The Last Man Standing - Puppet Show

The Last Man Standing is a tale of a brave wildebeest called Mara. The story is told in 2070 by Bones (a carcass of Mare) and a letter written by the Mask in 2010 warning of the pending danger of climate change that has wiped out the wildebeest. In a performance combining puppets, objects, figures, architecture, and installation, Mara goes through the most trying moments in her life. Told from the perspectives of the living and dead worlds, the story is full of unbelievable events, struggle, bravery, feast, famine, life and death.

The process of developing the performance included several stages, such as conceptualisation, puppet construction, integration, rehearsals, and fusing the artistic elements. The performance premiered at the International Student Puppet Festival in London, where the live show was followed by a video and Skype conversation between producers and the audience.

Following the premier, The Last Man Standing is touring East Africa before embarking for festivals tour in Europe and Asia. According to the producers, the goal is to both raise awareness of environmental issues, while at the same time improving the level of professionalism in the practice of puppet theatre and holistically developing puppetry as an art form, merging and integrating it with other art forms like dance, objects, mime, drumming, etc.

Environment, Climate Change

According to the organisers, the performance is in line with attaining several of the Millennium development Goals (MDGS). These are: MDG 1 - poverty reduction through income generation by local communities through conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity resources; MDG3 - gender empowerment through involvement of women in conservation and associated incomes through management and sustainable use of biodiversity and natural resource use; and MDG 7 - through the enhancement of integration of environment, natural resources, and biodiversity into sustainable development.