Meet MOYA star Trompie – portrayed by Jacobus Claassen
Jacobus Claassen shares his moving story of how he found the Zip-Zap Circus.
MOYA’s leading character Jacobus Claassen (31) shared his moving journey to finally finding his happiness and home through the Zip-Zap Circus.
“I grew up on the street [for] most of my life,” said Claassen, who was born in Paarl in the Western Cape. “In 2007, I moved to Cape Town, and I lived in a shelter since then. I found Zip-Zap at the shelter in 2009.”
Like many of the talented performers who come up through the Zip-Zap Circus, Claassen found his passion for circus through engaging with Zip-Zap’s Simunye youth programme, and Second Chance, which are free to anybody willing to learn how to operate within the circus environment.
“From Simunye I went to Dare To Dream,” Claassen continued. “From there, in 2018, I became a staff member at Zip-Zap; and I’m still here.”
At some stage, the Zip-Zap Circus became a part-time activity to Claassen – who loves circus a great deal – while he was enrolled at college for electrician studies.
“I always wanted to be an IT person because I’m quite good when it comes to handy stuff,” Claassen said. “I loved it, but it wasn’t for me – I wasn’t happy where I was. That’s when I joined Zip-Zap permanently.”
According to Claassen, the Zip-Zap Circus’s owners have always been very supportive of him and whatever choices he made for himself.
“I still told Brent that I was in college, and I gave them all the times, and they [told me] to do what’s best for me,” said Claassen. “[Je said] ‘if you feel like it’s not what you love – rather go for what you really love’. I triple-thought about it, and the stage is what I love.”
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Claassen confessed to enjoying his time in Fourways at Monte-Casino, citing Anaat as his favourite place to dine – while also expressing high regard for the environment.
“My favourite thing to do in Fourways at Monte Casino, to be honest, [is] walking around and seeing myself on tv; then I get excited,” Claassen said jovially. “Plus the people here are quite lovely – especially the guys that work here.”
Claassen portrays Trompie in the MOYA production: a homeless urchin who wishes they could join the Hotel of Acrobatics and become a peer to the porters at the fictional institution. There are stark parallels between Claassen’s personal journey and that of the character Trompie.
According to Claassen, his wish is for many people to know more about Zip-Zap, how Zip-Zap operates, and what Zip-Zap does for all the kids in the world. Claassen shared words of wisdom for any young street performer who finds themselves in the position he was once in.
“What I can say is to keep on pushing,” said Claassen. “Like I always tell myself, life will always have those moments of pushing you down; and it will happen every single day of your life. It’s just up to you to pick yourself up, and push yourself forward.”
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