HSFA (Helderberg Society for the Aged) celebrated Drama for the month of March. We ran a series of fun-filled workshops for their seniors – seven in total at different facilities run by them.
What a great time we had together! Groups of enthusiastic and talented seniors, from frail care to independent living, took part. With our flexible programme, everyone had a chance to shine. We were blown away by their willingness to play.
Our actors exchanged rude and sometime bawdy Shakespearean insults, read poetry, explored character through games, and played parts in hats. They kicked their inhibitions out the door and let their natural actors enter!
What a time we had together on the 16th of Feb at the Douglas Murray home for Seniors in Retreat, Cape Town. We introduced a group of enthusiastic participants to some fun acting games and warm ups and then performed a poem to the rest of the residents using voice, mime and sound effects. Our actors who started out shy and uncertain, ended up confident and shining!
Getting Ready to Spread Our Acting Wings
Our programme proved that any age can experience the joy of acting and performance and that letting our inner children come out to play is a liberating activity for body, mind and soul.
Wave Your Scarf to the Music – Colour and MovementThe Hadeda Comes to Visit
The programme is tailormade for Seniors who are living independently in a seniors home or in a frail care facility.
Our production of Julius Caesar for the Shakespeare Schools Festival in April 2021, was a huge success. Our whole group of Westlake Primary School Drama kids learnt so much on our programme and during their preparation for the Festival. Their live performance on the Artscape Stage was a definite highlight. They grew in confidence and skill. We wanted to give at least some of the group an opportunity to grow even more.
We were excited to meet with Delia Sainsbury, owner and principal of the Waterfront Theatre School, together with Azola Mkosane, representing the Fondazione Labia to see if some of our learners could join the Waterfront Theatre School Junior Programme, 2022.
Getting ready to audition – Excitement – Photo Credit: A Gorman Photography
With their aim to develop and nourish the talents of young South Africans, it made sense to the directors of the Fondazione Labia, Antonia Labia-Sale and Natale Labia to further encourage growth and they agreed to sponsor some of our talented learners.
Six learners were chosen to audition for a maximum of three places and we helped our Westlake drama kids choose and prepare their audition material for 15 January 2022.
The Future is Now
Shaqheen Okuhle Diego Anathi Anda Faith – Photo Credit A Gorman Photography
The rest is history but very much the future. The Waterfront Theatre School was so impressed with the six Westlake children that all six have been offered places. The Waterfront Theatre School will sponsor three and the Fondazione Labia the other three, plus the transport and refreshments for all six.
Success! Grateful Thanks to Sponsors Fondazione Labia and Waterfront Theatre School – Photo Credit: A Gorman Photography
Diego, Faith, Okuhle, Anda, Shaqheen and Anathi are doing drama, musical theatre, street dance and modern.
In mid February 2022, they will embark on a life-changing journey that they will remember for the rest of their lives.
We have had an amazing time with 19 learners from the Westlake Primary School. We all enjoyed an intense 5 month enrichmentthrough drama programme earlier this year.
On Thursday, 28 October, the children were excited to receive their Certificates. We celebrated the excellence they showed both for learning new skills and for their performances on stage.
Our drama programme is a winner and we will be sharing this with a new group in 2022.
The learners from Westlake Primary School – Enrichment Through Drama 2021
Coleen, directed by Celia, brings her one woman show to the stage for the month of July 2021.
Much excitement to be back in a theatre, even though we did not play to an audience, just a group of friendly technicians and camera peeps.
Coleen tells a story of an imperfect life – the good, the bad, the funny. Yes, her own life where
“Our family’s dysfunction on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being the least and 10, the most, goes from a modest 3 to a hefty 8 and back to a promising 6. Depending largely on who’s holding the talking stick of course.”
There are stories to be told and we were thrilled to put a theatre piece back on the boards.
