The Life & Times of Michael K arrives at last! The South African premiere of Nobel Prize-winning author JM Coetzee’s Life & Times of Michael K, adapted for the stage by Lara Foot, in collaboration with the Handspring Puppet Company, opens on 28 February at the Baxter Theatre.
This is the Baxter’s most ambitious and exciting production in recent years This highly anticipated co-production between Theater der Welt Festival, Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus, Baxter Theatre Centre and Les Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg, brings together some of South Africa’s most revered, multi-award-winning artists.
Written and directed by Foot, it is the largest and most illustrious undertaking by the theatre over the past decade and is the culmination of more than two years of planning. It marks the first time that she will be working with the Tony award-winning Basil Jones and Adrian Kohler from the hit production War Horse-fame, along with a formidable cast and creative team. The impressive South African cast includes theatre legends Sandra Prinsloo, Andrew Buckland, Faniswa Yisa, puppet master Craig Leo, Roshina Ratnam, Carlo Daniels, Marty Kintu, Billy Langa and Nolufefe Ntshuntshe.
The production was invited to debut at the Theater der Welt festival at the Düsseldorf Theatre, Germany, in June 2019, however, the festival was postponed to June 2021 because of the pandemic and travel restrictions. The world premiere was livestreamed from The Baxter to Dusseldorf and in November 2021 the company travelled to Germany to perform live for the first time, to great acclaim.
The German media raved, with Frankfurter Algemeine Zeitung describing it as “… a brilliant Coetzee adaptation …” and “… the lights went out and a spectacular evening of theatre began …” while report-D said, “It was beguiling. Different. Great.”, and RP Online described it as “Great theatre.”
Epic in scale, Life & Times of Michael K, is a multi-layered theatrical staging which combines puppetry, performance, film and evocative music, bringing to life Coetzee’s Booker Prize-winning novel.
The hauntingly beautiful story follows Michael K, a simple man who embarks on a journey through South Africa, ravaged by civil war, to return his mother to die on the farm, where she was born. He finds strength in his own humanity, his profound connection to the earth and his unique path which, as it unfolds, reveals to him, his reason for living.
The creative team is made up of Lara Foot (adaptor, writer, director), Handspring Puppet Company (adaptors, puppet directors, design and makers), Patrick Curtis (set design) Kyle Shepherd (original music composition), Joshua Cutts (lighting), Fiona McPherson and Barrett de Kock (directors of photography and film), Yoav Dagan (videography and editing), Kirsti Cumming (projection design), Phyllis Midlane (costumes) and Simon Kohler (sound design).
WHAT: Life & Times of Michael
WHERE: The Baxter Theatre, Main Road, Rondebosch, Cape Town 7600/
WHEN: 28 February to 19 March 2022 at 7pm, with Saturday matinees at 2pm on 5, 12 and 19 March. Patrons and audience members are advised to arrive at least an hour before the start of the performance to avoid delays.
TICKETS: Webtickets online at www.webtickets.co.za or at Pick n Pay Stores. For discounted block or schools’ bookings and fundraisers contact Leon van Zyl at leon.vanzyl@uct.ac.za
PHOTOS: Lead photo: Nolufefe Ntshuntshe, Craig Leo, Carlo Daniels, Roshina Ratnam, Andrew Buckland in Life & Times of Michael K, pic by Fiona McPherson. Photo above: Sandra Prinsloo, Faniswa Yisa, Craig Leo, Roshina Ratnam in Life & Times Of Micheal K, pic by Fiona McPherson
WHAT THE CRITICS SAID IN GERMANY
“… a brilliant Coetzee adaptation …” – Simon Strauss, Frankfurter Algemeine Zeitung
“… the lights went out and a spectacular evening of theatre began …” – Simon Strauss, Frankfurter Algemeine Zeitung
“Lara Foot builds impressive images together with her puppet ensemble, taking plenty of time to let the precision in the collective guidance of a half-life-size marionette take effect.” -Simon Strauss, Frankfurter Algemeine Zeitung
“… the transcontinental applause, should have been savored longer instead of fading to credits … the opening premiere was touching.” – Martin Krumbholz, Süddeutsche Zeitung Digitale Medien
“… a captivating counter-vision to all the violence and suffering Coetzee recounts.” – Sascha Westphal, Nacht Kritik
“Great theatre … we are witnesses to a great choreography of life and the suffering of life.” – Lothar Schröder, RP Online
“This is not a didactic play. It is poetic power, which confronts us so closely with pure struggle for survival…” – Lothar Schröder, RP Online
“It was beguiling. Different. Great.” -Birgit Kölgen, report-D
The audience is gripped … at the end there is a genuine applause for the ensemble in Cape Town …”. -Birgit Kölgen, report-D
“Superbly filmed … the puppets come alive” -Stefan Keim for Deutschlandfunk Kultur
“… there are many touching and humourous moments …” – Claus Clemens, Dusseldorfer Kultur & Freizeit
WHAT SOME OF THE CRITICS SAID IN CAPE TOWN
“Lara Foot’s adaption in collaboration with the Handspring Puppet Company was an absolute triumph.” – Andre du Toit, radio personality, speaker coach at TEDxCapeTown
“What Lara Foot and the Baxter Theatre have done is nothing short of amazing. It’s ambitious, bold, and quite honestly is a great example of the power of theatre.” – Faye Kabali-Kagwa, arts activist
