Putuma interview: Early Years Theatre Festival

Theatre-maker Koleka Putuma is at the helm of several productions in the innovative Early Years Theatre Festival. She talks about the event.

What is The Early Years Theatre Festival– who is presenting it, and who is it for?

The Early Years Theatre Festival is presented by the Magnet Theatre Company. The festival is a ten day feast of shows for young audiences, up to the age of seven, and their caregivers.

How many productions are in the festival, and do they run every day?

There are three productions presented in the festival: SCOOP, Ekhaya and KNOCK! Each will run daily, except Sundays. SCOOP(ages two weeks to 12 months) at 10am; Ekhaya at 11.30am and KNOCK! at 2pm – both of these shows are aimed at ages three to seven.

Tell us about each one?

SCOOP: Kitchen Play for Moms and Babes was created for babies two weeks to 12 months old, this is the first South African play for moms and babies.

The production is performed in a contained relaxing space, carefully designed to captivate the baby with indigenous sounds, song, lights, and various textures.

The production makes use of materials and objects obtainable in the household, more specifically the kitchen. It is an intensive communication between the performer, the material, the babe and its caregiver.

Ekhaya was created for three to seven-year-olds, Ekhaya is performed in isiXhosa, English and Afrikaans, and explores notions of being “at home” and what it means for the audience, using original appealing songs and visual images.

KNOCK! is a work which plays with the fun discovery of the natural material of wood: what it sounds like, what it can do and what it can make. The cast create strange and magical animals and images with wonderfully shaped pieces of forest wood, interacting with the children through song, rhythms and creating sounds.

What is your role for each of these productions?

I directed Ekhaya and SCOOP, and assisted in the direction of KNOCK! which was directed by Jennie Reznek.

You have a degree in theatre and performance from UCT. Did you undergo extra training to work in the early theatre field?

The process of creating each production was made possible through week-long incubations/workshops with various children’s theatre specialists/practitioners, prior to the Early Years company embarking on the process of creating each production. SCOOP was created through an incubation with The Replay Theatre Company from Ireland under Anna Newell’s input. KNOCK! went through a week-long incubation process with Barbara Kolling from the Helios Theater company in Germany, and Ekhaya, was as a result of an incubation process with Gabi Dan Droste, an international expert in early Childhood Development theatre.

My undergrad degree did not prepare me for the challenge that is creating work for young audiences! Prior to my residency at Magnet, I had a vague sense of what children’s theatre looks like. I knew that it was a growing and now-starting-to-trend industry in South Africa, but had never engaged with it to such an extent. The incubations were of great assistance in offering insight into what is possible in and for young audiences in theatre. The international practitioners, along with the mentorship of Jennie Reznek, instilled a lot of confidence, ideas, excitement and tools for the company to create the work.

What would you say the key elements are in creating theatre for young ones – what is important?

Sound, captivating visuals, the constant connection between the performer and the audience. Particularly in the play for two week to 12 month babies, an intensive interaction between the baby and performer is integral to engaging and sustaining the audience’s focus/attention.

And what is it that makes you, personally, enjoy making theatre for young ones?

The audience’s response is not only immediate but it is extremely and unapologetically honest and specific to their needs at the time that they are watching the work. Creating work for young audience asks of you to be disciplined in your dramaturgical process. It requires you to pay attention to detail with the space, materials, textures and sounds that you utilise. It’s the one place where the audience dictates how you make the work and the strict time frame in which it has to be in because of their attention span.

What was the last show you saw, and how did you find it?

Ityala Lamawele directed by Mandla Mbotwe and Thando Doni, staged at Artscape Theatre.

I found it aesthetically pleasing. I am excited for the revival and celebration of classical Xhosa texts/lives in theatre. I have a fetish for black bodies on stage, more so, black bodies who play in their mothertongues.

Grasping all of the text or story was work I had to do throughout my experience of the play, as the language is quite dense, even for me who speaks the language. I thought it was a job well done from both the cast and director.

l The Early Years Theatre Festival is at the Magnet Theatre from December 2 to 12. Book www.webtickets.co.za