Puppets Against Apartheid
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"As a 'white' South African, I grew up under Apartheid and never really understood the reality of living under an oppressive regime, until my days as a student at the University of Cape Town. It was then that I participated in protests against the government's unjust treatment of the majority of our population." Gary Friedman
Puns & Doedie (Puppets Against Apartheid) was Friedman's first project in social-activism, reflecting the political situation and it's implications on everyday South Africans. |
Puns & Doedie began their lives on the streets of Cape Town in 1981. The character of 'Puns' was a worker in the city council, before being promoted to the then 'segregated' houses of parliament. His wife 'Doedie' was a flower seller on the Grand Parade.
Following performances on the streets of Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg, the show was invited to festivals in Europe. The initial reaction to the street performances was "a little intimidating", after the security police were seen taking notes at a street performance. But the show continued and soon expanded to include the politicians manipulating the situation in South Africa at the time: PW Botha, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan. During 1987, when Apartheid was becoming more aggressive, Puns & Doedie Show depicted the US President, Ronald Reagan, advising President PW Botha to purchase the old-exploded Challenger Spaceship pieces to assist South Africa construct it's very own space program to rectify the "Black Problem" by establishing 'Homelands in Space'.
Following performances on the streets of Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg, the show was invited to festivals in Europe. The initial reaction to the street performances was "a little intimidating", after the security police were seen taking notes at a street performance. But the show continued and soon expanded to include the politicians manipulating the situation in South Africa at the time: PW Botha, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan. During 1987, when Apartheid was becoming more aggressive, Puns & Doedie Show depicted the US President, Ronald Reagan, advising President PW Botha to purchase the old-exploded Challenger Spaceship pieces to assist South Africa construct it's very own space program to rectify the "Black Problem" by establishing 'Homelands in Space'.
