| What: Santa’s Sleighbell Safari! When: December 18 to 21, 2024 (eight shows at noon and 2pm each day) Where: Arena, Artscape Theatre, Cape Town Tickets: R150 Bookings: Webtickets or Artscape box office Direct booking link: https://www.webtickets.co.za/v2/Event.aspx?itemid=1556379282 Duration: 50 minutes Director: Frankie van Straten Performers: Chloè K. Van Rooyen, Jeanie Heyns and Mthuthuzeli Zimba Lighting: Faheem Bardien Script: Frankie van Straten – written in collaboration with Cast Set, puppets, costume and AV: Frankie van Straten Producer: Foxtale Theatrical |
Santa’s Sleighbell Safari! is lyrical, wistful and celebratory theatre with exquisite puppets, beautiful performances and staging. The show, geared for family audiences is on for a short season in Cape Town at the Artscape Arena (December 18 to 21, 2024, eight shows at noon and 2pm each day).
Chloè K. Van Rooyen, Jeanie Heyns and Mthuthuzeli Zimba are the performers and also puppeteers in this reflective Christmas story in which African animals save the day. There was a full house at the opening performance and the young audience, accompanied by older folk was rapt by the play with puppets, music and dance.
Direction is by Frankie van Straten and he also devised the multi-lingual script (English, isiXhosa and Afrikaans) with the cast. It is a multi-nuanced script which references festive folklore of Christmas, Santa and the Elves and frames it in an African state of mind. Van Straten also created the puppets, set and AV and it is his company, Foxtale Theatrical, which has produced the show. The new company is a headed up by Van Straten who has extensive experience in theatre and wardrobe design on numerous productions, including international touring musicals. Huge care has been taken into the fabrication and details of the props, puppets, costumes, sets and AV (striking animated AV). A big round of applause to van Straten for creating quality theatre for young audiences, with high production values.
The production has a glow about it, with luminescent lighting design by Faheem Bardien. The actor/puppeteers Chloè K. Van Rooyen, Jeanie Heyns and Mthuthuzeli Zimba are a delight as they unravel the narratives, with the puppets as characters in their own right. The performers deliver physically charged performances, activating the intimate Arena space. Watch this clip to get a sense of the dynamism of the performance https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMk61nJgy/
The Elves – Crystal and Twinkle gate crash the workshop of Tinker in the North Pole. Tinker is the toymaker. She is the one who invents every toy. Mayhem ensues when the naughty Crystal and Twinkle break a toy that Santa was going to give to his wife, after his deliveries. Santa has an accident with his sleigh and loses his reindeer. Twinkle and Crystal enlist the help of African animals (gorgeous puppets) to help – find the reindeer, deliver the presents and wrap everything up.
I felt that the script could do with some tightening and tidying up of the narratives. There is some audience participation but perhaps this could be increased. The puppets are small, so it is advisable to sit closer to the stage.
I was enchanted by this play with puppets. I enjoyed the creativity, story and use of space, with the performers and quirky puppet animals (such as Debra the Zebra) conjuring up a world of magical realism. The take home: If we harness our imagination and creativity and pull together we can make things happen. Many hands make less work. We can celebrate and rejoice by having a “lovely Xmas braai, under the Baobab tree”. I love that image – a braai under the Baobab tree.
By the way, the noon performance on Saturday (December, 21) is sold out. I look forward to more productions from Foxtale Theatrical.
❇ Chloè K. Van Rooyen and Mthuthuzeli Zimba – actor/puppeteers, Santa’s Sleighbell Safari! December 18 to 21, 2024, Arena, Artscape Theatre, Cape Town. Image supplied.
