Musician Moodship (Gary Thomas). Picture: Nick Aldridge and Brett Bailey
Constellations: The Garden of Good and Evil promises to be an extraordinary theatrical encounter under starry skies
From November 3 to 18, Spier Wine Farm and Third World Bunfight present the fourth iteration of Constellations: The Garden of Good and Evil, directed by Brett Bailey.
Constellations is a series of intimate encounters that beautifully connects performers, spectators and total strangers in a way that explores the creative sphere in unique and intriguing ways.
Bailey has given each of the performers a somewhat twisted character to interpret, ranging from a singer who lives in a bush in the belief that she’s an insect, a woman who reads stories to the ashes of the husband she murdered, a sensitive poet who lost his marbles in the mall.
Performers this year include singer and musician Moodship (aka Gary Thomas), indigenous instrumentalist Sky Dlala, singer Laurie Levine, improviser and writer Megan Choritz, physical theatre performer Siphenathi Mayekiso, Belgian storyteller Gaetan Schmid, dance artist Gita Galina, and interdisciplinary performance artist Mthuthuzeli Zimba.
Megan Choritz, one of the performers, said the performances promise to be magical.
“The performances are completely heightened by the beauty of the performances between the audience and the performer. Nothing is familiar,” she said.
Gary Thomas said he is looking forward to performing and seeing the reactions of audiences.
“What I love is that as audiences sit around the camp fire, with the sounds of insects and water behind them. They will have no clue what’s coming,” he said.
Mthuthuzeli Zimba, a local artist who is passionate about storytelling and believes in creating performances, said this would be his first experience of the Constellations at Spier, and looks forward to an exciting experience.
“My favourite part of the curation is the intimate, audience participatory engagement through storytelling and installation. We almost lost the social quality of human interaction because of covid, and so, Constellation proposes an opportunity of bringing back the humanness in society through social engagements and performance,” he said.
Small groups will follow their guides along riverside trails at nightfall, visiting six sites lit by camp fires and lanterns. At each stop, they will witness extraordinary solo performances drawn from a diverse group of artists. Each encounter lasts approximately fifteen minutes, combining to deliver a surreal series of unforgettable experiences that are brought to life through beautiful music, song and haunting tales.
Constellations: The Garden of Good and Evil runs on Friday and Saturday nights in the Spier wilderness at 7.30pm. Tickets for the two-hour event cost from R250 per person or R375 per person, which includes a cheese and charcuterie platter for two. Booking is through Webtickets.