We’re all trying to board a moving bus.
Steve Foglia here. I was brought on as a Production Intern less than a month ago, which makes me effectively a veteran. Another month from now and we’ll be on our way to Nairobi.
But today is the first rehearsal. And before rehearsal...
-
One of the pleasures of working on a rich text is that we get to have the kind of discussions while making the play that audiences will eventually (we hope) have after seeing it. Today we went right to the heart of things: the conflict between liberty and control. In... -
Today’s rehearsal begins with a business meeting. There’s a lot of business on any production, but when you’re touring Africa logistics metastasize. When do we fly? Who picks us up? Where will we stay? Who can eat what? What do we wear, so what must we pack? Where are the shows,... -
During the second week of rehearsal, we were afforded the opportunity to dig deeper into the why of our project. Why Antigone? Why perform it in schools, prisons, public spaces, rather than theatres? Why take it to Kenya and South Africa? The highlight of our week was a visit from... -
One of the principles behind our project is that we want to be an outward-looking company; we want to have a production with its eyes open to the world around it. Antigone in the world. There’s a firm belief in our company that there are Antigones and Kreons (and Ismenes... -
All around effort really ramped up this week. In the rehearsal room, the actors are on their feet going hammer and tong at long stretches of the play. Imagine coming in for a day of work knowing you’ll be spending the first hour on your knees grieving for your... -
“I’ve never done anything harder, and I’ve never had more fun,” Mosher told us a week ago. It was the end of a week of rehearsals, and while our days were getting longer, the number of them left before departure was noticeably shorter. Fatigue was sinking in. The studio could... -
We’ve arrived in Nairobi! Rehearsal this week was light as both our director and our Antigone were off at the Aspen Ideas Fest talking up the project. We reconvened as a group on Thursday to run the show one last time and then go over last travel details. At 5 o’clock... -
Today was a truly special day. Our first full day in Kenya, and our first performance. We visited Precious Blood Kagwe Girls’ school in Kiambu, about an hour north of the city. The surrounding landscape was beautiful. We paused on the road to look out over the Great Rift, a soft,... -
Today we visited Kibera Academy, a school system nestled in the Karanja neighborhood. Kibera itself is one of the world’s largest slums and a rather famous part of broader Nairobi. Kibera is home to anywhere between 150,000 and 1 million residents, who occupy many rungs on the socioeconomic ladder.... -
On the road to our next school things start going pear-shaped. We’re passing through Eastleigh into Huruma when a police officer waves us to the side of the road. James, our driver, eases over, and the cop knocks on the window, asking to see our passports. The Americans in the... -
Yesterday we at last visited Shofco at their Mathare center. Albert, a Shofco employee, met us just outside the neighborhood and led our caravan in. According to Albert’s count, the community numbers several hundred thousand, and is nestled mainly in a low valley between two ridges (up which businesses and... -
It finally happened. The company has been holding strong for 6 days but today we had our first man down. The production journal is coming to you today from the keyboard of Benita de Wit because our resident writer, Stephen Foglia got a little adventurous with local fruits and veg... -
Much has changed on the tour in the past several days. For one, we’re no longer in Nairobi. For another, we’ve done two shows in a row, and neither of them were at schools. That’s right, Antigone In The World has come to Johannesburg, the hometown of both our Antigone... -
Yesterday we banged out another two-show day. Morning was Altrec Sport Centre in Alexandra, one of Johannesburg’s most famous townships. Alex, as the locals call it, was established over a hundred years ago, and has been a focal point of race and class-based conflict at many times throughout its history.... -
This morning we had the honor of visiting Kayelitsha to participate in the 4th Annual Vuka Mandela Theatrical Magic Event, produced by Theatre4Change Therapeutic Theatre (T3) and its founder Mandisi Sindo. Kayelitsha is Cape Town’s fastest-growing township. In comparison to Johannesburg, where townships are scattered throughout the metropolitan area, the... -
In an earlier entry, I alluded to a characteristic truth of this tour: the ground we gain one day will have to be regained the next. Just as we learn how to connect to one audience, we are confronted with a new group of strangers, with different needs. We... -
Well. Let it not be said we let the excitement flag at the end of the tour. Through a friend of Phumzile’s, we performed this morning at Masibambane School for about 250 high school students. Before the show even started, Alice Oldenburg, our filmmaker, rushed in to inform us that...