- by Yazeed Kamaldien

Environmental consciousness has taken root at a local primary school where theatre is leading learners on a mission to protect trees.

Enthusiasm for green action at Prince George Primary School started when Greenpop, a self-described Cape Town-based tree-planting and environmental awareness social enterprise, planted 63 trees at the school earlier this year. The school still lacks a decent laying field and uses alternative grounds for sporting activities.

Learners have meanwhile gained conservation tips and subsequently teamed up with the UK-based Libellule Theatre company to produce a stage play called ‘PopArt’.

This show will be performed at the Out the Box Festival of Puppetry and Visual Performance on Saturday, September 3, and later at the school.

 

Libellule Theatre will meanwhile perform its own show ‘Just a Bit of Paper’ throughout the festival (details at the end of this article).

School principal Lameez Rabbaney said that their 23 learners participating in ‘PopArt’ were facing “a good challenge”.

“Some of them have worked together on a school play before but they have not been exposed to anyone who does professional drama and choreography. They have not been exposed to writing their own plays and they are finding that a bit frustrating,” said Rabbaney.

 

She also said that having access to a professional theatre company at their school was “an opportunity of a lifetime”.

“We do not have teachers who are arts experts. We have an arts centre that we work with for our Grades 5, 6 and 7. We have to pay for that. The lower grades have teachers that have to do their own art, drama and music,” she said.

“The arts are dead in our school. We are being pushed for maths and languages results. Public schools are measured by that. Yes, this will assist our children to get to good high schools and universities. But where do our children get a chance to express themselves?”

Rabbaney described Lavender Hill as a “working class area”.

“Many parents get (government) child grants of R260 per child and there are many children who are part of foster families,” she said.

But participating in ‘PopArt’ was a means to entice learner’s minds to possibilities beyond their hardships, said the principal.

“Our children need to realise that Lavender Hill is very small compared to the rest of the country and world. They mustn’t set their sights only on Lavender Hill. They must think further. If they can believe they can achieve,” said Rabbaney.

“Life skills are very important for our children. Our curriculum doesn’t have much space for the arts. For these learners who are involved, they are being exposed to other people and their way of thinking. Out the Box is giving them an experience. The box is Lavender Hill and they are getting out of the box.”

Libellule Theatre’s actor-directors Louise Clark and Simone Lewis worked with the learners for five days to think up and map out their stage play. Clark said their process involved “working with children to create a work in a short space of time”.

“We have taken Greenpop’s idea of making grey spaces green. The children imagine what a grey world is like and how that would make them feel. Their story is that suddenly a plant grows in the grey world. They are creatures who then start to think about how to take care of these plants. Then there’s colour and their world changes,” explained Clark.

 

“We are taking their safety net away and putting them on a big stage. They will have lighting and everything. We have a bus to take their families to the theatre so that they have support. It’s going to be a big thing for them.”

Lewis said that “it’s been interesting working with them”.

“It’s been a huge learning curve for them and us. We have a very energetic bunch of learners who struggle to listen to each other, respect each other and work as a team. They have developed their listening skills, character and working together towards something that I hope they will be proud of,” said Lewis.

“It is quite an eye opener to see the lack of resources at a school like this. We work in a variety of schools. We work with children in the UK from less advantaged backgrounds but that really cannot compare with less advantaged areas in South Africa. It’s a shame that the resources aren’t there for these kids.”

Lewis also said that “seeing the children’s development in just four days shows that the arts are so important in developing their skills and self confidence”.

“Some didn’t have a word come out of the mouths in the first two days but now they are sharing their ideas. We are drawing out their thoughts about their environment and want to instil a sense of pride in a space that they are surrounded by. That’s important for them to feel a sense of belonging,” said Lewis.

“It’s not the most important thing to get a high quality product. We are emphasising that these children are on a massive journey. They are learning about themselves, each other and the environment.”

Twenty-two of the school’s Grade 7 learners volunteered to conceptualise and perform ‘PopArt’. One of them, Marvin Malingo, said that he enjoyed drama but wanted to also share important messages with his community.

 

“Drama is fun. I like dressing up and do it all the time. I have done drama shows at school before. Now we want to tell people to look after our planet,” he said.

Another learner, Keasha Soetwater, said that she had “learnt about team work and to respect each other”. Nicole Samuels said she observed that “we use a lot of trees for school books that’s why we need to plant more trees”.

Junaid Abrahams said simply: “The environment is important because we live in it”.

 

‘PopArt’ will be performed at the Magnet Theatre in Observatory as part of the opening of the Out the Box festival at 3:30pm. ‘Just A Piece of Paper’ shows at Out the Box. It is suitable for children aged three to five. The venue is the Movement Room at UCT’s Hiddingh campus on Orange Street. Shows are on Wednesday Sep 7 (5pm), Thursday Sep 8 (10:30am and 1:30pm), Saturday Sep 10 (3:30pm) and Sunday Sep 11 (11:30am). Bookings via Computicket 0861-915-8000.

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