(Above: Mpilo “Straw”
Nzimande & Cara Roberts in ”Tin
Bucket Drum”)
DUT Higher Certificate Performing Arts Technology Industry Interface present two South African theatre classics coming to DUT:
Andrew Buckland's The Ugly Noo Noo
Neil Coppen's Tin
Bucket Drum
Actor’s Studio, DUT: October 15, 16 & 17
Two iconic South African theatre works will be staged at the
Actor’s Studio, adjacent to the Courtyard Theatre at DUT: Andrew Buckland’s The Ugly Noo Noo and Neil Coppen’s Tin Bucket Drum. Each production will
run for two daytime performances.
The Ugly Noo Noo, directed by Peter Mitchell and featuring Mpilo “Straw” Nzimande, is Buckland’s legendary comic physical theatre piece. First premiered in 1988, this explosive satire transformed South African theatre for generations of practitioners and audiences. The play follows a man’s surreal encounter with the infamous Parktown Prawn, using sharp wit and physical storytelling to explore the compost heaps and dark underbelly of suburban Johannesburg.
Tin Bucket Drum, directed by Bryan Hiles and featuring Mpilo “Straw” Nzimande alongside Naledi Award-winner Cara Roberts, blends magical realism, shadow puppetry, Kabuki theatre, and live percussion. Coppen’s lyrical script reimagines African storytelling traditions in an allegorical tale of oppression and liberation. Through evocative lighting and sound, a single narrator conjures a multitude of characters, offering timeless lessons for diverse audiences.
These productions form part of the practical project-based learning component for students enrolled in DUT’s year-long Higher Certificate in Performing Arts Technology. Students will provide support across design, lighting, sound, set construction, front of house, crew and stage management, gaining hands-on experience in a simulated professional festival setting.
“We want our students to gain real-world experience in a festival-like environment,” explains course leader Clare Craighead. “By staging these culturally significant plays, which offer rich technical and design challenges appropriate to Higher Certificate-level learning, we’re giving students the opportunity to work alongside professional actors and directors while opening our theatre doors to the public.”
The project features industry collaboration and mentorship with Lisa Goldstone (lighting), Bryan Hiles (director and carpentry), and Nel van der Merwe (set design and carpentry). Students will assist across technical, set, and front-of-house elements, aligning with DUT’s strategic vision of integrating industry into teaching and learning spaces.
The Ugly Noo Noo
Wed 15 Oct @ 10h00
Thurs 16 Oct @ 13h00
Tin Bucket Drum
Thurs 16 Oct @ 17h00
Fri 17 Oct @ 15h00
Tickets: R50 (R20 students, scholars & pensioners)
Seating is limited – only 50 seats per performance. Booking
is essential: Email Clarec1@dut.ac.za
Posts
