The Roundhouse is an ambitious new cultural development project which aims to restore a sense of identity to the residents of the Tyhume Valley after decades of poverty and outwards migration. Building on natural creative talent, a rich expressiveness, transnational collaborations and a hunger to learn, a special space is nearing completion in this rural part of the Eastern Cape which will increasingly act as a cultural focus and magnet to South Africans and tourists alike. The Roundhouse is a unique, professionally designed, sustainable construct. Underneath its wooden roof the talents of the people who live in the valley will be brought together in a fusion with creative practitioners and communities in the North East of England and elsewhere in South Africa. Combining memorable performances, cultural learning and exchanges, it marks the beginning of a truly multicultural, global yet profoundly local project which has the potential to change the lives of thousands of people.
In 2005-6, in the Eastern Cape countryside, Dodgy Clutch trained village school teachers in ways of enacting stories, including making simple props. This grew into a piece of theatre on themes of the show Elephant with the children and the teachers of two schools and local artists. At a festival at the nearby Hogsback Mountain it won the acclaim of an international audience.
Dodgy Clutch visited Tyhume in 2007 with Ryder, a major firm of UK architects, to build a permanent legacy of Elephant in the form of an amphitheatre in the Gqumahashe School grounds. Here children can create performances and develop their skills, and it becomes focus for the community and audiences from a wider area who could bring financial benefit.
Based on a traditional roundhouse, the design allows the audience to surround the performance, and the structure of the canopy enclosure peels away to leave the fascinating view of the Tyume Valley and river beyond. The Roundhouse is named after Archie Sibeko, a one-time ANC officer, now neighbour of Ozzie Riley and Elaine Beard of Dodgy Clutch who introduced them to the valley where he grew up.
