonke Arts this presentation on the Grahamstown festival was the kick off for a tour in different townships in the Eastern Cape followed by a tour in the Netherlands for Dutch children. Also read the article from the Noord-Hollands Dagblad and the English review