Production for the deaf visits St Martin de Porres

YOUNG minds from across the country will be captivated by a new production by award-winning theatre company FTHK, which presents its new production to deaf pupils across the country as part of its 2015 National Schools’ Tour. The tour will visit KwaZulu-Natal schools and organisations until May 27 and includes a visit to St Martin de Porres School for the Deaf in Port Shepstone on Friday, May 22.

The FTHK 2015 National Schools’ Tour runs until May 27. The new show, called ‘What Goes up’, is aimed at deaf children from four to seven years old and focuses on foundation phase pupils. Since its inception in 2007, the National Schools’ Tour has become a firm fixture on the calendar and it has introduced the excitement of live theatre shows and training programmes to more than 50 000 pupils.

FTHK is a ground-breaking visual theatre company that works without a dependency on any one language, crossing over cultural and linguistic divides and calling on audiences to ‘listen with your eyes’. It has won multiple awards, including the 2011 Fleur du Cap award for ‘Innovation in Theatre’, and has toured all over South Africa, Germany, Argentina and the USA, reaching more than 70 000 people in nine years. The 2015 National Schools’ Tour is made possible thanks to the generous support of the National Arts Council and the National Lotteries Distribution Trust Fund.

“Through the medium of theatre, we hope to allow young deaf children to have a different source of stimulation in their formative years.” says director Jayne Batzofin, who performs in the show with Iman Isaacs of ‘City of Violence’ fame (with Orlando Bloom). For further information, email FTHK CEO Ana Lemmer at ana@fthk.co.za.