‘Life and Times of Michael K’ at the Baxter this June

The Baxter is proud to announce its most ambitious and exciting production in recent years – a Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus (Germany) and Baxter Theatre co-production (world premiere) – opening the Theater der Welt Festival and livestreamed from The Baxter on 17 and 18 June 2021, to Düsseldorf and the world.

The special preview season of Nobel Prize-winning author JM Coetzee’s Life and Times of Michael K is adapted for the stage by Lara Foot, in collaboration with the Handspring Puppet Company and takes place from 7 to 16 June 2021 at 19:00.

The world premiere will be livestreamed from The Baxter at the opening of the prestigious Theater der Welt Festival at the Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus in Germany on 17 and 18 June 2021. 

The highly anticipated co-production between Theater der Welt Festival, Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus, The Baxter and Les Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg, brings together some of South Africa’s most revered, multi-award-winning artists.

Written and directed by Foot, it is the largest and most illustrious undertaking by the theatre over the past decade and is the culmination of two years of planning. It marks the first time that she will be working with the Tony award-winning Basil Jones and Adrian Kohler from the hit production War Horse-fame, along with a formidable cast and creative team.

The impressive South African cast includes theatre legends Sandra Prinsloo, Andrew Buckland, Faniswa Yisa, puppet master Craig Leo, Roshina Ratnam, Carlo Daniels, Marty Kintu, Billy Langa, Nolufefe Ntshuntshe, along with German puppeteer Markus Schabbing.

Epic in scale, Life and Times of Michael K is a multi-layered theatrical staging that combines puppetry, performance, film and evocative music, bringing to life Coetzee’s Booker Prize-winning novel.

'Hauntingly beautiful’

The production was invited to debut at the Theater der Welt festival at the Düsseldorf Theatre in Germany in June last year. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, lockdown and travel restrictions, the festival was postponed to 2021. With the uncertainty of travel bans currently impacting many countries, the organisers decided to have the special preview in South Africa.

“The collaboration with our outstanding artistic partners at The Baxter and Handspring Puppet Company in South Africa has become even more intense during this time of the pandemic. It represents a unique value of art: vivid partnership across borders,” said Stefan Schmidtke, the artistic director of the Theater der Welt Festival.

The hauntingly beautiful story follows Michael K, a simple man who embarks on a journey through South Africa, ravaged by civil war, to return his mother to die on the farm where she was born. He finds strength in his own humanity, his profound connection to the earth and his unique path which, as it unfolds, reveals to him his reason for living. 

The creative team is made up of Lara Foot (adaptor, writer, director), Handspring Puppet Company (adaptors, puppet directors, design and makers), Patrick Curtis (set design), Kyle Shepherd (original music composition), Joshua Cutts (lighting), Fiona McPherson and Barrett de Kock (directors of photography and film), Yoav Dagan (videography and editing), Kirsti Cumming (projection design), Phyllis Midlane (costumes) and Simon Kohler (sound design).

Details

Seating is limited and all performances will be limited to 250 capacity, with COVID-19 protocols in place as regulated at adjusted Level 1 during the national state of disaster. These include the availability of hand sanitisers, tracking and tracing recorded, wearing of masks and physical distancing. Patrons and audience members are advised to arrive at least an hour before the start of the performance to avoid delays.

Life and Times of Michael K special preview runs at the Baxter Theatre from 7 to 16 June at 19:00, with Saturday matinees on 12 and 19 June, and Wednesday, 16 June, at 14:00. The world premiere livestreaming takes place on 17 and 18 June at the Theater der Welt Festival at the Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus.

Booking for the Baxter special preview season is through Webtickets on 086 111 0005, online or at any Pick n Pay store. For discounted school or group block bookings, fundraisers or charities contact Leon van Zyl on 021 680 3972 or email leon.vanzyl@uct.ac.za or Carmen Kearns on 021 680 3993 or email her at carmen.kearns@uct.ac.za.