Arts and Creative Industries / Theatre / PEPONI explores ideas of paradise on Southern African tour

PEPONI explores ideas of paradise on Southern African tour

Arts and Creative Industries
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20 August

This August and September, PEPONI, the first original dance-theatre production by House of Wondar, will tour five Southern African countries with support from the French Institute of South Africa (IFAS), Institut français in Paris, and the Alliance Française network in Southern Africa.

Meaning “paradise” in Kiswahili, PEPONI brings together eight company members to explore what paradise means to them and what it might mean to create their own sense of paradise where they are. Developed since March 2026, the production is choreographed by Matthieu Nieto, with dramaturgy by South African poet and theatre-maker Koleka Putuma.

The tour begins at the Little Theatre in Dar es Salaam on 29 August, before travelling to Durban for the JOMBA! Dance Festival on 3 and 4 September. Performances follow at the Eswatini Theatre Club in Mbabane on 9 September and Maitisong Theatre in Gaborone on 12 September.

PEPONI then heads to Gauteng, with a performance at Wits Theatre in Johannesburg on 18 September, followed by the Leeto Dance Festival and I’trotra in Soweto on 19 September. The tour concludes at Semana da Dança at the Franco-Mozambican Cultural Centre in Maputo on 23 September.

The tour supports the circulation of contemporary performance across the region, connecting House of Wondar with audiences, festivals and cultural institutions in Tanzania, South Africa, Eswatini, Botswana and Mozambique.

Follow House of Wondar on Instagram for tour updates!

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