Animation meets theatre

Theatre multi-tasker, Neil Coppen's recent production of Tree Boy introduced design, animation and multimedia to the Durban Playhouse.
Posted 14 May 09 By Design Indaba Creative Work / Design News Comments

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Bringing together theatre and multimedia, Tree Boy by award-winning Durban actor, writer and director Neil Coppen enthralled Playhouse Company audiences in March.

Following the relationship of a father and son in early 1960s South Africa, the play employed a seamless mixture of animation, shadows, puppetry and real actors. “Beautifully scripted, directed and acted piece effectively presented in multimedia format,” said reviewer Caroline Smart.

Using the creative agility of iaminawe, a Cape Town design studio, the multimedia production made use of back and front projections and was a combination of filmed shadows, real shadows, stop motion animation and after effects compositing.