The saying “If you want to teach maths to John, you should know two things: maths and John” explains why we started scripting our own plays and story reading skits. We know the valuable role of theatre in learning and we know the lingo of township kids.
We had previously hired professional actors - at huge cost - from suburban theatre companies to perform for our children in Orange Farm, or Finetown, or Vlakfontein. However, the plays were lost on them for a myriad of reasons: language, diction, pronunciation.
That’s when we began writing our own material based on well- known themes: litter, respect, greed, caring for the environment. When our staff took the stage audiences were riveted, eyes and ears followed actors across the stage, humour was understood, appreciated and laughter followed. The timing for delivery was on point!
We saw the value and progressed to reading much-loved stories in character and costume. Our scripts take on moral and ethical and educational themes. And the kids love them.
