Double Cape Town Run for THE SWELL at Theatre Arts Admin Collective and Alexander Bar

Two emerging Cape Town-based independent theatre companies, Horses' Heads Productions and Fruitzalad Productions, have collaborated to produce a new original theatre production, THE SWELL. Written by Genna Gardini, THE SWELL is directed and designed by Gary Hartley. Music for the production is by Umlilo.

THE SWELL is the story of two unusual characters who meet under even stranger circumstances. Marie Walters (Zanne Solomon) identifies as a mermaid who makes a medical aid claim for the loss of her tail. It is up to the company's Strange Claims officer, Howard Fawls (Shaun Acker), to track down the reclusive Marie and investigate whether her tail ever existed at all. This encounter raises and interrogates questions of how bodies, both tangible and fantastical, are treated in contemporary South Africa.

THE SWELL is piece of magical realism, which takes the audience into the realm of possibility where identity can be altered or edited, in which fantasy can be indulged, and where the lines between fact and fiction can be distorted. Grounded in the mythology of mermaids and fantastical sea creatures, THE SWELL explores ideas of loss and transformation.

The four producers of THE SWELL - Genna Gardini (WINTERSWEET, SCRAPE) and Gary Hartley (SIMILAR) of Horses' Heads Productions, and Shaun Acker (GET KRAKEN, KARDIAVALE) and Zanne Solomon (DIE BANNELINGE, THE UNEXPECTED MAN) of Fruitzalad Productions - have combined their individual theatrical experience to create this fantastical and innovative piece of theatre.

Trained at the Rhodes University Department of Drama, the producers forged an ethos of theatrical ownership that lies at the heart of producing work in collaboration. This approach to the creation of theatre ruptures the traditional theatre hierarchy by involving all team members (including the performers, writer and director) as producers of the production, which engenders the spirit of ownership, creative originality and excellence.

THE SWELL, which carries an age guideline of 13, runs from 18 - 20 November 2014 at the Theatre Arts Admin Collective (located in the Methodist Church Hall, on the corner of Milton Road and Wesley Street in Observatory) at 8pm nightly. Tickets cost R50 and can be booked online at the TAAC website, bought at the door or reserved by email or on 082 734 4390. The show then transders to the Alexander Bar Theatre Upstairs from 24 - 26 November and 2-6 December 2014, where it will run at 7pm nightly at R100 a ticket. Tickets can be booked at the Alexander Bar website or purchased at the door.

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