(Pic by Leon Schnell: Craig Morris)Untouchable Productions & The Theatre-St Anne's College will present the critically acclaimed Blood Orange, an original work performed by Craig Morris and directed by Greig Coetzee, taken from the novel Blood Orange by Troy Blacklaws.
Blood Orange is the story of Gecko, a boy who has an oblique out-of-synch way of seeing the world; of his childhood among the green hills of Natal and of his jagged school days in the Cape, where the Simonsberg drinks the Blood Orange sun at dusk. James Dean and Wilbur Smith have two-bit parts in this drama that begins with man landing on the moon and ends with Mandela riding a mermaid to freedom. A zany Catcher in the Rye.
Craig Morris was awarded the MEC Gauteng Choreography and Dance Award for 2005 for Best Male Dancer in a Contemporary Style. In the same year he was nominated in the same category for four additional Dance performances. He received the same award in 2008 for his exceptional performance in Bar Flies and was also selected to perform with Cirque du Soleil.
Blood Orange was awarded the Runner up prize for the Suliman Selection at the Musho Festival in Durban in 2008. More recently, the production has been selected to be published in a special Physical Theatre edition of the South African Theatre Journal.
Director Greig Coetzee has this to say about the production: “When Craig approached me to adapt and direct Blood Orange, I wondered, with not a little anxiety, how a word-junkie like me would connect with a physical performer and dancer who trained under Andrew Buckland. The answer was - easily. Directing Craig Morris is similar to cooking a self-basting turkey: You put it in the right place and then you watch while it does its thing. Occasionally you prod it, or you stick a few cherries on top. But you know, from the start, that it's going to be excellent and you're going to be in line for some undeserved credit.
“I would give him one idea,” Greig continues, “which he would take and turn into ten more. I would say, "Gee, you could lie with your arm through that tyre like you're embracing a lover". He would take that comment and create a 'Pas de Deux for Man and Firestone'. So, when you see something here that you really like, remember that I may have pushed the button, but Craig built the missile and launched the bloody thing single handedly.
“I was a lot more active in the writing process,” Greig goes on to explain. “Craig brought me all the bits of the story he felt were essential or full of dramatic potential. I would hack and re-order and, at times, rewrite. As a novel, Blood Orange builds pictures with very original imagery and unorthodox, layered descriptions. The challenge was reconciling this with the economy demanded by theatre. Finding ways to show rather than tell. Using jumps in time rather than the slow evolution allowed by 200 pages of prose. Doing with ten words what the novelist does with a hundred. I think we found a style and a shorthand that allowed us to make a successful and involving transition from page to stage. I hope you agree.”
There will be one performance only of Blood Orange on February 3 at 19h30 at The Theatre–St Anne’s College in Hilton. Tickets R60 (R50 concessions) booked on 033 343 6100.
Posts
