Standard Bank Young Artist, Neil Coppen’s latest offering is set in Bashfield, a fictional battle-field town nestled in the once war ravaged valleys of Northern KwaZulu Natal.
With a narrative that whisks audiences through two centuries of South African history, Coppen’s innovative new production features a large cast comprising of some of KZN’s finest talents and sees him collaborating across disciplines. Movement, sound, music, multi-media and shadows combine to create a breathtakingly original theatrical experience. Part period epic, part tragi-comedy, part unconventional love story, Abnormal Load takes an honest and humorous look at the many complexities and contradictions of life in small town South Africa.
Abnormal Load is a theatrical universe where the past runs in tandem with the present and events shift seamlessly from the grandeur of a battle-field in 1879 to the intimacy of the bedroom in 2011.
Coppen explains: “I’m intrigued at how events or decisions occurring centuries ago continue to have repercussions in our daily lives. I’m also interested in examining how we all tend to lug about emotional baggage handed down to us by previous generations.
“I suppose the question the play poses is whether it is possible to be free of these burdens, or break the repetitive cycles of history.”