ZERAFFA GIRAFFA
An Omnibus Theatre and Little Angel Theatre co-production
A play by Sabrina Mahfouz
Based on the book by Dianne Hofmeyr and illustrated by Jane Ray
Director – Elgiva Field
Puppets and Puppetry – Matthew Hutchinson
Set and Costume Designer – Ingrid Hu
Composer – Candida Caldicot
Lighting Designer – Oscar Wyatt
Sound Designer – Jon McCleod
Cast – Ashton Owen, Andre Refig, Nadia Shash
Photography by Ellie Kurttz
21 September – 4 November, 2017 Little Angel Theatre, London
25 Nov – 17 Dec, 2017 Omnibus Theatre, London
Production for Young People aged 0-7
Based on the book by award-winning children’s author Dianne Hofmeyr, Zeraffa Giraffa is inspired by the true tale of a giraffe and its keeper Atir. Sent as a diplomatic gift from the Great Pasha of Egypt to the King of France in the 1820s, the story follows the various stages of the epic trip taken by these two companions. The pair are thrown through terrifying storms and encounter all sorts of nerve jangling creatures – and not to mention locals – before they arrive in France where no one has seen an animal like Zeraffa before.
Working in close collaboration with the creative team, the design of the stage and costumes evolved from ideas based around children’s perception of the visual world. Objects, scenery and costumes transform with and by the puppets and performers in unexpected and imaginative ways.
★★★★★ “a delightful production” Theatre Bubble
★★★★ “This is such a creative production with spellbinding surprises galore for the little ones, not to mention the wonderfully mature themes of difference and friendship”
Everything Theatre
★★★★ “interesting insights for all ages to ponder on”
London Theatre 1
Light / Dark
SU-EN Butoh Company, Uppsala Concert and Congress studio, Sweden
Installation performance
Filament LED light bulbs, cables, paper
Choreography - SU-EN
Light installation - Ingrid Hu
Music - Mikael Stavöstrand
Performers - Madeleine Holmund, Heiko Klandt
Photography by Ingrid Hu
We perceive light because we experience darkness. It is never just one or the other.
For over a century, we live as if we no longer rely on daylight. It is a paradox of wanting both. Artificial light presents a physiological dilemma, and more so in a place like Sweden where duration of daylight varies from one extremity to the other.
The installation is a response to this constant power negotiation between light and dark, seen and unseen. An artificial topography of light that evolves and adapts around our changing body. At the centre, a luminous element remains constant, reminding us the physical reality that dictates our natural world. This topography illuminates, in total darkness, and in our mind.
Invited by SU-EN, the collaboration started with a research and development period around light as a material. Using commonly available domestic light bulbs, the process involved dipping light bulbs in paint to reveal the glowing filament and making the glass to be its own light shade.
Produced by SU-EN Butoh Company and Uppsala Konsert & Kongress, Sweden
Haglund Skola, Sweden
Haglund Skola
Almunge, July 2018
Lilla Skola, where I was staying, meant little school. It felt familiar already, as I was here a few months ago, when the whole site was covered in thick snow. The house was part of the Haglund Skola compound where SU-EN Butoh Dance Company’s HQ is located, comprising the main school, little school, shower house, and guest house. Set within a forest in Almunge, I was well informed that there would be no WIFI, and mobile phone signal would be unreliable.
What is most disorienting for someone who lives in a city is probably the various tasks and procedures that one has to follow in and around the house. Upon entering the house, one needs to remove outdoor shoes and put on a pair of slippers. I’ve always considered this a good habit. There are various signs around the house, for example, ‘Haglund house order’, ‘Snow shovel plan’, ‘departure info’, ‘compost and recycling’, ‘fire instructions’ etc. One should pull the toilet flush knob straight up and gently. After shower, one should clean and dry the floor and walls. Do not use the oven at the same time as cooking other things; it will not get hot. There are 7 different bins in the kitchen: tetra/cardboard/thick paper, hard and soft plastic, metal, glass/ceramic, paper, compost, burnable rubbish, and something for the fox, if you know what goes in that bin. Compost is restricted to raw food: no eggs or egg shells, no citrus peels, no avocado or fruit with a large stone. I guess it’s a matter of learning a new habit.
After a day of meeting, preparation and rehearsal, I returned to my humble abode and continued with a different kind of busyness. I went through everything that needed to be binned and tried to identify the variety of materials our rubbish are made of. It might sound like an ordeal to have to go through all this, but the question that came to my head was: why did we make our life difficult by designing and producing packaging that cannot be biodegraded or recycled to begin with?