William Kentridge’s exploration of Africa’s role in the First World War combines music, dance, film projections, mechanized sculptures and shadow play to illuminate the untold story of the millions of African porters and carriers who served—and in many cases died for— British, French and German battlefield forces. Freighted with the weight of this little-examined history and quickened by Kentridge’s visionary theatrical alchemy, The Head & the Load is an exceptionally ambitious work of performance.
A monumental theatrical masterwork commemorating the unnamed African soldiers lost in the First World War
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A play on the Ghanaian proverb, “the head and the load are the troubles of the neck,” The Head & the Load sees Kentridge working again with his longtime collaborator Philip Miller, one of South Africa’s leading composers along with Thuthuka Sibisi co- composer/music director and choreographer and principle dancer Gregory Maqoma to create what the artist describes as “an interrupted musical procession”. This rich and multi-layered performance features an international cast of singers, dancers, and performers, a majority directly from South Africa. Miller’s powerful and evocative compositions offer a perfect complement to Kentridge’s imaginative work.
As much an installation as a performance piece, The Head & the Load melds performances by orchestra collective The Knights, and an international ensemble cast of singers, dancers, and performers with a chorus of mechanized gramophones and film projections, creating a landscape of immense proportion and imagination that utilizes the vast sweep of venues such as the Tate Modern Turbine Hall and the Wade Thompson Drill Hall of the Park Avenue Armory to upend standard notions of scale.
2018
MASS MoCA (work in progress) (USA) | Tate Modern, London (UK) | Ruhrtriennale, Duisburg (GE) | Park Avenue Armory, NYC (USA)
2019
Holland Festival, Amsterdam (NL)
2022
Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, Miami (USA)
2023
Joburg Theatre, Johannesburg (SA)
2026
CalPerformances, Berkeley (USA)
TEAM
Concept | Director: William Kentridge
Composer: Philip Miller
Choreography: Gregory Maqoma
Music Director | Co-Composer: Thuthuka Sibisi
Projection Design: Catherine Meyburgh
Costume Design: Greta Goiris
Set Design: Sabine Theunissen
Lighting Design: Urs Schönebaum
Sound Design: Mark Grey | Michele Greco
Video Editing and Compositing: Janus Fouché | Žana Marović | Catherine Meyburgh
Associate Director: Luc De Wit
Studio Technical Director: Chris Waldo de Wet
Cinematography: Duško Marović
Orchestration: Michael Atkinson | Philip Miller
ADDITIONAL CREDITS
created and performed by: Hamilton Dlamini, Nhlanhla Mahlangu, Katlego Letsholonyana, Luc De Wit, [In memoriam Mncedisi Shabangu)
featured vocalists & performers: Joanna Dudley, Ann Masina, Nhlanhla Mahlangu, Bham Ntabeni, Sipho Seroto, Dana Lyn (viola), N’Faly Kouyate (kora), Vincenzo Pasquariello (piano), Tlale Makhene (percussion)
dancers: Otto Nhlapo, Julia Zenzie Burnham, Nhlanhla Mahlangu, Thulani Chauke, Xolani Dlamini
ensemble vocalists: Mhlaba Buthelezi, Ayanda Eleki, Nokuthula Magubane, Ncokwane Lydia Manyama, Tshegofatso Moeng, Mapule Moloi, Xolisile Bongwana, Motho Oa Batho, Bulelani Madondile, Siphiwe Nkabinde, Lubabalo Velebayi
musicians: Dilon Bryan (french horn), Shane Cooper (bass), Kendra Grittani (cello), Richard Harris (trombone), Sam Jones (trumpet), Andrew Kershaw (tuba), Nathan Koci (accordion), Shoto Otaguro (percussion), Myles Roberts (flute), Benny Vernon (trombone), Khelsey Zarraga (violin)
additional orchestration: Nathan Koci
Production Manager: Brendon Boyd
Technical Director: Mike Edelman
Co-Sound Designer + Engineer: Michele Greco
Video Controller: Matthew Deinhart
Stage Manager: Mego Williams
Assistant Stage Manager: Lissy Barnes-Flint
Company Managers: Carol Blanco | Catherine DeGennaro
Costume Supervisor: Mathilde Baillarger
Costume Assistant: Ntabiseng Malaka
Monitor Sound Engineer: Zain Valley
Head Costume Fabricator: Emmanuelle Erhart
Costume Fabricators: Bert Menzel | Claudine Grinwis
Photography: Stella Olivier
Scenic Painter: Anaïs Thomas
Acting coach: Phala O. Phala
: The Head & the Load acknowledges the kind assistance of Goodman Gallery, Lia Rumma Gallery and Marian Goodman Gallery in this project.
: The Head & the Load was originally co-commissioned by 14-18 NOW: WW1 Centenary Commissions, MASS MoCA, Park Avenue Armory, Ruhrtriennale, and Yale Schwarzman Center with additional support from Holland Festival.
: Lead support for the development of The Head & the Load has been provided by Brenda R. Potter, Daniel R. Lewis, the W.L.S. Spencer Foundation and Jennifer & Jonathan Allan Soros, with further support from Alessia Bulgari, Agnes Gund and Wendy Fisher. Additional support has been provided by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, JKW Foundation, the Mellon Foundation, Simeon Bruner, Robert Gold, Sarah McNair, Randal Fippinger, John and Cynthia Reed, Bill & Sako Fisher, Quaternaire and donors who wish to remain anonymous.
: Created in residence at MASS MoCA, North Adams, 2018, and Kentridge Studios, Johannesburg 2017-2018. The Head & The Load was developed in collaboration with chamber orchestra The Knights, based in New York.
Press
The New York Times: The African Toll of the Great War, in Song and Shadows
The New Yorker: “The Head and the Load,” William Kentridge’s Homage to Africa in the Great War
Time Out: Review: The Head & the Load
Artforum: As Wastage
Frieze: William Kentridge and Co.’s Epic Production Remembers Africa’s Incalculable Contribution to WW1
Vulture: Opera Review: The Unseen Great War, in William Kentridge’s The Head and the Load
Financial Times: William Kentridge and the Forgotten Victims of Africa's Great War
Wall Street Journal: William Kentridge Tackles the History of Apartheid and Colonialism in His Latest Production
The Standard: William Kentridge - The Head & the Load review: A nightmarish masterpiece to mark a shaming tragedy
The Guardian: The carnage cabaret: Tate's high-octane tribute to Africa's forgotten war dead
The Independent: The Head & the Load, Tate Modern, London, review: William Kentridge’s piece about Africans in WWI is electrifying
