Elephant of Africa

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Elephant of Africa is an ecological play by Nicholas Ellenbogen and Theatre for Africa.

The original text

Conceptualized by Nicholas Ellenbogen and improvised by him with the cast, it utilizes mime, mimetic sounds, dance, songs, storytelling and minimalist techniques to address the extinction of the elephant and other animals.

The performance text was published in the collection Nicholas Ellenbogen's Horn of Sorrow and Elephant of Africa, edited by Nicholas Ellenbogen and Liz Szymczak and published by Theatre for Africa for use in Western Cape Schools, 2003.

The performance text is contained in Volume One of The Complete Works of Nicholas Ellenbogen and Theatre for Africa (privately published by Theatre for Africa, no date given)

Translations and adaptations

Translated into Afrikaans as Olifant van Hartseer by Maulise Kotzé and published by Theatre for Africa in Horing van Hartseer en Olifant van Afrika, an Afrikaans collection for use in Western Cape schools. The Afrikaans version has notes translated by Anina Joubert and was published by Theatre for Africa in 2003.

Performance history in South Africa

1992: Performed at the Wits Amphitheatre, directed by Nicholas Ellenbogen and Craig Freimond, with Phillipa de Villiers, Gideon de Wet, Rubs Diego, Nicholas Ellenbogen, Christopher Goetsch, Brendan Grealy, Thomas Hall, Max Papo, Esmael Texeria, Bongani Zindela. Designs by Michelle Lowry

1993: The play was then performed at the Grahamstown Festival, as well as the Edinburgh Arts Festival, where it won a Fringe First award.

Sources

Elephant of Africa theatre programme, 1992.

Theatre for Africa. (n.d.) The Complete Works of Nicholas Ellenbogen and Theatre for Africa Claremont, Cape Town.

Nicholas Ellenbogen and Liz Szymczak (eds). 2003. Nicholas Ellenbogen's Horn of Sorrow and Elephant of Africa. Cape Town: Theatre for Africa.

Anina Joubert (ed). 2003. Nicholas Ellenbogen: Horing van Hartseer en Olifant van Afrika. Cape Town: Theatre for Africa

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