Hannah Montana Gone Bad

So after we've brought all the extras, collected the third camera... comes the most important question for a YouTube party... where to hang the projection screen for the evening viewing...
Outside? Inside? Definitely outside. Yes it's a blazing hot day with not a cloud in the sky and there's a lovely big projection wall where we can hang the screen. Right. Nick: So I'll nail the sheet right here... into the 1cm wide water pipe. Nice. So now there's a small water fall running down the wall and onto the patio floor. Super. It's Saturday. It's 2 hours before the party is due to start. Nick is off to the hardware down the road for HELP... I'm still setting up the studio's... Tick-Tock.
After what felt like a 5 hour long 30 minutes Nick is back and playing Bob the Builder and blow torching the wall. Jack is shooting a pellet gun. Lulu is barking. Amelia is asking if everything is going to be okay. Agnes is mopping the small dam that is formed where everyone is expected to sit. The tortoise is still nowhere to be seen. And the cat is shouting the odds. The torching done and it's time to test if in fact we'll have water for the 16 girls about to arrive. Tick-Tock.

What was a gentle waterfall is now a full on fountain that sprays right over all the seats... almost in slow motion... Everyone is tasked to fill every bucket, basin and bath. Nick is tasked with periodically going around and flushing toilets. Ding Dong.
The girls all arrive and Nick gives a fabulous funny brief welcome and introduction. It starts with watching some super cool YouTube video's to get everyone in the world... and ends the the key insight... Nick: I only want a B minus today - not an A plus - here the silly the mad and the stupid rock! And the three teams go into production...
1. Brainstorm the story
2. Draw the storyboard
3. Make the puppets and backgrounds

4. Rehearse
5. Shoot the movie
6. Participate in a crash course of editing
7. Edit
8. Export the movie
9. Create the DVD
All activities where closely monitored for time to ensure that by the time the parents arrived at 7:30pm for the viewing we were ready.
7:30 and we're still editing. Ding Dong - the parents start arriving. I hurry everyone up and start to export, create the DVD and up load... 15 minutes says the computer 'estimated time remaining.' Nick is making the critical decision - for the second time - Inside or Outside? The clear blue sky is now pregnant with low hanging cloud. Outside - it's not actually raining! '10 minutes estimated time remaining.' The parents are here... everyone is waiting and the computer spits out the DVD... 7:50pm.
And we're rolling - everyone rolls around in laughter and amazement at what has been created in 5 hours... we have a fabulous funny awards ceremony and amazingly 8:15pm and everyone is gone. The heavens opened!
I uploaded all three to YouTube... Here is 'Hannah Montana Gone Bad' which won best movie - it is super cool.

Rock on.

I am a Vampire

Today is Amelia's 12 birthday party - and we are having a Youtube party... we are setting up 3 'studio's' with loads of material for them to create their own puppets to tell their 1 minute story and enter the WWW! 3 camera's - 3 computers - 3 teams... 5 hours!

This is the movie Amelia (my almost stepdaughter) and I made (with the help of Jack, Melie's brother - responsible for the garlic... Hanna, Melie's friend - responsible for the Vampire girl... and Nick - responsible for setting up the camera and the story) in almost 5 hours... so today we have to be much more on the ball with time.

Gone are the days of Kissing Catchers... Musical Statues... Truth and Dare... bring on Youtube!

The Octopus from Untangled

This is a tiny exert from the show 'Untangled' - the Octopus - the way he pushes himself up and cowers and retracts and moves only the tips of his tentacles... it's simple and that's all there is to his story. A puppet aquarium - goose bumps every time he swam on. He is such a fab puppet - made and manipulated by the wonderful Alida van Deventer.

Polystyrene, paper mache and a bit of paint...

We built the shadow set for Weekend Special - it was so much more complicated than what I'd initially thought! We worked with Alida Van Deventer who is much more logical and plans thing carefully 'if you want to do them properly' - which we really did! It was a bit like making a dress...

