We Didn’t Come To Hell For The Croissants: 7 Deadly New Stories for Consenting Adults stars Jemma Kahn and Roberto Pombo.

THE Hilton Arts Festival will be playing host to two Kamishibai performances by the super-talented Jemma Kahn.

Kamishibai, or paper drama, is an ancient Japanese form of street theatre, used for centuries by monks and itinerant storytellers to tell morality tales to a largely illiterate audience.

Illustrated panels are revealed one at a time from a wooden box, accompanied by narration.

Using simple but beautifully drawn images displayed on cardboard story panels, Jemma has spent the last four years captivating audiences from Grahamstown to Edinburgh and Amsterdam with her unique take on this 12th century art form.

Her sheer verve in combination with all the elements at play creates an utterly original and sometimes bizarre theatre experience, a joyous tribute to visual and verbal storytelling.

At Hilton, which takes place on the Hilton College campus from Friday, September 16 to Sunday, September 18, festival-goers can watch We Didn’t Come To Hell For The Croissants:  7 Deadly New Stories for Consenting Adults and In Bocca Al Lupo.

In We Didn’t Come To Hell For The Croissants:  7 Deadly New Stories for Consenting Adults, which is being staged in the Music Block at 8.30 pm on September 16 and 8.30 pm on September 17, Jemma and her irreverent sidekick, Roberto Pombo, return in the eagerly anticipated follow up to the international cult hit The Epicene Butcher with stories that seduce the sinless and astonish the immoral.

These stories are firmly for adults and run the gamut from the silly to the sublime; from pornography to epic poetry; and from cannibalism to cat dreams.

Jemma Kahn in In Bocca Al Lupo.

In her review of the Robyn Sassen said: “In a world where theatre jobs are scarce and auditions bad for the ego, Kahn has reinvented this wheel with all the chutzpah, laughter and derision necessary: may she continue with abandon.”

It’s quite simply unmissable theatre and definitely not for children – unless you are an awful parent. Tickets are R150.

The second offering, In Bocca Al Lupo, is Jemma’s final instalment in the Kamishibai series. Join her for an epic journey into the mouth of the wolf – a voyage of self-discovery, sexy Catholics and octopus biltong, spanning three continents. Adults only.

In Bocca Al Lupo will be staged in the Music Block at 5.30 pm on September 16, 5.30 pm on September 17 and 2.30 pm on September 18. Tickets are R150.

To book for these and all other shows at the Hilton Arts Festival email tickets@hiltoncollege.com

For more information phone 033 383 0126/7 or email festival@hiltoncollege.com or log on to http://www.hiltonfestival.co.za