The Fool's Guide ... to living and dying

Mouthpeace Presents:

The Fool’s Guide …to living and dying…

Performed by Andrew Buckland

Written by Andrew and Janet Buckland

Directed by Janet Buckland

Commissioned by the Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees 2026

Ticket Price: R200

Genre: Physical theatre

Ages: 12 and up

Duration: 70 minutes

The Fool’s Guide is an hilarious and highly physical journey through the world of contemporary tech, navigated with the virtuoso skill of an actor at the peak of his powers. The one man tour de force asks serious questions about the human condition, especially in relation to social media and AI, and presents unique and thought provoking answers through raucous comedy and poignant story telling.

• Will Milton Yonaire be able to save his son Billy Yonaire before the TechBro Overlords do their worst?
• Can TechBro Billy survive the exploitation of a corrupt social media platform?
• Can his greatest fan, The FaNarrator protect her Tea Cup Yorkie called Porky from the assassination plot by Chad, the head of the TechBro Overlords?
• What is the secret carried by the Home Robot Vacuum Cleaner?

Follow these colourful characters as they find their way through the slightly surreal comic adventure, which is also a fast paced thriller, complete with twists and surprises. The intriguing multi-threaded narrative blazes a trail from the familiar to landscapes beyond the veil of death.

What the critics said

“A stunning one-man show that elegantly captures the magic and mystery of the human spirit while flying a flag of defiance against all that would attempt to silence or flatten real creative endeavour”. Keith Bain (The Daily Maverick)

About the actor

Since 1980 Andrew Buckland, in collaboration with his partner Janet Buckland, has been consistently producing a world class series of performances based very firmly on physicality and the power of the whole body of the performer to interrogate universal questions. Each performance has been focussed on satirical and parodic investigations of the human condition, which engaged with politics, and issues of social justice, yet these investigations have been always in the world of the Clown, the Fool, and steeped in the belief of the redemptive and transcendent power of laughter.

Buckland describes himself as addicted to the sound of the laughter of people. The shows include The Mime, Touchstones, No Easy Walk, The Ugly Noo Noo, Between the Teeth, Bloodstream, (with Lionel Newton) Feedback (with Lionel Newton), The Water Juggler, The Well Being (with Lionel Newton and Lara Foot), Laugh the Buffalo, Crazy in Love with Rob Murray), Firefly (with Sylvaine Strike), The Fool’s Guide …to living and dying…