Afrikaans will be turned on its head, spun around rapidly and set free in Afrikaaps, which opens at the Baxter Theatre next month.
It's hip, it's fresh and it's sinking its teeth into the roots of Cape Town.
The production boldly reclaims the language of Afrikaans for all those who speak it, by linking threads of history and re-rooting its origins in the Cape to tell a story that is generally unknown.
If you know anything about multi-instrumentalist and composer Kyle Shepherd and poet and musician Jitsvinger (Quintin Goliath), it will then not come as a complete shock that they're collaborating on a project.
What Shepherd does through music, Jitsvinger achieves with crafted words.
The talented youths met last year through a series of events that would eventually lead them to Amsterdam, Holland, under the facilitation of Catherine Henegan, of The Glasshouse Theatre Collective. Initially a raw experimental collaboration, this was the birthing of Afrikaaps. Henegan saw merit in bringing the two artists together in a musical and poetic collaboration. After obtaining funding, she sought out South African co-production partners for support.
Rehearsals are under way at the Baxter under the direction of Henegan, with the backing of a powerhouse team that's grown from just the initial two and is now a multi-talented collective that stands at the very cusp of edgy and outspoken.
It features legendary hip hop activist and b-boy Emile Jansen, bassist and electronic producer Shane Cooper, B-boy and rapper Bliksemstraal, poet Jethro Louw of Khoi Khonnexion, singer and actor Moenier Adams and singer and poet Blaq Pearl. Collectively they are Die Argitekbekke.
"Rehearsals" is really a loose term for an explosion of brainstorming in an intense creative process. The team has a natural synergy that symbiotically feeds off each other's creativity. It's a rapport of minds that functions as one organism.
Afrikaaps unfolds in a digital landscape of storytelling, poetry, video and music that ranges from hip-hop beats to Ghoema and Kaapse Klopse.
Dylan Valley is responsible for capturing the process for a documentary and using film footage during the actual production. Writer and film-maker Aryan Kaganof is on board as dramaturg for the production.
Shepherd, who was recently nominated for two South African Music Awards (Samas) - Newcomer of the Year and Best Traditional Jazz Album - is the production's musical director.
At 22, he is the youngest musician to win the Sama's Traditional Jazz category, of which he modestly says: "We accept acknowledgement for our work."
Jitsvinger speaks volumes about his history and is masterful in his inventive use of Afrikaans, which he first coined as "Afrikaaps".
He says: "There was a longing for all of us to meet through some divine intervention. When I first heard Kyle's music, I knew what I was listening to. It felt in some way that what we were doing was related."
For Jitsvinger and Shepherd, Afrikaaps is the first time they're engaged so completely on a major theatrical sphere.
Jitsvinger says: "I always wanted to do this. My thinking is, don't be stuck to only one dynamic of yourself; be the character you feel speaks the truest according to the message you want to convey. We're like rubber at the moment; we can break through our moulds."
A little known fact is that Shepherd was quite involved in theatre at school, which indirectly assists with his role as musical director.
He explains: "I've also been a band leader, so it's not that far off. Of course, theatre is a different kind of discipline; not only am I the musical director, but also writing the musical script, so it's double the responsibility and calls for double the focus."
As a team, they are reclaiming what was theirs, instilling pride into the Afrikaans-speaking community by looking at the original architects of Afrikaans since the 1600s and getting behind the misrepresentation of stereotypes that the media has perpetuated.
It's not really the "how" of Afrikaaps that is important to them, but rather the "why".
"It's important because the people who speak the language feel like they don't own it. On the flipside, the ones who claim it aren't the ones who birthed it. So it's like retelling the history of Afrikaans," says Jitsvinger.
Shepherd adds: "Many people don't know this story and it is long overdue. We're really setting the language free so that people can take from it what they need. The language belongs to all who speak it."
He continues: "The language in which you communicate with people is really the first step in building self-identity and self-awareness, so we're emancipating it to everyone who speaks it."
Other than Afrikaaps, Jitsvinger plans to release two albums this year, while Shepherd plans to release a live trio album next month, which will be followed by a tour in Europe in June and a release of a second studio album in August.
Afrikaaps premieres at the Klein Karoo National Arts Festival in Oudtshoorn from April 1 to 4. See www.kknk.co.za. It runs at the Baxter Theatre from April 6 to 27 at 8pm. R50 to R120 at Computicket: 083 915 8000.
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