Adrian Kohler
Adrian Kohler (born: December 20, 1951.) Artist, designer, dancer, dramatist, puppeteer.
Biography
Adrian Kohler was born in Port Elizabeth and is one of four siblings of Harold and Thelma Kohler. He has a sister, Anita, and two brothers, Ivan and Frederick. They lived in the beautiful Port Elizabeth riverside village of Redhouse, alongside the Swartkops River.
Adrian's mother was a well-known puppeteer and introduced him to the art of making puppets. He spent many hours furthering his skills in the family garage-cum-workshop.
As a young child he attended art classes under Ms Gansler at the Child Art Centre in Park Dive. He studied Art as a subject for matric at the Port Elizabeth Technical College under Alex Kiddie and matriculated from the Grey High School, Port Elizabeth, in 1969.
His first puppet show was in 1971, Dr Doolittle which ran for nine performances.
He completed his BA in Fine Art at the end of 1974 at the Michaelis School of Fine Art, (part of the University of Cape Town) and then joined the The Space from 1976 till 1977.
Two years later he was called up by South African Defence Force to perform his compulsory military service in Angola but instead decided to move to Botswana where he and his partner, Basil Jones went into self-exile. There he gained employment with the the Adult Education Department of the University of Botswana for three years, working on the Laedza Batanani/Bosele Tshwaraganang Popular Theatre Program.
In January 1981 they returned to South Africa and moved to Cape Town where they formed the Handspring Puppet Company. Later, in 1985, they purchased a truck and toured Southern Africa for five years, performing children’s puppet theatre, mostly in schools.
In all Handspring Puppet Company's productions until Warhorse in 2007, both Adrian Kohler and Basil Jones performed and produced the work.
This included David Lytton's Episodes of An Easter Uprising which was directed by Esther van Ryswyk and which led to his breakthrough into adult theatre after the declaration of the 1985 National State of Emergency.
Contribution to South African Theatre
1970's: Worked for The Space and had a role in the dance production The Family, in Thirteen Clocks and designed for the productions Endgame, Mixed Doubles, Old King Cole, Patrick Pearse Motel, Tsafendas, and You'll Come To Love Your Sperm Test.
1976: Wrote, made puppets, directed and performed in Gertie's Feathers, performed for the first time at The Space.
1981: Co-founded the Handspring Puppet Company with Basil Jones, Jill Joubert and Jon Weinberg.
1986-87: Moved into full-scale theatre puppetry with a landmark production of A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Baxter Theatre, followed by performances at the Oude Libertas Theatre, Stellenbosch, and then at the Monument Theatre, during the annual National Arts Festival in Grahamstown. All the shows were directed by Esther van Ryswyk and Fred Abramse.
1987/1988: The Handspring Puppet Company made the gull puppets for Robert Hewett’s Gulls directed by Keith Grenville.
September 1990: The Handspring Puppet Company made the puppets and performed for Barney Simon’s Starbrites at the Market Theatre.
1990-91: Adrian Kohler did work for TV including Spider's Place, a 13-part, TV, radio and comic series on science education aimed at Primary School age children.
1992: Produced Georg Büchner's Woyzeck on the Highveld his first production with William Kentridge as designer/director. The show marked the beginning of a 10-year collaborative period together.
1995: Faustus in Africa.
1997: Ubu and the Truth Commission.
1998: The opera Il Ritorno d’Ulisse (The Return of Ulysses), which premiéred at the celebrated Kunstenfestivaldesarts (KFDA) in Brussels in 1998.
2000: Directed The Chimp Project, co-directed by Kurt Wurstmann, This multi-media show combines live actors, puppets and film footage.
2004: Tall Horse directed by Marthinus Basson, This multi-media show combines live actors, puppets and film footage.
2007: Warhorse, directed by Tom Morris and Marianne Elliot, This multi-media show combines live actors, puppets and film footage.
2010: Or You Could Kiss Me directed by Neil Bartlett,
2012: I Love You When You’re Breathing written by Basil Jones,
2020: The Walk.
2021: Life and Times of Michael K directed by Lara Foot.
Awards
Awards, some shared with Basil Jones, include an Artes Award for Spiders Place.
A discretionary award (Vita Award, national) for their imaginative puppet creations featured in a number of productions in 1991.
An ACT Awards (Arts and Culture Trust of the President) Lifetime Achievement Award, a Naledi Award, Olivier Award and Tony Award for the puppets based on British author Sir Michael Morpurgo's book, Warhorse,
[The Kennedy Centre Medal]], The Royal Scottish Geographical Society Medal for Little Amal the large puppet Handspring Puppet Company created for the 2020 production The Walk.
A Vita Award (Gauteng region) for Faustus in Africa, best set design, shared with William Kentridge.
A Fleur du Cap (2001) for Best technical contribution to a theatre production for The Chimp Project.
His puppets for Handspring are held in public and private collections including the Constitutional Court in South Africa, the Munich Stadtmuseum in Germany, and the Old Mutual Art Collection.
Sources
Astbury 1979.
Tucker, 1997.
The Natal Witness, 9 September 1991.
Kalk Bay Modern [www.kalkbaymodern.co.za/adrian-kohler-1].
NELM catalogue.
Grey Foundation Lecture, Grey High School, by Adrian Kohler, May 9, 2025.
Ivor Markman interview with Adrian Kohler, May 24, 2025.
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