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AMAJUBA: Like Doves We Rise

Based on the life experiences of the Cast

Created and Written by Yaël Farber

International award-winning AMAJUBA: LIKE DOVES WE RISE is a powerful work based on the testimonies of five South Africans who came of age during the dying and thus most brutal years of the Apartheid Regime in South Africa. AMAJUBA has garnered extraordinary press and audience responses around the world. It has played in London's West End, at The Barbican Centre and off Broadway in New York. It is a work that has profoundly moved audiences around the world. Almost entirely devoid of political rhetoric, this is none-the-less, a work that potently brings to life the brutal political context of legislated racism, whilst recounting the tender details of childhood, and the devastating impact Apartheid had on the formative years of the five individuals whose testimonies form the tapestry of this work.

PRESS

THE SCOTSMAN, EDINBURGH
"Flawlessly choreographed... they make you want to rise with them" 
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THE INDEPENDENT, LONDON 

"As ingenious as it is harrowing... The harmonies are startling and glorious... A gripping and moving experience" 
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THE LIST, EDINBURGH
"Utterly compelling narratives... a deeply moving experience" 
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THE GUARDIAN, LONDON 

"A poetic tribute to the freedoms of the future Powerful... Compelling theatre" 
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THE HERALD, EDINBURGH
"The greatest of triumphs and a testament to the human will" 
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FEST MAGAZINE, EDINBURGH
"Immaculately executed with the barest of staging" 
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THE LONDON TIMES
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TIMEOUT, NEW YORK
"Consummate artistry displayed throughout... Farber's joyful, unerring, precise direction"
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THE NEW YORK TIMES [CRITIC'S PICK]
"Heartfelt, powerfully performed"
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THE STAR, JOHANNESBURG
"A profound work... a gem of a script... unforgettable peformances... achingly personal and searingly political... Tranforms the theatre space into a cathartic cathedral"
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THE DAILY TELEGRAPH, LONDON
"Thrilling triumph of hope... Heartbreaking... Incredible... Joyous... They rose to a man to give it a standing ovation"
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NEW YORK 1
"Extraordinary... Strikingly original"
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THEATRE MANIA, NEW YORK
"Heartbreaking and inspiring... There is no excuse for the savvy theater goer to miss Amajuba"
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BBC, OXFORD
"A magical thing took place at the Oxford Playhouse the other night... Amessage of defiance, strength and hope. An extraordinary show"
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THREE WEEKS, EDINBURGH

"Its a crying shame more companies don't produce theatre as good as this"
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EVENING STANDARD, LONDON
"Powerfully moving evening"
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WHAT'S ON STAGE, LONDON **** [FOUR STARS]
"A deserved standing ovation"
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EAST ANGLIAN DAILY TIMES
"A complete and compelling piece of theatre"
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THE OXFORD TIMES
"Sheer genius... radical, brilliant, bare and immediate"
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THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, AUSTRALIA
"Beautifully symbolizes rebirth and the promise of a new world"
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THE IRISH TIMES
"Nightly standing ovations - and rightly so"
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THE ADVERTIZER, UK
"Magic, pure magic... Hauntingly beautiful"
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DAILY INFO, OXFORD
"Go see it, live through it"
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VARIETY, NEW YORK
"Ferociously true... astonishing finale... A thrill"
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METRO, NEW YORK
"A powerful illustration of triumph over adversity"
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MELBOURNE FESTIVAL
"Heartbreaking testimony... joyous celebration of an irrepressible life spirit... Heartlifting show that testifies to the power of story and theatre"
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THE CHRONICLE - CHARLESTON, USA
"A stunning wake up call... A truly magnificent performance, worthy of all the rave reviews and accolades it has received"
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SHOW BUSINESS WEEKLY, NEW YORK
"Beautiful prose, gut-wrenching somg, life-affirming dance and one stunning evening of theater"
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THE SCOTSMAN, EDINBURGH
"Flawlessly choreographed... they make you want to rise with them"

TOURS

“You need only claim the events of your life to make yourself yours.” 

South Africa is an extraordinary country in so many ways. Indeed the relatively peaceful transition from almost half a century of brutal oppression to democracy was nothing short of miraculous. Yet beneath the hype and sense of possibility emanating from our country lies the dark current of consequence. There are statistics and numbers that will some day speak to our grandchildren of the damage wrought by Apartheid… But the emotional devastation of those years cannot be audited. Forced Removals – while indeed socio-politically significant – on a more delicate level tore families apart, frightened children, and ruptured the fragile process of growing up. The State of Emergency declared in the 1980s – while explosive to the masses – was a shadow that fell upon countless adolescents. Instead of grappling with the heady days of teenage insecurity and awakening sexuality, many were facing down war vehicles, at 15 years old, with nothing but stones and courage. The cold technicality of The Land Act & Group Areas Act indeed perverted the socio-economic structure of a country but the childhood years infected with poverty and relentless hunger haunt those who carry these memories today. The chillingly exact legislation of the Apartheid regime left in its wake countless lives irrevocably changed. The flexibility with which the survivors of these years have had to rise to embrace the 'new' South Africa has inspired the world – but left little time for looking back to reclaim the emotional shrapnel left from those dark years. Somewhere out there is a metaphorical scrapyard where these lost details lie – waiting to be reclaimed. It is to this shattered landscape of memory that the actors agreed to return, when we embarked on the creative process of AMAJUBA. Everything they will share here, is true: The intimate details of their own childhoods lived within the Apartheid divisions. Embarking on this journey, we held fast to the notion that until you go back and claim each broken piece of your past you can never be truly free. AMAJUBA is the telling of five 'small' stories plucked from the millions untold – for indeed we are a nation of too many sorrows to recount. We hope that the light of these five stories remembered will shine for the countless that will remain silent. AMAJUBA was created as a proud acknowledgement of the inexplicable hope that has continued to burn in South Africa's people – even in the darkest years. It bares testimony to the extraordinary spirituality present in our country despite the devastation – and is a celebration of the fact that despite the damage, and against all odds…

From the Dust, Like Doves We Rise

Yaël Farber

Photos: Gene Pittman