What a thrill to see the Westlake Primary School kids again after a year’s absence due to Covid-19. Shakespeare was the theme for our 4 month drama enrichment programme. The learners got to learn about and do Julius Caesar but with the freedom given to us by the Shakespeare Schools Festival, we could put our spin on it and give it our local flavour.
Calpurnia’s nightmare – photo credit: A Gorman PhotographyBeware the Ides of March – Photo Credit: A Gorman PhotographyEt tu, Brute – Photo Credit: A Gorman Photography
Masked, but undeterred, our Shakespeare drama kids, marched, danced, rapped their way through 20 minutes of this iconic piece and came away with the experience of performing on the stage of Cape Town’s iconic Artscape Theatre.
The sense of achievement and joy that these children take away from this experience is priceless.
Storytelling at it’s Best – The Barrydale Analog Festival – 2020
Photo Credit: Mark Fourie
Celia Musikanth, of Circle Productions, accompanied David Muller, the Merry Scholar, to Riebeek Kasteel over the weekend 17 – 19 December 2020 where he performed a series of Herman Charles Bosman’s “Oom Schalk” stories to Covid compliant full houses and standing ovations. For nearly nine years Celia has been involved as director and mentor for David’s highly successful shows.
The Royal Arts Town Amphitheatre in Riebeek Kasteel, was a perfect venue for outdoor performances and luckily David has been able to perform his shows throughout the country during 2020.
The previous weekend, David took Oom Schalk’s stories to the Analog Festival in Barrydale.
These shows, that have travelled the length and breadth of our country for the last nine years, are highly entertaining – to book “Oom Schalk”, contact David on 072 986 5311.
Groups of lively, fun-loving schoolkids joined us for a series of four workshops towards the end of February. The Grade 6 learners enjoyed a unique acting experience with Circle Productions.
In a local Muizenberg church hall with its lovely stage, we taught the school children how to project their voices, use body language and we gave them tips on how to create believable characters.
Our theatre games gave the learners a chance to improve their skills and they had lots of fun doing it. Acting workshops like this are ideal for all age groups – grownup children too!
Four months of weekly sessions with the children of Westlake Primary ended in their showcase Saturday 30th November where they showed their parents and teachers what they had learned and how talented they are. They were fabulous and impressive and we thank our partners Fondazione Labia (Labia Foundation) for supporting us in this venture and being such great supporters of development of the arts.
Highlight – Writers become Actors
Circle Productions was really busy this November as we wound up for the year. We had an awesome time with the West Coast Writers’ Circle with an interactive session, taken from our Be an Actor for a Day programme and tailormade especially for writers. We gave them tips on how best to prepare for and read their work out loud.
Highlight – Fun and Games at Groote Schuur Hospital School
Circle Productions visited the Groote Schuur Hospital School to give some pleasure to the ill children who spend time in hospital and are given education, stimulation and fun while there.
We tailored our drama workshop session to the energy level of the patients and without exception, the children loved their time with us and grew in confidence while enjoying an hour of fun activities.
This is the second of four sessions and we look forward to a few more in 2020.
Highlight – Dotty Drama Kids – An “In theatre” Experience
We love this drama school based in the South Peninsula – they do such amazing drama training for children. We also love that they join us for a morning at the Masque Theatre to get a chance to work with us and to learn a little more about how a theatre works. They also get a chance to showcase what they have learned with us at the end of the session. Working with such enthusiastic and talented children is a real treat.
We look forward to 2020 – we look forward to all things fun and good and theatrical!
Performance is everything. And we are getting ready for our showcase on 30 November with our Westlake Primary School kids. The programme is sponsored by the Fondazione Labia.
We will be highlighting what they have learned with us over the last 4 months – mime, character work, vocal ability, imagination, song and dance.
We pull in our friends in theatre to give the children some specialised classes too – from working with the dancers from Muizenberg High School to the wonderful drama teacher from Dotty Dance and Drama.
Watching these youngsters grow in confidence and skill is such a treat and we are all looking forward to the showcase for parents and teachers.
The Casa Labia Kids – this is our tree – and it’s a happy tree!
