Physical Performer and Artistic Director: Oddbody Theatre

A wave, a smile and a handstand — three gestures to encapsulate one man: Richard Antrobus. He’s all about movement, blending his own carnivalesque brand of miming, clowning and acrobatics in a way that captures the imagination and wins awards, such as the Standard Bank Ovation Encore! Award for “excellence and innovation”. Born in Port Elizabeth and raised in Grahamstown, this Rhodes graduate holds an MA in Contemporary Performance and, having won the Donald Gordon Creative Arts Fellowship, a diploma from the London School of Physical Theatre. Seeing the world as his stage and the streets as a school for performance, Antrobus co-founded the Phezulu Project to help to bridge the gap between professional and community theatre. The street-theatre project started out as a successful mash-up of stilt-walking, poi, gumboot dancing and pantsula at the Grahamstown National Arts Festival and has since become a regular fixture and gone on to be performed internationally.

— Billy Rivers

Website: oddbodytheatre.yolasite.com