This year the National Arts Festival has
gone virtual. The Shopping Dead is
one of two exciting productions on the programme that utilise the ubiquitous
texting platform WhatsApp as its stage. The
Shopping Dead is co-produced by
the National Arts Festival, presented as part of the Virtual National Arts
Festival 2020.
With theatres closed and the world confined
to their houses, Faye Kabali-Kagwa was interested in producing a theatrical
project that took place where many people are most active - their phones.
Kabali-Kagwa believes that this low-budget approach to storytelling makes this
model appealing for both audiences and artists alike. It provides a
cost-effective alternative to streaming for audiences, while allowing for
imaginative and creative interpretation by artists. Rather than employ physical
bodies, these plays allow for the virtual world to be brought to life as text,
voice notes, GIFS, memes, and pictures are used to create a memorable
theatrical experience.
The WhatsApp work presented at this year’s
virtual NAF, The Shopping Dead, is a
satirical look at the current global pandemic that cleverly uses recognizable
zombie story tropes. The story follows four retail store employees whose
working lives are interrupted when an American customer walks in carrying a
mutated version of the Corona virus. Through humour and clever insight, this
play critiques the lengths that global superpowers are willing to go in order
to take control of the African continent.
Kabali-Kagwa has brought together a
dynamic, talented team of young black womxn to bring this production to the
screen. Having previously written for Hani:
The Legacy (2018 Naledi Award winner, 2017 Standard Bank Gold Ovation Award
Winner), and Pop iCherri (Student
Merit Award for Best Original Work at NAF 2017), The Shopping Dead is quite a departure for Market Theatre alum
Ncumisa Ndimeni. Ndimeni writes with a clever wit and a sharp focus.
Cape Town-based academic and theatre-maker
Lesego Chauke steps in as the director. Although this is her first project as a
producer, Kabali-Kagwa has worked as a project coordinator on multiple
international and local theatre festivals, such as NAF and Cradle of
Creativity, through her work with ASSITEJ South Africa.
The cast is made up of four versatile
actors: Tankiso Mamabolo (The Fall, Aunty
Merle it’s a Girl), Chris Djuma (The
Kings of the World, The Mzansi Awards), Kathleen Stephens (Taming of the Shrew, Shakespeare in Love),
and Kiroshan Naidoo (Lalela Ulwande, The
Eulogists).
For each performance, the audience will be
added to the employee WhatsApp group chat, where they watch as silent voyeurs.
Early bird ticket sales and a browsing of the National Arts Festival programme
will be available from June 18, 2020, at http://www.nationalartsfestival.co.za
Performance Dates at vNAF:
July 2– 19h00
July 3– 19h00
July 4– 11h00
For more information around booking tickets
and vNAF 2020 visit https://www.nationalartsfestival.co.za
For further enquiries about The Shopping Dead contact Faye Kabali-Kagwa
at msfayekk@gmail.com
Follow on:
Facebook -
https://www.facebook.com/Theshoppingdead/
Instagram - @theshoppingdead
#vNAF2020
#vFringe2020
#amazingeverywhere
#wearestillcreating
(To
link direct to the National Arts Festival site. click on the large banner that
runs across the top of this blog or visit
https://www.nationalartsfestival.co.za or visit Facebook:
www.facebook.com/nationalartsfestival; Twitter: @artsfestival or Instagram:
nationalartsfestival)
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