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Awards and Nominations

Naledi Awards South Africa, March 2004
Best Actress in a comic role (Helen Iskander)

Klein Karoo National Arts Festival, April, 2003
KANNA AWARD - Nomination

Natal Mercury Newspaper, January 2003
BEST PLAY OF 2002

Total Theatre Magazine, UK, August 2002
THE TOTAL THEATRE AWARD – Nomination

The Stage, Theatre Newspaper, UK, August 2002
BEST ENSEMBLE FOR ACTING EXCELLENCE - Nomination

International Media Reviews

The Stage (Theatre Publication), August 2002
Jacques Lecoq’s theatre of transitions and transformations leaves its mark on this bewitching show. James Cuningham and Helen Iskander’s performances, devised with Sylvaine Strike, give us a story of cultural encounter and failed connections… Gypsy accordion music brings a soaring, swooping piece of theatre to it’s close.

The Guardian, UK
Theatre Pick of the Week

The Belfast Telegraph, UK
Utterly charming... a delight.

The Irish Times, Ireland
A fantastical journey, portrayed with tremendous ingenuity, whose brilliantly crafted conclusion brings us back to where it all started...
Stunning mime, clowning and physical performance... an exhilarating, hypnotic stage pairing.

Three Weeks Newspaper (Edinburgh Fringe Publication), August 2002
The play runs like a SudAfrikan ‘Waiting for Godot’ on crack (only more mobile) and the chemistry between the players is electric, their dysfunctional relationship never less than utterly charming (witness a dinner between them and their imaginary children). The passion between the two varies between hand grenade and supernova and their performances are wonderfully spirited and dazzlingly physical. The pair mixes in inventive use of props and puppetry to tell the tale, combining the mediums into one. The wonderful dream-like ending is both a culmination of the quest and a new beginning.

The List (Time-Out, Scotland), August 2002
Trained at Jacques Lecoq School in France, the two intelligent, clown-like performers use physical theatre, mime, puppetry and live accordion music to create landscape, environment, community and love. This is a tender piece of work which combines ambition, naïveté, dreams and innocence to form a touching story.
Recommended.

www.StageSource.org American Theater Report from the 2002 Edinburgh Fringe Festival
(Of all the shows) my personal favorite, BAOBABS DON’T GROW HERE, performed by a two-person company from South Africa, was about two gypsies travelling the African continent in search of the baobab tree, which seemed to represent fertility and a better life. Just a man and a woman - well, there were puppets and the woman played the accordion - yet they successfully captured the physical vastness of the African continent.

Media Reviews from South Africa

CuePix Newspaper, Photo quip, July 2002
Amazing and inspirational. A must see.

Die Krit, April 2003
Baobabs Don’t Grow Here is a piece of genius that had the opening night audience on their feet… they will remember it for a long time.

Die Beeld, February 2003
An accordion, mime, puppets and physical theatre are a few of the elements that give life to this love-story. A Gypsy couple from Eastern Europe journey to Africa in search of the Baobab tree that will guaranttee them fertility (and a child). With little dialogue, James Cuningham and Helen Iskander have created an African story that leaves audiences breathless.

The Independent on Sunday, January 2003
An ingenious two-hander… with a delicacy and grace we more often experience in good film than good theatre… Both beautifully antique and instantly refreshing, the play reassures us with the knowledge that there are still some of us who can find infinity in a grain of sand and heaven in a wild flower… a triumph.

The Daily News, January 2003
World–class theatre… featuring two great performers. The acting is impeccable throughout with never a dull moment. It is a production which has relevance for young and old.

The Natal Mercury, January 2003
Not to be missed! Baobabs Don’t Grow Here easily snatched this reviewer’s vote as ‘Best Play of 2002’. One honestly cannot recommend this show highly enough.

The Natal Witness, September 2002
With some great inventive theatre, the two performers weave magic… perfect entertainment; it is concise, exciting to watch and completely satisfying. My top show. www.artsmart.co.za (South African Arts Website), July 2002 Explosion! A theatrical masterpiece at the 2002 National Arts Festival long to be remembered and admired, Fresco Theatre’s fringe gem confirms the state of theatre in our country: fresh, superbly creative, clever and tremendously entertaining with all elements of true theatre firmly in place. The two performers take you on a journey that convinces you that the theatres can and will be filled to maximum capacity again. A simple story with riveting and complex emotions that provides for hilarious fare, while being simultaneously heartrending and superbly entertaining.

CuePix Newspaper, July 2002
Baobabs Don't Grow Here' is an incredible mixture of comedy, physical theatre, puppetry and the touching tragedy of a beautifully human couple that seek the hope of new life… hilarious and remarkable, unique and brilliant.

The Star Newspaper, Johannesburg, February 2002
…It’s a rare treat to see theatre clowns the calibre of Cuningham and Iskander at work and transformational play…it’s amazing what they can do with a box, an accordion, an old frying pan, ingenious puppets and a baobab pod… potent physicality… irresistible comic versatility.