First we started with the visual references - always a very good place to start... to get the general vibe, shape and colour of a township... Alexandra in Johannesburg

Then we made the pattern of how it should look - the size, number and character of the different buildings - then we went through so many different options of material...

and arrived back at the beginning with trusty old polystyrene...

which we sanded, paper mache'd, layered with cardboard and painted...

All this while Jaap (Alida's husband) spent hours looking at a clothing rail that the broken up pieces of structure had to fit on... and then of course come off again... he had to make an impossible puzzle!

And of course he did... and here is our set... it took us 4 full weeks to make.

All the little windows light up... it's very sweet... This is the choir scene...

My sisters favorite line is "...Lerato, get out of the wheelbarrow."

Marionette magic...

The 'Maggogies' unrequited love story (from our show 'Untangled' manipulated by the brilliant Alida van Deventer)... Children shriek with laughter at the gangly legs with which he struggles to walk and the googly eyes with which he checks her out... and adults laugh at the subtle truths in their intimate exchange.


The oh so serious jumping hoping a'ccapella choir - my favorite item in the whole show... Leaves children asking 'how could they sing like that?'

Next year we're starting a new childrens show - but this time a shadow show called 'The Big Tortoise and the Baby Hippo'

Ella: 'When I grow up I want to be 13'

Ella my 4 year old niece announced:
Ella: I'm tired of being a kid.
Renee (her mom): Why?
Ella: cos it takes too long to be an adult
Renee: Why do you want to be adult?
Ella: So I can drink wine

Ella drinking - disappointingly for her - COOL-DRINK.
Dressed as a cat with wand in hand and fabulous hair... dreaming of growing up faster...
I love her dialogue - the theatrics start.

London Calling...

http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/warhorse

Stunning preview for Warhorse - Hey?! Sometimes... to live in London (with enough money to poke a stick at - obviously) - what fantastic brilliant inspired stuff.

A summer storm is beginning to build - looks like large white coals gathering in the sky - feels a bit like London.

High Diving - Trailer

This is the trailer to my new play 'High Diving' which is actually quite an old play - I first did it in 2004 when we were at film school - in our, meaning Deborah and my, third year - making theatre at film school - i know - so it sucked actually! I also played the lead... and I was so unbelievably bad! Shame for me. Deborah played all the supports - even the boys - she was so funny but it was a bit weird... Then we did it again in our honours year - but with real theatre people this time - the fantastic director and theatre maker Helen Iskander from Fresco Theatre in Johannesburg - they did 'Baobabs don't grow here' - the best play I think i've ever seen, if ever it comes anywhere near you GO! - anyway, she breathed so much new life into it our little story - so really I have a lot to thank Helen for, as much of her hand still remains in the piece.

But it was only when I discovered shadow theatre (with Janni Younge's Elise's Adventures in Congoland - rocked my world!!!)... that for me the magic really happened - the doors flung open - the music soared - and the sun shone. Shadow theatre is like animation - it's cinematic - I think it's the ultimate film-meets-theatre - without having to go the more technically complex route of multi-media... so yay. We made the play - with real actors! - with original music by Andrew Ord (who I have never actually met - but he rocks) - I'll post the songs soon - Nick Warren (brill writer!) edited and read and re-read and edited the script (and wrote the lyrics for the new songs - which he says I butchered cos I made them a tiny bit more commercial - sorry) - Janni came on board with the shadow construction and flew to Joburg from Cape Town to help us with the sceneography (even though she was pregnant. p.s. she had a little girl!)...

I messed up the rehearsal schedule and in far too little time we were off to the Grahamstown Festival (July this year) - that's the biggest arts festival in SA. It rocked. I have such a fab cast - Toni Morkel, James Cairns, Deborah Da Cruz & Roberto Pombo - and that really is so much of the work done with theatre... So we filmed it and this is our trailer.