Top shows for DUT

Two iconic South African theatre works will be staged at the Actor’s Studio, adjacent to the Courtyard Theatre at DUT: Andrew Buckland’s The Ugly Noo Noo and Neil Coppen’s Tin Bucket Drum. Each production will run for two daytime performances across October 15, 16, and 17.

The Ugly Noo Noo, directed by Peter Mitchell and featuring Mpilo “Straw” Nzimande, is Buckland’s legendary comic physical theatre piece. First premiered in 1988, this explosive satire transformed South African theatre for generations. The play follows a man’s surreal encounter with the infamous Parktown Prawn, using sharp wit and physical storytelling to explore the compost heaps and dark underbelly of suburban Johannesburg.

Tin Bucket Drum, directed by Bryan Hiles and featuring Nzimande alongside Naledi Award-winner Cara Roberts, blends magical realism, shadow puppetry, Kabuki theatre, and live percussion. Coppen’s lyrical script reimagines African storytelling traditions in an allegorical tale of oppression and liberation. Through evocative lighting and sound, a single narrator conjures a multitude of characters, offering timeless lessons for diverse audiences.

These productions form part of the practical project-based learning component for students enrolled in DUT’s year-long Higher Certificate in Performing Arts Technology. Students will provide support across design, lighting, sound, set construction, front of house, crew and stage management, gaining hands-on experience in a simulated professional festival setting.

“We want our students to gain real-world experience in a festival-like environment,” explains course leader Clare Craighead. “By staging these culturally significant plays, which offer rich technical and design challenges appropriate to Higher Certificate-level learning, we’re giving students the opportunity to work alongside professional actors and directors while opening our theatre doors to the public.”

The project features industry collaboration and mentorship with Lisa Goldstone (lighting), Bryan Hiles (director and carpentry), and Nel van der Merwe (set design and carpentry). Students will assist across technical, set, and front-of-house elements, aligning with DUT’s strategic vision of integrating industry into teaching and learning spaces.

The Ugly Noo Noo is on October 15 at 10am, and October 16 at 1pm. Tin Bucket Drum is on October 16 at 5pm and October 17 at 3pm. Booking is essential as seating is limited to 50 per performance. Tickets R50/ students, scholars and pensioners R20 from Clarec1@dut.ac.za.