In 2013 Mthombeni worked with the Magpie Art Collective, Net Vir Pret, Handspring Trust and the CHR in Barrydale on a puppet theatre production under the title, Karoo See, for the annual Parade and Performance on 15 December. The project involved training school youth in story-telling, puppetry and theatre direction and production. It brought together leading artists, including Jill Joubert (founder of Handspring Puppet Company), Basil Jones and Adrian Kohler (Handspring Puppet Company), Shane Petzer (Magpie Art Collective), Janni Younge (Handspring Puppet Company), Derek Joubert (Net Vir Pret and first director of the Community Arts Project), Pieter Tolker (Net Vir Pret) and Jane Taylor (CHR, UWC).

2014 was the fifth year of involvement by the Handspring Trust and the CHR in the annual Barrydale Parade, which ends in a performance in the grounds of the B.F. Oosthuizen Primary School, on the hill overlooking Barrydale.

The 2014 performance, produced by Handspring, the CHR and Barrydale’s Net Vir Pret for South Africa’s Day of Reconciliation, took place on 14 December. Entitled Kagg’agn Dreams, it told the story of a confrontation between a young person from Barrydale and a group of San hunter-gatherers, leading to a moment of personal reconciliation for the young man.

Mongi Nthombeni was the Artistic Director of Kagg’agn Dreams and gave the project energy and focus in the months before December. However, because he was touring to Brussels and Athens with Handspring’s Ubu and the Truth Commission, Aja Marnawick took over as Artistic Director. Kagg’agn Dreams involved over 150 children, giant puppets and a dozen speaking parts. Nthombeni and Marnawick were assisted by Kelly-Eve Koopman and the Young Leaders of Net Vir Pret.

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