A collaboration between Nkanyiso Kunene, Derek Gripper and Janni Younge.
Puppetry, live music and dance tell the origins story of Ezileh, the woman at the heart of Janni Younge’s Firebird.
“ Janni Younge’s theatre production, Origins, created with Derek Gripper and Nkanyiso Kunene is an absolute masterpiece. When three brilliant artists like these collaborate the outcome is a real sensory feast. This is world class theatre!”
Ismail Mohamed, Director of the Centre for Creative Arts UKZN and former director of South Africa’s National Arts Festival
Origins is a puppet-dance production performed to live music. Created by Janni Younge, Nkanyiso Kunene and Derek Gripper the performance weaves three mediums- puppetry, dance and music- to evoke a human journey through artistic synthesis.
Origins is the story of a Ezileh, a girl finding her way to adulthood. As Ezileh and her father face the vulnerability of being human we see them make choices that define who they become. Origins uses visual metaphors, emotive movement and music to evoke the energy that pulls us together and pushes us apart.
We begin in the expanse of space where dark matter and dark energy, opposing forces in the universe, create and transform bodies in space. We meet Ezileh in the stars and follow her as she is born into life with her father. The love and commitment that Monwabisi manifests towards his daughter is gradually obscured as he struggles with difficult circumstances. Ezileh possesses the powerful gift of creative imagination. She starts life adored and placed at the centre of her father’s world. As his shifting attention shakes the security of her being, she increasingly draws on her own inner resources for strength as his emotional distance grows. As she is propelled into life and builds her defences, her fragile magic threatens to vanish. Finally Ezileh is the one who recognizes that if she forgives his human frailty the love that she has been cut off from is still available to her and that she can own the spark of magic that is her birthright.
There is no performance medium as powerful as puppetry to bring the nuances of childhood to life on stage. This form allows profound access to the character of Ezileh as she navigates her childhood. Lyrical, visual sequences are combined with crisp, naturalistic puppetry, revealing the psychological world of the child.
African-contemporary dance manifests the emotional world of Ezileh and Monwabisi. Combined with object and puppet performance the evocative dance gestures sculpt the viewer's access to the journey of Origins.
Performed live, the music of Derek Gripper weaves a trance-like web of sound around the performance, connecting characters and felt spaces through multi-layered sounds from the single guitar.
Production Credits
Direction and design: Janni Younge
Choreography: Nkanyiso Kunene
Musical score and performance: Derek Gripper
Written by Janni Younge and Nkanyiso Kunene with Roshina Ratnam and Derek Gripper
Performed by Thabisa Dinga, Nkanyiso Kunene, Cue (Nqubeko) Ngeman, Nkosenathi Mngomezulu, and Vuyolwethu Nompetsheni
Lighting design and stage Management: Lize-Marie van Rooyen
Puppet and set construction: Janni Younge, Samkelo Zihlangu, Mandiseli Maseti, Luke Younge and Andy Jones