LIFE & TIMES OF MICHAEL K 

HANDSPRING PUPPET COMPANY

THEATRE – PUPPETRY – VISUAL ARTS

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J.M. Coetzee’s Life & Times of Michael K is a powerful, multilayered theatrical adaptation of the Nobel Prize-winning author’s Booker Prize-winning novel. Adapted and directed by Lara Foot in collaboration with the internationally acclaimed Handspring Puppet Company, the production combines puppetry, performance, film and evocative music.

Set in a South Africa ravaged by civil war, the story follows Michael K, a simple man who undertakes a perilous journey to return his mother to the farm where she was born. After her death, he continues alone, seeking a place where he can live beyond the violence and control of the world around him. His profound connection to the earth and his determination to live on his own terms gradually reveal a quiet strength and a reason for living.

Handspring’s extraordinary puppetry brings Michael K and the people he encounters vividly to life, while film, music and performance create an expansive theatrical landscape. The result is a haunting and deeply moving meditation on war, displacement, freedom and human resilience.

The production premiered in 2021 and has since enjoyed an extensive international tour, including presentations at Theater der Welt Düsseldorf, Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Galway International Arts Festival, St. Ann’s Warehouse in New York, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Los Angeles, Chicago and Boston. 

Running time: 2 hours 20 minutes, no interval.

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