Bongani Nicholas Ngomane: The Adventures of STEAM transforms science into theatre, where young minds learn through laughter, music, movement and imagination.

When Science Finds a Body: Reflecting on The Adventures of STEAM

There was a moment during The Adventures of STEAM when the Malombo Theatre stopped feeling like a conventional theatre and began resembling something between a classroom, a playground, a laboratory and an African storytelling circle.

Schoolchildren filled the theatre to capacity. They laughed, screamed, clapped, sang and responded freely to what was happening before them. Watching them, I became increasingly interested not only in what the production was teaching, but in how they were learning.

Presented at the South African State Theatre on 11 September 2026 and directed by Chris, The Adventures of STEAM formed part of the closing of the 2026 STEAM Festival. It was an energetic encounter between theatre, science, culture and education.

Colourful African clothing established the production’s visual identity. A princess positioned at the upper centre of the stage suggested a world drawing from African storytelling traditions, while projections of cattle, rivers, villages and landscapes created an environment connected to land and community.

Animal props representing sheep, chickens, frogs and monkeys populated this theatrical ecosystem. Two large wooden benches anchored the stage while projections, smoke effects, music and movement continually transformed the space.

But something more interesting was happening beneath the spectacle.

Knowledge was being given a body.

The reproductive system became a family of characters. The womb and ovaries were no longer diagrams on a classroom wall. They became performers. The penis became a character capable of speaking about puberty, bodily changes and wet dreams.

Suddenly, biology had personality.

The production addressed menstruation, pregnancy, puberty, reproductive organs and bodily development with an openness that was simultaneously educational and humorous. Projections of the uterus and other reproductive structures worked alongside voice over explanations and live performance.

There is considerable value in this approach.

Many young people first encounter these subjects through clinical diagrams, uncomfortable conversations or textbook definitions. Theatre creates another possibility. It allows knowledge to become visible, embodied and emotional.

Instead of merely asking a child to remember what an ovary does, theatre can allow that child to encounter an ovary as a character within a larger family of organs.

That distinction matters.

The Adventures of STEAM therefore reminded me that theatre can function as a serious pedagogical methodology without surrendering its playfulness.

The production moved confidently from reproductive health into wider scientific territory. Audiences encountered plant cells, animal cells, chromosomes, acids, biodiversity, soil and environmental science. Music and rap were repeatedly used to communicate scientific ideas.

Amapiano became another educational language.

The moment familiar contemporary music entered the performance, the young audience erupted. Their response was extraordinary. They screamed, danced, clapped and communicated back to the performers.

One could easily dismiss such moments as entertainment, but I read them differently.

They demonstrated recognition.

The production understood that if education wishes to communicate meaningfully with young people, it must sometimes enter the cultural spaces young people already occupy. Amapiano and rap were therefore not merely decorative additions. They became methods of translation between scientific knowledge and contemporary youth culture.

Environmental responsibility provided another significant layer.

The production confronted the destructive relationship human beings have developed with the natural environment. Pollution, littering, damage to soil and irresponsible treatment of the land were presented as consequences of human greed and carelessness.

This connected the earlier discussions of cells and biological systems to something larger. The human body is a system. The reproductive system is a system. An ecosystem is a system. Communities themselves are systems.

Damage one component and the consequences move elsewhere.

That interconnectedness was perhaps one of the production’s most valuable ideas.

The eventual arrival of twins, introduced to the queen and community before beginning a journey towards purpose and ownership of land, shifted the performance towards questions of aspiration, responsibility and possibility. Their journey suggested that knowledge should ultimately enable young people to imagine futures for themselves.

The ensemble deserves recognition for sustaining the demanding energy of the work. The performers moved between acting, dancing, singing, comedy, scientific explanation and direct audience interaction with commitment. Their collective energy helped prevent the educational material from becoming didactic.

Following the production, collaborators presented further showcases and music exploring scientific subjects such as chromosomes. Delegates and stakeholders associated with the US Embassy, Johannesburg Zoo and the City of Tshwane were also part of the broader closing programme of the 2026 festival.

Walking away from Malombo Theatre, I found myself thinking about how much of our education system still privileges sitting, listening, writing and remembering.

The Adventures of STEAM offered another proposition.

What if a learner can dance knowledge?

What if a scientific process can become a character?

What if chromosomes can become music?

What if biodiversity can become a story?

And what if theatre can help a child understand their changing body without shame or fear?

These questions are bigger than one production.

They speak to the possibilities of arts based learning in a country where educators continuously search for meaningful ways of making knowledge accessible, culturally relevant and memorable.

The Adventures of STEAM did not attempt to replace the classroom. Instead, it expanded our understanding of what a classroom might become.

For the children screaming, laughing, dancing and answering performers inside the Malombo Theatre, science was no longer somewhere on the page.

For a moment, science had a body.

And it was performing right in front of them.

Bongani Nicholas Ngomane
nicholasngomane87@gmail.com
072 700 6030
SA Theatre Reviews
http://www.satheatrereview.co.za

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