Description
UK Premiere of BLACK OFF
The South-African actor Ntando Cele melts together physical theatre, video installation, stand-up comedy, and performance. With charming humour, she addresses the different perspectives of identity, racism, stereotypes and prejudice between black and white people.
“Blackfacing” on stage or television always causes headlines. Ntando Cele turns the tables: In her stand-up concert performance “BLACK OFF”, her alter ego Bianca White steps onto the stage with her blonde wig, blue contact lenses and “whiteface”. White is a “Rhodie”, a white Zimbabwean globetrotter who gives self-help courses, meditates, is committed to helping children – she has even adopted some – and dreams of a white world where everyone can overcome their “inner and outer blackness”. Until Vera Black, a black punk comes on stage…
Ntando Cele (*1980, Durban) was born in South Africa and is based in Bern, Switzerland. She studied acting in Durban and attended DasArts in Amsterdam. Her work overturns the borders between physical theatre, video installation, concert, and performance. Cele combines music, text, and video to recreate her own identity on the stage. In “BLACK OFF”, she combines her previous works, “FACE-OFF” and “Black Notice” and, with politically incorrect statements and jokes, addresses the hidden racism in everyday life. Gleefully dissecting prejudices and stereotypes, she confronts the audience with their own perceptions.
Three international artists challenge us to see differently in the Swiss Selection Live. Featuring artists Trân Tran in HERE & NOW, Ntando Cele in BLACK OFF and Alan Alpenfelt’s Binaural Views of Switzerland.
Enjoy the entire Swiss Selection Live showcase for just £20.
Thursday 10 & Friday 11 March
Double bill: HERE & NOW 7.00pm and BLACK OFF 8.45pm // £20
Saturday 12 March
Double bill: HERE & NOW 4.00pm and BLACK OFF 8.00pm // £20
CREATIVE TEAM
Acting, Singing Ntando Cele
Guitar, Sidekick Patrick Abt
Drums Pit Hertig
Piano Simon Ho
Idea/Concept Ntando Cele
Composition Simon Ho
Text/Direction Raphael Urweider
Video Ntando Cele
Light Design Tonio Finkam
Technician Light and Video Maria Liechti
Sound Technician Valerio Rodelli
Production Management Boss & Röhrenbach
CAST
Ntando Cele
Swiss Selection Live is grateful for the generous support of:
Ernst Goehner Foundation, Migros Culture Percentage, Stanley Thomas Johnson Foundation, City of Bern & Canton of Bern.