- Written, designed and directed by Brett Bailey
- With Sello Sebotsane / Seputla Sebogodi, Andile Bonde, Abey Xakwe and Lulama Masimini
Uganda's Field Marshall Al Hajji President Doctor Idi Amin Dada burst on to the African stage with his military regime in 1971, sent the Asians, British and Israelis packing, bankrupted his banana republic economy, advised Queen Elizabeth on her wardrobe, and slaughtered over 350 000 people during his 8 year rule.
'He had the most powerful presence of evil, a scoutmaster promoted to ultimate power - terrifying.'
Dennis Kylie, correspondent for The Guardian in the seventies.
'He was a very pleasant person, one of the most pleasant people I've met, when he was not in his rage - he had the rage of a wounded buffalo.'
Ugandan M.P. Henry Kyemba.
'Everything he did, he did for show.'
Charles Mulekwa, Ugandan playwright.
BIG DADA is an exploration of dictatorship in contemporary Africa. It charts Amin's descent through a labyrinth of African theatrical forms into psychotic paranoia, and his country's breakdown into chaos amid the nationalism, poverty, religious factionalism and Super Power machinations that seethe across the post-colonial landscape of Africa. BIG DADA examines these tensions in an uncompromisingly volatile piece of musical theatre drawing on the rich traditions of African pop and traditional design, art, performance and music.
On the links at the bottom of the page you can find the full script, essays and notes on the text, and press reviews.
‘Bailey and his fantastic, brilliant cast get under the skin: like surgeons on acid, they operate in a dual theatre of the absurd and of cruelty, wielding interrogative scalpels of satire on the philosophical body of dictatorial dis(ease)…’The Cape Times
‘Big Dada is irreverent, even perverse… the surging energy and visual brilliance and what they stand for carry the show.’The Sunday Independent
‘breathtaking performances’Mail And Guardian
‘Marat/Sade meets Ubu Roi…’The Cape Times
‘… a production that plays out like a nightmare or an hallucination, awash with potent African rhythms and avant-garde imagery. It's mesmerising stuff... a riveting, invigorating experience that's a route marker to the future of South African theatre.’THE CITIZEN
HISTORY:
-
-
2001: Grahamstown Festival (main programme), Roots Festival (Amsterdam), Barbican Theatre (London), Baxter Theatre (Cape Town)
-
-
2005: Spier Arts Summer Season (Cape Town), Kunsten Festival des Arts (Brussels), Wienner Festwochen (Vienna), Hebbel-am-Uffer (Berlin), Market Theatre (Johannesburg)
-
AWARDS:
-
-
Valerie van der Gucht Award for best director, 2002
-
-
Vita Award for best script of a new South African play, 2002
-
-
Vita Award for best costume design, 2002
-