The AFDA Johannesburg honours Stage Acting students welcome all back LIVE and to return to the theatre with them with a double bill of exciting new works, Wet Behind the Ears, and Kapow-HER. These will be performed as the premiere of the AFDA Hybrid Graduation Festival on 3-4 December at the Red Roof Theatre on the Johannesburg campus. For those still cautious about heading out into the public, both shows will be simultaneously livestreamed as well.
A coming of age story…with chlorine
Wet Behind The Ears is a tragicomic coming of age story…with chlorine. Gillie, a young woman, struggling to adapt to major changes happening in her life, and her relationship with her estranged mother, recounts the story of her fascination with water from a young age. The action kicks out from bath time splashing competitions, to early free-swimming experiences, to starting to take swimming seriously, through lessons and life lived in a lane where all she had to do was “follow the black line at the bottom of the pool”. The telling of her story takes the audience through hot summers and cold early mornings, first loves, and the struggle to fit into a world she increasingly feels less a part of. Needing to accept her own individuality and agency, Gillie is faced with an uneasy predicament where she has to choose to walk her own path – bravely into an uncertain future.
Splashing between high drama and physical comedy, Wet Behind The Ears is created and performed by Nicole Butow and directed by Rob Murray.
The Female Three – Punching Patriarchy!
High-octane, irreverent, but as serious as a kick to the fruit, Kapow-HER strips away the thin veneer of accepted social behaviour to expose life for what it is: raw, messed up, and often brutally funny. Like a twisted comic book come to life, and told in a deliciously visceral graphic mime style, the show is built around a series of sketches that take a darkly humourous look at female-male relationships in contemporary life. From a Sisterhood Boot Camp, a #MenAreTrash Recycling plant, to a sobering Lie Court, expect this show to poke many bears, slay sacred cows, and leave no turn unstoned.
Smart, slick, and viciously funny, Kapow-HER is created and performed by Bianca Pieterse, Anke Snyman, and Nicole Butow and directed by Maude Sandham.
“The students’ passion, dedication, joy, and a remarkable level of grit displayed throughout this rollercoaster of a year is a lesson for us all,” says Francois Smit, Head of Postgraduate Studies at AFDA JHB. “Both productions are a must-see for skill, application, and bravery. All thanks to the tech crew at our theatre for making it possible both live and online – that is a real bonus and points to the future!”
Wet Behind the Ears plays at 6pm and KAPOW-HER at 8pm on Thursday 3rd and Friday 4th December at the Red Roof Theatre on the Johannesburg campus, 41 Frost Avenue, Braamfontein Wharf. Tickets are R50 for each show – limited in-house or livestreaming tickets can be purchased through Quicket: https://qkt.io/BAQNh3
In the event of livestreaming tickets, your unique code will be mailed to you 15 minutes before the start of the show.
For all enquiries, please mail redrooftheatre@afda.co.za
Special COVID Protocols
To maintain the safety of our patrons and students at the theatre, strict safety protocols will be advised. All patrons with live tickets are advised to arrive at least 45 minutes before the performance times. You will be temperature screened and sanitised at the gate, as well as asked to fill in a short questionnaire for contact tracing. The wearing of face-masks is mandatory. Entry to the theatre will be managed on a one by one system, and all seating is socially-distanced. The theatre will be thoroughly ventilated and sanitised between shows. There is ample safe parking on campus.
