An interview with the Toad

Johannesburg North local, Devon Flemmer (26), is performing as Toad at the National Children’s Theatre in Parktown in the production of A Year With Frog And Toad. The production is a retelling of Arnold Lobel’s popular children’s tale, and is on stage until 11 October. Flemmer agreed to an interview to discuss the performance and his goals for the future.

When and why did you begin acting?

I have always loved telling stories from a very young age, I remember my sister and I writing short scripts and performing them for our family. In primary and high school, I was in the annual stage productions where I was able to put my story telling skills to use. It was there that I discovered I was quite good at this ‘acting’ thing and decided that after Matric I would go on to study it and make it a career.

What significant projects have you undertaken thus far?

Most of the work I have done thus far has been in the Musical Theatre genre. A year with Frog and Toad is my eighth production at the National Children’s theatre. I had the opportunity to go to France and work backstage on a production of La Jeune Fille et la mort (Death and the Maiden) which was performed at the Avignon Theatre Festival. In 2014 I was a part of Cape town Operas UK touring production of Showboat and earlier this year I had the wonderful opportunity of performing in the South African premiere of Shrek the Musical with Kickstart productions in KZN.

What are your career goals?

One of my biggest goals is to create and develop my own work. It is important that, as creatives, we continue to discover new ways to tell old stories and bring new ones to life. I want to continue to explore the different styles and traditions theatre, film and storytelling have to offer; from musical theatre to mask work, puppetry and animation. I aim to travel the world to develop my craft and learn about different cultures, cities and people, and how they have all contributed to the art of storytelling. I would also like to perform in Shakespeare plays, feature films, straight plays and musicals around the world.

Do you enjoy performing for children?

Performing for children is both rewarding and challenging. A young audience is the most honest audience a performer will ever encounter. They will let you know almost immediately if they believe in the imaginary world that you as the performer/character have created, or if they are bored and have had enough. Performing for children teaches an actor a great deal of patience and focus, especially when a little one decides to join you on stage, play with the set or reach out for your costume because they cannot resist the urge to be a part of the story and action on stage. This is also the beauty of performing for children; they are so enchanted by the story unfolding in front of them.

Can you tell us about the experience of working on A Year with Frog and Toad?

A year with Frog and Toad has been a great learning experience for me. It is the first time I have been a lead singer in a musical, which and has been challenging and a great deal of fun. The most exciting discovery was how to give ‘Toad’ the weight he needed as a character – specifically because I am a small person and generally quite light on my feet. As I don’t have the physical weight for ‘Toad’, I focused more on the human qualities a toad might exhibit and developed the character and his unique physicality from there. It was a magical experience bringing the character to life, and it really helps having such a generous and talented ensemble to perform alongside.

How was it working with the director, choreographer and other actors?

Over the years I have a developed a great rapport with the creative director, Francois Theron. We have learned each other’s ‘theatre language’ so there is room to play and explore Francois’ vision. This is the first time I have worked with the choreographer Nicol and most of the cast members, and like meeting any person for the first time, you have to discover how they like to work. This is both an exciting and interesting process, and your fellow cast members essentially become your ‘family’ for the duration of the show, so it’s important to put your differences aside and focus on telling the story. As an ensemble, we have supported each other and developed a great vibe throughout the show.

Does the play have any personal significance to you?

Yes, the story is about friendship and the importance of having friends who support you, challenge you, laugh with you and help you overcome your fears. Playing ‘Toad’ has taught me a lot about who I am as a person. During rehearsals I realised how like ‘Toad’ I am – we both have to learn to put our fears aside and take risks.

Essentially ‘Toad’ has taught me I have nothing to lose, I have people around me to support me and all I need to do is take a leap faith and trust that sometimes things will go to plan and sometimes they won’t, but we will never know until we try.

How do you feel in general about musicals and performing in them?

Musicals are a wonderful way of telling stories as they incorporate a universal language: music. This makes them the most accessible and entertaining form of theatre. I enjoy performing in musicals because the challenge is to execute all three disciplines (acting, singing and dancing) simultaneously and make it look easy, and to accomplish that is a great feeling.

How did you feel the performance went overall?

A year with Frog and Toad has been a great success: from the creative team to the cast, we have put together a show full of fun and laughter that has great heart which has been enjoyed by all who have seen it.

Related article:

An interview with the Frog