*Winner Encore Producer’s Award*
The year is 1992 and South Africa is changing. And with terrorist Nelson Mandela being released from prison, who can tell if it’s for the best. But for one History teacher who grew up during Apartheid, making it through the first day of the school year, and her all white class being racially desegregated, is all the history she needs for one day.
!!!!Use Promo Code: empathize for $5 Tix!!!!
At an infectious, inciteful and exciting 30 minutes, 'No Child Left Behind" is one of those Fringe shows that you might not find unless you stumble upon it. But, seek it out, because this is a thrilling theatre nugget and you need to know who Makha Mthembu is. See this....
Funny and sharply written solo show “No Child Left Behind,” written and performed by Makha Mthembu, focuses on a South African girls' school teacher whose students are being taught during Apartheid in South Africa during the time of Nelson Mandela's recent release, new times of desegregation, and just prior to voting on the referendum in 1992.
The class opens with their national anthem, as any class in any country might do, which sets the tone for a complacent, but enthusiastic, political reverence by their instructor that is both chilling and familiar. Within her struggle to explain the coming referendum to her students, based on a “new” student's open question, is exhibited a series of veiled—and not so veiled—elements of long term, deep-seated racism, and general short-mindedness.
The rest is more nuanced. And depending on your perspective, your take on our teacher for the day's background and upbringing here may vary. This is part of Mthembu's brilliance. This short play, which is only 30 minutes, may afterward bring about many questions to ask yourself about the nature, construction, and dissemination of our own contemporary historical education, past and present, including its influence, its inconsistency, or its incompleteness...or all of the above. Where you were born in this country, what your race might be, and how old you are will definitely factor into your own assessment. This show has been extended to July 12, 2019, at 8 p.m. at Thymele Arts and is free. (NO EXTERNAL REVIEW)
Welcome to class, ladies! Your teacher is brimming with energy, and is very charming and witty!
Also, the apartheid referendum is coming up soon because it's 1992 in South Africa.
At thirty minutes long and free, you have no reason not to see No Child Left Behind this Fringe.
So much to love here - Makha plays a charming South African girls' school teacher and does so excellently. She is so much fun to watch. But this "fun teacher" has a surprising amount of depth to her, which is discovered over the course of this brief, yet punchy, play.
This show is very funny.
And also super duper uncomfortable. In a good way, though. I mean, it'd better make you uncomfortable - it's only about a classroom on the eve of the apartheid referendum for crying out loud.
There were a couple of lines towards the end of the show that had me make weird, squeaky, throat noises from how uncomfortable I was. Hit me like a racist cannonball to the gut.
The simple premise and brevity of the show belie how carefully structured it is. Every element is thought out for a very precise effect on the audience. The most banal of activities is laden with symbolism and irony, from the playing of the national anthem to the taking of roll.
Funny and sharply written solo show “No Child Left Behind,” written and performed by Makha Mthembu, focuses on a South African girls' school teacher whose students are being taught during Apartheid in South Africa during the time of Nelson Mandela's recent release, new times of desegregation, and just prior to voting on the referendum in 1992.
The class opens with their national anthem, as any class in any country might do, which sets the tone for a complacent, but enthusiastic, political reverence by their instructor that is both chilling and familiar. Within her struggle to explain the coming referendum to her students, based on a “new” student's open question, is exhibited a series of veiled—and not so veiled—elements of long term, deep-seated racism, and general short-mindedness.
The rest is more nuanced. And depending on your perspective, your take on our teacher for the day's background and upbringing here may vary. This is part of Mthembu's brilliance. This short play, which is only 30 minutes, may afterward bring about many questions to ask yourself about the nature, construction, and dissemination of our own contemporary historical education, past and present, including its influence, its inconsistency, or its incompleteness...or all of the above. Where you were born in this country, what your race might be, and how old you are will definitely factor into your own assessment. This show has been extended to July 12, 2019, at 8 p.m. at Thymele Arts and is free. (NO EXTERNAL REVIEW)
At an infectious, inciteful and exciting 30 minutes, 'No Child Left Behind" is one of those Fringe shows that you might not find unless you stumble upon it. But, seek it out, because this is a thrilling theatre nugget and you need to know who Makha Mthembu is. See this....
Welcome to class, ladies! Your teacher is brimming with energy, and is very charming and witty!
Also, the apartheid referendum is coming up soon because it's 1992 in South Africa.
At thirty minutes long and free, you have no reason not to see No Child Left Behind this Fringe.
So much to love here - Makha plays a charming South African girls' school teacher and does so excellently. She is so much fun to watch. But this "fun teacher" has a surprising amount of depth to her, which is discovered over the course of this brief, yet punchy, play.
This show is very funny.
And also super duper uncomfortable. In a good way, though. I mean, it'd better make you uncomfortable - it's only about a classroom on the eve of the apartheid referendum for crying out loud.
There were a couple of lines towards the end of the show that had me make weird, squeaky, throat noises from how uncomfortable I was. Hit me like a racist cannonball to the gut.
The simple premise and brevity of the show belie how carefully structured it is. Every element is thought out for a very precise effect on the audience. The most banal of activities is laden with symbolism and irony, from the playing of the national anthem to the taking of roll.
