BANGALORY'S BACK at the Baxter Theatre From Today

After decades of directing award-winning productions, the much-loved and respected Janice Honeyman returns to the stage to recreate the magic of storytelling in her production of BANGALORY'S BACK at the Baxter Golden Arrow Studio. This charming and delightful show, ideally suited for children aged 5 - 12, promises to be an undeniable highlight on the Cape Town calendar for the whole family.

From 1976 to 1977, Honeyman became a household name in South Africa when she presented the very first children's television show on South African television, BANGALORY TIME. Screened at 18:10 on Wednesday nights, the show had many families glued to their screens. Honeyman, along with Zoleka Helesi (MIES JULIE, Zabalaza Theatre Festival) and Marty Kintu (BLUE/ORANGE, WAR HORSE) bring back the masterful art of entertainment for the young and old with a morning of fun story-making, music, comedy, puppetry and tale-telling. A few silly limericks, some sweet little riddles, some guessing games, dot-to-dots, jigsaw puzzles, sing-a-longs for the children all add up to perfect summer fun for the entire family to enjoy.

Honeyman returns from Johannesburg where she directed the highly popular annual pantomime SLEEPING BEAUTY. She brings along her usual brand of fun with BANGALORY'S BACK for which she has written five short stories with colourful illustrations, to bring to life the vibrancy and magic of its characters and settings. She explains:

In the Bangalory Story Shop we will pick each story from the twirling tell-tale tree. It will be fast, fun, zany and sometimes even sad and touching. The shop will be decorated with mobiles, crafts, puppets, dolls and prompt props that suggest a space filled with stories. We hope to create a lovely sharing family experience so we'd love to see grandparents, parents and children attending. I would really like them to leave the auditorium feeling imaginatively stimulated so we will also throw in some selfies and signing after the performances.

"The Tale of Twankerly Gloop" is a story about loneliness, exclusion and friendship. We feel in love with the gloop who lives on the stoep, and in spite of his unfortunate looks, we end up becoming the best of buddies.

"Arlindo and the Dolphins" is a Mozambican story about a young boy who plays the marimba and who is bullied by older boys. He is helped by a group of dolphins who love his music. Touching and colourful with a bit of Marrabenta music thrown in, there is also a fun participatory dance for the kids.

In "The Butterfly Miracle", Tonio and Bella are on a quest to find their parents in the Blue Mountains. The siblings are kindly helped along by a fabulous fish, a bird of paradise and a beautiful butterfly. Kindness is returned with kindness.

Using the old Japanese style of storytelling kamishibai, a picture show with puppets is illustrated in "Thoko and Tholeka's Takeaways", which features a magical old bag lady who helps the children to make their dreams come true. No prizes for guessing who the old bag lady is!

"Simphiwe and Nikiwe" is a modern African version of HANSEL AND GRETEL set in Gugs and Cape Town. Throughout this story, the children will be asked to help through guessing games, dot to dots, jigsaw puzzles and a sing-a-long.

BANGALORY'S BACK runs from today, 9 December, to 9 January at 10:00 and 12:00, on Tuesdays through Saturdays, with tickets costing R75 for bookings made before 7 December and R95 throughout thereafter. Booking can be made online through Computicket, by phone on 0861 915 8000 or at any Shoprite Checkers outlet. For discounted corporate or group block bookings, fundraisers or charities, contact Sharon Ward on 021 680 3962 or Carmen Kearns on 021 680 3993 during office hours.