Jakob is an engaging tale about a strange little boy, and about love, light and everything reflected in between. Its central theme revolves around the issue of prejudice and tells the story of a child who is born different and who is ostracized by the community in which he lives. The play deals with ‘Jakob’s’ journey through childhood and explores the ways in which he learns to cope with his exclusion. ‘Jakob’ uses the medium of light, and the absence thereof, to drive the narrative. It is a drama that has been described as ‘indie theatre and its combination of lyrical prose and technical theatrics propel it into the genre of magical realism.
PRODUCTION CREDITS
Directed by Michael Taylor-Broderick
Performed by Bryan Hiles
PRODUCTION GALLERY
Shining a light on prejudice and how it is safer in the shadows
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ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Michael Taylor-Broderick
Michael Taylor-Broderick (Writer/ Director) graduated from Natal Technikon with a diploma in Theatre Technology in 1993, obtaining the highest overall aggregate in the Faculty of Arts.
He was the Durban Branch Manager of Entertainment Specialists, Production Projects for 5 years before going out on a limb to pursue a career as a Freelance Lighting Designer in 1999.
He has since become a multiple award-winning lighting designer who has experience in every theatrical medium. Michael has been the Technical Director for the prestigious annual
Hilton Arts Festival for the past 25 years and lectures on the subject of Lighting Design. Also, a playwright, director & writer, Michael’s interest and involvement in such varying art forms are what keep him inspired, passionate, and relevant. He includes among his best work Fantastic Flying Fish Dance Company’s Grass Gardens, Off-Axis & The Suit; Opera Africa’s Rigoletto & La Traviata, Very Very Big Production’s Nunsense and Joseph and His Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat. His own works include ‘Jimmy Time’, ‘The Spartan and The Lullaby’, and Jakob’, the latter receiving critical acclaim wherever it has played. Michael is also the brains behind “One Man One Light”, a short performance piece based on the Italian
“La Linea” television series. “One Man One Light” played to packed houses at the PLASA Industry Trade Show in the U.K. and at Prolight and Sound in Frankfurt, performing 33 shows in 3 days and went on to be invited onto the Main Festival program at the National Arts Festival in 2016. His most recent work, The King of Broken Things, won a Gold Ovation Award on the Virtual Fringe Platform at the National arts Festival in 2020. In 2022 it won the Best Script, Best Director and Best Female Actress Award at the 18 th Golden Dolphin International Puppet Festival in Varna, Bulgaria. Michael is the founder of Theatresmiths, a collective of Theatre Makers dedicated to exploring the ‘magic’ of theatre through the art of storytelling, he is currently employed as a Lighting Sales Consultant for DWR Distribution.
Bryan Hiles
Bryan is one of Durban’s most versatile actors and has stretched his skills in a variety of styles since his introduction into theatre in 1996 with the Story Spinning Theatre (Cape Town).
He studied drama at Technikon Natal (now DUT); and paid his way, while studying, through clowning, face painting, juggling and balloon sculpting. He moved to Johannesburg briefly after his studies, worked in educational theatre (AREPP), musical review (Comic Strip) and television (What’s Bothering Marc Lottering); and then returned to Durban where he has
remained. In the years since his return, he has garnered many awards for his work on stage. Bryan has performed in every KickstArt pantomime since their inception, winning awards for his roles in Jack and the Beanstalk, Cinderella and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Other awards include Little Shop of Horrors (Lead Actor 2008 – Seymour), Peter Pan (Lead Actor 2009 – Peter Pan), Beauty and the Beast (Supporting Actor 2012 – Lumiere) and Sweeney Todd (Supporting Actor 2014 – Tobias). Other Musical credits include The Wizard of Oz, Into The Woods (KickstArt), Chicago (KickstArt) and Cabaret (KickstArt and Pieter Toerien Productions), for which he received a Naledi Award nomination. He received an award for Best Solo Performance in 2014 for his one-man show Jakob, which has toured to many centres around the country.
Bryan has also been involved with many of ThinkTheatre’s Shakespearean productions, building the set for Hamlet and Othello; performing Rodrigo in Othello and Hamlet in Hamlet. He has also played Cassio in Othello, Horatio in Hamlet and Macbeth in Macbeth for The Actors Co-Operative. Bryan has a particular interest in Children’s Theatre and (for ThinkTheatre)
has performed in Marvellous Mixtures (based on Roald Dahl’s George’s Marvellous Medicine) and Grandpa Grump and the Magical Junkshop; and created shadow puppetry for the highly acclaimed Tin Bucket Drum and Animal Farm. He recently played the lead in KickstArt’s The BFG, and, last year, played James in James And The Giant Peach; both based on Roald Dahl’s wonderful stories of the same name. Along with Peter Court (Creative Madness), Bryan created the “visual poem” A Mariner’s Tale; which won Best Director, Best Performance and Best Children’s Production in 2010.
Bryan also works as a voice artist, having voiced many advertisements on East Coast Radio, several on-hold messages for Success On Hold, Teletrack horse racing, safety videos, vocal dubbing for Telemundo, and many more.
