A puppet of a black woman in traditional South African clothing in purple, blue and yellow colours. She wears layers of wooden beads around her neck and has a yellow headscarf on with long twigs for hair. She is puppeteered by two performers in blue overalls and headscarfs. They are among green leaves and trees.

Siyanda

Commissioned by Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, 2018 for the reopening of The Temperate House.

As part of this 30 min walkabout performance Siyanda, Protector of Plants, invited visitors to explore the Temperate House at Kew Gardens, the world’s largest surviving Victorian glasshouse, which had reopened its doors after a huge 5-year restoration project.   

Siyanda has been the guardian of plants for many years and knows all their secrets. As the young audience joined her on her walk around the Temperate House, and listened to stories and songs about the plants, they became fully-fledged plant protectors and learned how to protect our vibrant planet.  This theatrical experience used live music, puppetry and performance and was originally performed in October 2018.

Cast

Creative Team

Sue Buckmaster

Artistic Director

All the children were extremely quiet, that is rare, they were absorbed by it. It was beautiful.
Audience Member

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