PUSETSO THIBEDI | Capturing Sanity
The first recipient of the Bursary to come from Johannesburg, Pusetso Thibedi auditioned in one day, cast and started rehearsals two days later. Capturing Sanity performed at Theatre Arts in mid 2011. The following year it was selected for the Drama for Life Human Rights and Social Justice Season and performed with Makhaola Ndebele, Tony Miyambo and Alison Pillay.
Presented in partnership with GIPCA and The Baxter Theatre
Directed and Designed by Pusetso Thibedi
Devised and written with the cast
Performed by Thando Doni, Mkhuseli Tafane and Nieke Lombard
Mentored by Liz Mills
Poster Design by Jon Keevy
Photos by Dex Goodman
Director's Note
You are driving down a street, possibly rushing to a meeting that you are late for. You come across a set of traffic lights… Society has set the rules, you know the purpose of the traffic light and how it functions: green means GO, amber means SLOW DOWN and red means STOP! When you approach this traffic light the colour is amber and you remember how late you are, what will you do? Conform to the rules set by society or create your own rules which you have justified with reason and logic? There are many rules that we are all aware of, boundaries that have been set for our own safety. There are a lot of individuals who have been removed from society and placed into institutions on the basis that they cannot conform to the basic rules set by society and thus as a result endangering society. How many rules have you broken today? Consciously or subconsciously; Have you ever thought about the implications of a decision you made (whether you’ve justified it or not). How many times in your life have you spoken to an inanimate object (mirrors, walls, plants, photographs, etc?)
This is the root, foundation of the concept behind Capturing Sanity. Every individual is wandering about, either seeking the ordinary or alienating the extraordinary. We are all governed by laws and rules. What value does any law have when those that make the rules break them themselves? Do we as a society have the right to judge what others are doing, place them in boxes, categorise the boxes and then alienate them because their decisions are foreign to how things are meant to be done? Is it Criminal or insane to be different? What is this sanity that we so desperately seek to capture in order to avoid being labelled, to avoid being placed in a box that is to be alienated until society decides that you belong?
