Fresh from the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown, Tin Bucket Drum comes to the University of Johannesburg’s Con Cowan Theatre. The show starring Warona Seane and Matthew MacFarlane can be seen from August 11 to 22. Written by Neil Coppen, Tin Bucket Drum tells the tale of Nomvula, a spirited child born with a revolutionary heartbeat into a cruel and silent dictatorship. In its close and minutely explored world, the play takes a broad swipe at age-old global systems of restriction enforced for personal gain by those in power, and the way these restrictions affect the ordinary person. Above all, it looks optimistically at the power of creativity.

Leading up to this year’s National Arts Festival, Festival Director Ismail Mahomed said he had observed an interesting new trend this year: “Very often the work of South African playwrights has its season and the script is then put on the shelf.

“This year a number of young directors and companies are revisiting scripts and giving a new breath to those plays. Given recent socio-political events in South Africa, Jade Bowers revival of Neil Coppen’s Tin Bucket Drum is most interesting.

“If one has to consider the impressive work that she did last year with What The Water Gave Me then it is well worth waiting to see what she does with Coppen’s play.”

And indeed the production went on to scoop a Standard Bank Ovation Award, the second which Bowers brings home to UJ in as many years.

Reviewing the production for Cue newspaper Kerstin Hall said that MacFarlane, who accompanies Seane, is a vital part of the play. According to Hall, his music punctuates the drama, adding layers of meaning to the action. Commenting on Seane’s performance she writes: “She shines when representing the [childlike] energy of the little girl, but her talents are most apparent in her goosebump-inducing embodiment of Nandi, Nomvula’s mother.”

Seane, who is Artistic Manager of the Soweto Theatre, won a Fleur du Cap Award for the best performance in theatre/revue/music for For Coloured/Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf. She was also nominated for two Naledi Awards: a 2006 best actress for Nongogo and a 2008 best supporting actress for The Lion and the Jewel. She has also starred in several TV series and will be directing a twenty-minute opera called Hani for Gauteng Opera’s Cula Mzansi season at The Soweto Theatre this August.

Bowers is the 2014 recipient of the ImpACT Award for Theatre sponsored by the Distell Foundation and presented annually by the Arts & Culture Trust (ACT). Bowers was also named one of AfriPOPs Top Five Female Theatre Makers in South Africa; has two Naledi Awards nominations to her credit, and a 2014 Silver Ovation Award for What The Water Gave Me.

Tickets are R80 (R50 for students and pensioners) at Computicket or the UJ Arts Centre offices during working hours. Contact 011 559 3058 or e-mail preciousm@uj.ac.za for queries.