Curro Nelspruit’s intermediate phase puts on a moving production

In a beautiful show of various talents, from singing, dancing and piano playing to acting, Curro Nelspruit’s intermediate phase put on an incredible production in their culture showcase and original production, The One with Insomnia, at a gala evening in the Andrew Collie Hall at Curro Nelspruit on Friday evening, May 24.

The head of Primary, Linda Janse van Rensburg, said the showcase had recently been entered into the Curro Create National Youth Theatre Festival and had already been adjudicated, and now the school was awaiting feedback to hear if the production would make it to the final stages that will be held in Johannesburg from July 1 to 6.

The evening saw 30 minutes of several wonderfully talented learners showcasing their singing, dancing and piano-playing abilities. Some of the learners even read out a few poems and performed monologues, which saw the audience burst out in applause after each performance and illicit laughter straight from the belly during some of the short monologues.

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After the interval, the audience was treated to The One with Insomnia, written and directed by Curro Nelspruit parent Elzette Kruger, a physiotherapist specialising in neurorehabilitation. She said the production took a look at grief and dealing with trauma.”

“As a Christian, I believe we are called to bring restoration even in this broken world. People grieve differently and progress through the stages of grief in different ways. At some point, most of us will go through a denial phase, then become angry and start bargaining before the depression sets in. Working through it will hopefully end up in the acceptance phase where healing can happen,” Kruger said.

“Some of us will mother those dealings with grief, others will want to do things for them and some will even get frustrated with how they are handling their grief. “I hope the audience saw a little bit of themselves in the characters during the play. The hope was that this message touched the audience and that they learnt something of themselves and how they can be part of their own or a loved one’s journey to acceptance,” she said.

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“Why such a deep, dramatic piece for a primary school? Last year after the adjudication, the kids from the play asked me to write a sad piece. And so I did.”

Kruger added that Curro Nelspruit won the festival three years ago with the play Onsigbaar, and last year, the school placed third. “This year we hope to go through to the next round that will allow us to participate in a theatre week in Johannesburg.”

She said during the adjudication, Curro Nelspruit was fortunate to have award-winning theatre-maker Hennie van Greunen work with the children afterwards. “After adjudication, we had one practice to implement his recommendations. And so we did. From here the play and the ensemble can just grow. Our cast showed resilience as they were able to implement changes in a very short period of time.”

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