Barefeet theatre will present their production of Float as part of their Christmas programme this year. Float will continue their Christmas tradition of providing gifts and entertainment for children in Lusaka.
Based in Zambia’s capital, Barefeet theatre has been providing collaborative creative opportunities to empower and protect children living on the streets of Lusaka and nearby areas since 2006.
Formerly street children themselves, the group of artists at Barefeet theatre conduct theatre workshops to guide destitute youth off the streets and into protective environments such as children’s centres.
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Barefeet theatre’s outreach engages vulnerable youth and links them to community services such as healthcare, weekly Children’s Council meetings, the annual Barefeet Youth Arts Festival, campaigns such as Pamodzi (Together we can) coordinated by the Children’s Council in collaboration with Taksvarkki (Operation a day’s work), to integrate disability inclusion in the operational modes of Barefeet Theatre, and promote the rights of persons with disability among other programmes.
Barefeet Theatre currently works with 40 community partner centres in Lusaka and five Zambian provinces.
As part of their work, every year Barefeet puts on a Christmas show which provides entertainment, games, educational workshops, inspirational talks, meals and gifts to children from all over the city.
For many of these children, Barefeet theatre’s gift is all they get. This year the theatre will be doing a production of Float. The play is based on the “myths surrounding the building of the Kariba hydroelectric dam and the two Nyami nyami (Zambezi River God) believed to have been living in the river” they describe as part of their Gofundme campaign.
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The story will be told through “sound, song, dance, circus, spectacle, mischief, music, humor, and fun—all unpacked in a truly Zambian style.” The production will also creatively engage with themes of climate change and the environment.
Barefeet theatre works with over 1,000 marginalised youth annually in productions such as this one. Funds from the Gofundme campaign will go towards gifts and curating entertainment and Christmas spirit for the kids.
Barefeet Theatre’s Float will run at the Lusaka Playhouse from 7th to 10th December in Lusaka.
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