The Epicene Butcher and Other Stories for Consenting Adults
The Epicene Butcher and Other Stories for Consenting Adults is a play by Gwydion Beynon and Jemma Kahn.
Contents
The original text
With a text by Gwydion Beynon and drawings by Jemma Kahn, the play uses a range of drawing and narrative styles and techniques to take the audience on a journey ranging from old Japanese folk tales to a tongue-in-cheek pornographic piece, ending with an anime rendition of Nelson Mandela's long walk to freedom. Her energy is infectious, and her assistant 'Chalk Girl' is an insolent audience favourite.
After its initial runs in South Africa, the piece has been performed more than 400 times around the world, receiving a range of awards from various festivals, including from the National Arts Festival, the Fringe Amsterdam, the Musho! Theatre Festival and so on.
Translations and adaptations
Performance history in South Africa
2012: Performed by Daddy's Little Secret at the National Arts Festival in July, directed by John Trengove with Jemma Kahn and Klara Van Wyk (as "chalk girl").
2012: Performed in The Nunnery at the University of the Witwatersrand on 10 August, as part of that year's at the 969 Festival of works from the NAF.
2013: Performed at the Market Theatre in April, directed by John Trengove with Jemma Kahn and Klara Van Wyk (as "chalk girl").
2019: Performed at the Alexander Bar from 27 August to 7 September.
Sources
Ruphin Coudyzer. 2023. Annotated list of his photographs of Market Theatre productions. (Provided by Coudyzer)
Report on the production by Kayla Roux & Amaal Salie, RUTV Journalism Rhodes University [1]
Moira de Swardt. 2012. Review on What I do, see, hear, eat and drink: Posted on August 12, 2012 by moirads[2]
"The Epicene Butcher at Alexander Bar", WeekendSpecial, 27 August 2019.[3]
Go to ESAT Bibliography
Return to
Return to PLAYS I: Original SA plays
Return to PLAYS II: Foreign plays
Return to PLAYS III: Collections
Return to PLAYS IV: Pageants and public performances
Return to South African Festivals and Competitions
Return to The ESAT Entries
Return to Main Page