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."