BACKSTORY

Pic by Leon Schnell: Craig Morris

St Anne’s College hosts two-hander exploring the evolution process of man in innovative and amusing ways.

Presented by The Theatre – St Anne’s College and untouchable productions, Backstory is fresh from the Fringe of the National Arts Festival. Directed by Athena Mazarakis, the two-hander explores the evolution process of man in innovative and amusing ways. It traces the steps from the first human species with the evolutionary process highlighted until the culmination of the modern man. It explores the way in which humankind has evolved due to nature and nurture in a changing environment. The script influences are Darwinian in essence, with the principles of the ‘survival of the fittest’ theory, but the play adds its own gene to the DNA pool: the MARC (Mitochondrial Archaic Reincarnative Chromosome) gene.

The show is presented as a lecture by Prof M (Strydom), a geneticist who has his son, Mark, nearby to experiment on with regression therapy through hypnosis to seek the answers about the evolution of man in the present form. Barry Strydom portrays the experimental professor and manages to make the script, which is loaded with technical explanation and scientific discourse, sound and believable. Craig Morris is Mark, and his talents are extremely riveting as he tells many short tales through grunts and physicality only. There are many comic moments, both in the physicality and the text, which will tickle the audience’s fancy.

The use of various theatrical devices; a screen with stop-motion animation, puppetry, silhouettes, sound effects and visual projections, create interesting images and enhance the story.

Theatre lovers are invited to experience this epic tale, spanning approximately six million years, told in approximately 60 minutes. A presentation of ground-breaking discovery: what is the terrible secret that lies within us all, and is it the key to our greatness or our downfall?

Featuring Craig Morris and Barry Strydom, Backstory has one performance at The Theatre-St Anne’s College on September 8 at 19h30. Tickets R70 (R50 concessions) booked on 033 343 6100.