(Güner Güven (above) & Hassan Oum’Hamed)
Twist
Theatre Development Projects will host an artistic team from the Theatre
Company Stut from the Netherlands in October and November.
The
group will perform at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg campus
and at the Isigcawu Festival at the Ekhaya Multi-Arts Centre in KwaMashu. There
will be a public performance of the double bill Friend & Mahmoud at Stable Theatre in Durban.
Stut
Theatre Company was founded in 1977 and is the oldest community-based theatre
company in the Netherlands. Its philosophy is to create productions with, for,
and by residents of multicultural working-class neighbourhoods.
Twist
project manager Dr Emma Durden comments: “It is a great opportunity for us to
have a community group from another country to show their work locally, where
there is such a strong tradition of community theatre. We hope we can both
learn from them and share our own experiences of how community stories give
rise to great theatre. We are very grateful to the Embassy of the Kingdom of
the Netherlands, who have provided the funding for this exchange.”
The
double bill of two short plays, Friend
and Mahmoud, is about growing up as migrants in the Netherlands, and is
directed by Sharon Varekamp and performed by Hassan Oum’Hamed and Güner Güven.
The work is fun, and very physical, but also takes audiences into the heart of
the difficult decisions that immigrants make when they leave their homeland in
search of a better life.
Both
pieces are based on the real-life experiences of the two actors. Hassan came to
The Netherlands from Morocco and Güven arrived at the same time from rural
Turkey. Both followed their fathers who, along with thousands of other migrant
workers, uprooted themselves in the 1970s and 80s to find work in factories in
The Netherlands. They have been friends since they were seven years old.
Growing up in one of the rougher areas of the city, their choices weren’t
always the best. Both ended up as youth workers and discovered the theatre.
Today, they continue to combine both careers.
There
will be a free public performance of Friend
& Mahmoud at Stable Theatre in Durban on November 2 at 14h00 and all
are welcome. For more details contact Stable Theatre on 031 309 2513.
Twist Theatre
Development Projects is supported by the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund.
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