| What: Unruly Performer: Andrew Buckland, accompanied by jazz performer and composer Chantal Willie-Petersen on double bass Director: Neil Coppen Writers: Neil Coppen, Andrew Buckland and Dr Dylan McGarry Design: Dylan McGarry Original score: Braam Du Toit and Chantal Willie-Petersen Sound design: Tristan Horton When: July 17 to August 2, 2025 Where: The Baxter Studio, Cape Town Bookings: Webtickets |
Unruly is on at the Baxter, July 17 to August 2, 2025. There was a rapt audience on a cold Saturday night in the Baxter Studio, in the thrall of Andrew Buckland, accompanied by Chantal Willie-Petersen on double bass. There was a standing ovation – of reverence.
There is deep reverence for Andrew Buckland, virtuoso of physical theatre and the sheer presence of him on stage, his artistry and stagecraft. Donning a cardboard mask, he metamorphoses into a baboon, crouching on a chair – a baboon who knows how to sit on a chair – who apes humans but is untamed, unruly. He also conjures up numerous characters and accents. Extraordinary performance.
There is deep sense of unruliness in Unruly as the main protagonist, Rob (a retired primatologist) tells his story about his utopian dream of co-existing with urbanised baboons, and plans for indigenous gardening in a fictional town, Skemer Baai. It is a return โhome for his wife, Sonja, to the place where she grew up and her โfriendsโ, the baboons. Sonjaโs death leaves a deep void in Robโs life. Wrapped in grief, things turn out very differently to what was envisaged by the couple.
Unruly goes beyond the Cape Town Dream of living in the Deep South. It is about the first inhabitants of the land, dispossessed by the Apartheid Group Areas Act and before that, the primary inhabitants of the land, dispossessed of their habitats. And now? Through the crucible of this story, there is a lot to consider beyond the โproblemโ of humans and urbanised baboons, when nature asserts its unruliness.
Congrats to team Empath Theatre, director Neil Coppen and Dylan McGarry. They wrote the text with Andrew Buckland. Tremendous research has shaped Unruly. It is not just a play. It is an intervention, a mediation. It has been staged in communities which struggle with the โbaboon issueโ and no, it is not just an issue which effects privileged whiteys living in Tokai, Fish Hoek and other areas in the South. For example, residents in Masiphumeleleย deal with baboons, without the deterrents that are available to protect their homes. Feedback has been a vital aspect of the project.
When it was first staged, Unruly received three nominations for the Fleur du Cap Theatre Awards. I donโt know how I missed seeing it. It is a beautiful piece of theatre – visually – fired up by a circle of spectators on stage – surrounding Andrew Buckland. Sonically, it is beautiful with the melodies created by Chantal Willie-Petersen – and sounds which evoke communication beyond language- which is core to the story.
It feels like a sacred space, that we are immersed in as we take deep breaths, as prompted by Rob the primatologist who invites us into the circle, to see each other, to see the โotherโ, without interruption of the screens of our mobile devices and the incessant ping of WhatsApp notifications. The dialogue is frequently sardonic and hilarious as we are regaled with the banter of Moms for Baboons and other groups not exactly partial to primates invading their properties. I had no idea that is a huge industry of baboon deterrents for purchase and tracking apps to keep people appraised of troupe movements.
Personal postscript: I do not live in the proximity of baboons, so it was not something I had given much thought about. Recently, it was brought into focus for me, when I happened to be in Simonโs Town, March 2025 and I filmed two Chacma baboonscrossingthe road at a pedestrian crossing. The baboons were guided by a marshal, who works a volunteer, ensuring that when the baboons come into town, from the mountains to forage, that they can do so without humans harming them and importantly that the cars in the busy main road, stop to allow them to cross. It was a fun video. I posted the video on TikTok, unedited, with the original sound and the caption: โIf you listen carefully, you can hear Charles Darwin laughing.โ https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMSxF1juP/ The video kindled a fascinating conversation with many light-hearted comments about their intelligence and that they were going shopping, for coffee and so on. Within all that, there were comments about the destruction of baboons and the danger for urbanites who live nearby. Well, yeah they are wild animals. Many people remarked that they (baboons) were the first inhabitants of Simonโs Town and now we want them banished. I donโt live in an area, where baboons come and forage so as I say, I hadnโt given much consideration to humans in an urban setting, interacting with baboons. Unruly brings the conversation into our gaze in a theatrical context, with a transfixing narrative, with the legendary Andrew Buckland as our guide, inviting us to have conversations, engage with our land and consider the rights of all our inhabitants.
โณ Unruly, starring Andrew Buckland. Pic: Retha Ferguson. Supplied,
