The Little Prince: An African-inspired adaptation

In recent years, Harry Potter has been one of a few series of books to inspire works that transcended from the pages and into the theatre and cinema in a profound and significant way. Before then it was The Little Prince.

The novel, by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, has continuously inspired the world since its first print run in 1943. It’s unique tone, the way it views the world and those that inhabit it has had a profound impact on anybody who ever encountered it.

It’s still one of the best sold books and one of the most translated books of all time. In South Africa, there are translations into isiZulu, isiXhosa and Afrikaans – the languages most spoken in the country.

This year, South Africans had the opportunity to really engage with the work thanks to two stage productions that took the source work and made it their own in a theatre space. The two productions each have a different heartbeat. Both end their runs in Johannesburg run on Sunday.

The first production this year started a tour at the National Arts Festival in Makhanda (formerly Grahamstown). An African-inspired adaptation by Kwasha! has been performed in Durban, Bloemfontein, Sasolburg and Johannesburg.

The production tells the story in a fusion of art forms: storytelling, music and circus. And it’s in multiple languages, creating a unique South African-inspired production of this French masterpiece. The production is lively and tangible, subverted into a South African consciousness.

The Little Prince at the Market Theatre

As a new theatre venture the production also explicitly expressed the novel’s metaphor of a grown-up meeting their inner child, and that poignancy is never lost.

The second production, which is currently on stage at The Studio Theatre at Montecasino, had VR Theatrical turn The Little Prince into a mini musical. Sitting in the theatre you can’t help but notice how the addition of music captures the audience and allows them to go on a planetary journey with the pilot from the novel.

It wholly captures the spirit of the novel in which the important message is to embrace your inner child.

The producers said they were hoping they would be able to stage the show outside Johannesburg next year. Needless to say my friends in Cape Town are already salivating at the prospect.

There’s a small window of time left to see these shows.

Info

• The Kwasha! production ends on Sunday at the Market Theatre. For more information, visit Market Theatre

• The VR Theatrical production ends on Sunday at The Studio Theatre at Montecasino in Johannesburg. For more information, visit Pieter Torien Productions

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.