The production is an imaginative journey through the childhood of Nelson Mandela featuring colourful characters, vividly portrayed in beautiful masks, with physical performances supported by emotive sound design and theatrical styling.
The play is written by Nick Warren and Jenine Collocott. It is also directed and designed by Collocott with sceneography construction by Duncan Gibbon and sound design by Peter Cornell. It was originally produced by KBT and Hello Elephant. Recently, the production enjoyed sell out seasons at both the SA State Theatre in Pretoria and at the
National Arts Festival in Grahamstown.
Making Mandela will make its Johannesburg debut on Monday, 14 September for a two week run at the Auto & General Theatre on the Square at Nelson Mandela Square.
1918 marks the birth of Rolihlahla Madiba Mandela as well as the Afrikaner Broederbond.
Making Mandela tells the story of two opposing forces with different upbringings, natures, backgrounds and intentions developed in parallel and destined to one day confront each other in a battle for the ultimate freedom of South Africa for all South Africans.
In 2009, Collocott received funding from the National Arts Council to write this script. She then employed Warren and they researched and wrote the script together. Collocott was subsequently invited to the NAC writing initiative
So You Think You Can Write where the script was read publically in 2010. After that she went to further her theatre studies for three years in Italy. In 2013 she applied to the NAC and was successful for a percentage of the total production budget. In 2014 she joined forces with KBT Productions produce this piece. Collocott received a letter from the Nelson Mandela Foundation confirming their support of the production where they stated that any artist is within their right to do an interpretation of Mandela’s life.
Bookings can be made by phoning Strictly Tickets on +27 82 553-5901 or visiting
www.strictlytickets.com. Alternatively, phone the theatre’s box office on +27 11 883-8606. Corporate and school groups are encouraged to book early. Enquire about discounts for group bookings and special offers on Tuesdays.