A silhouetted performer extends their arms across the green mound in a sharp side beam, with another figure low in the darkness.

Southwark Playhouse Borough, The Little2023

Under the Kundè Tree

The Production

Clarisse Makundul Productions presented Clarisse Makundul’s Under the Kundè Tree at Southwark Playhouse Borough, exploring the Cameroonian War of Independence through the lens of women. Set in the 1950s, the production centred on personal and political freedom, colonialism, identity and family obligation.

36 photographs in the curated edit

Director: Ebenezer Bamgboye
Movement Director: Rose Ryan
Lighting Design: Arnim Friess
Set & Costume Design: Niall McKeever
Sound Design: Max Pappenheim
Commissioned by: Clarisse Makundul Productions
Photography: Steve Gregson

A performer in blue cradles another performer’s face in a warm pool of light during an intimate exchange.

A lone performer stands on the green circular mound and reaches upward toward suspended objects beneath white spotlights.

A close performer in orange looks upward with a tense, questioning expression under soft theatrical haze.

The circular green mound holds a prone performer, a seated man and a crouching figure under warm and cool overhead beams.

An ensemble in warm orange light moves together on the circular mound beneath hanging scenic objects.

A performer in orange clasps their hands near their mouth while another leans in with a comforting hand on their shoulder.

A single performer stands centred on the circular mound in blue-green light, surrounded by darkness.

Three performers crowd together in a tense confrontation, with one in orange gripping a man’s shirt.

Figures lie and reach across the circular mound in a saturated red lighting state.

A performer in orange holds a man by the shoulders as they face each other in warm haze.

A wide ensemble scene places several performers around the green mound beneath bright white shafts of light.

A performer reaches upward in silhouette on the mound, surrounded by blue and golden haze.

Several performers sit on chairs around the green mound in low purple and white light beneath suspended set pieces.

A performer in blue leans close to a bowed performer in orange, touching them gently in smoky side light.

A man leans over a toppled chair beside a prone performer on the green mound, lit by cold overhead beams.

A man in a pale shirt bends forward in the foreground while a performer in orange stands behind him near a glowing round light.

Two kneeling performers face each other closely on the turf with small papers scattered beside them.

Four performers gather on the mound and reach upward together beneath red and white stage lights.

A performer in an orange sleeveless costume looks sharply forward past blurred foreground figures in the dim stage light.

A performer lies on the mound in blue light while a standing figure in blue watches from the edge of a separate spotlight.

Two performers face each other closely in a charged confrontation, divided by cool and warm stage light.

Two performers stand on the green mound in a wide view that includes hanging objects and seated figures around the stage edge.

A performer in orange cups the face of a performer in blue during a close, emotional exchange.

A man in yellow points toward a suspended woven object caught in a narrow stage light.

A seated man gestures toward a suspended object while another performer lies prone on the green mound and a third crouches nearby.

A seated performer on the mound looks up toward a shadowed standing man in the foreground.

A performer in blue wraps their arms around a seated performer in orange, both held in warm, intimate light.

A performer stretches both arms high into a narrow shaft of light among hanging ropes and bundles.

A uniformed man points toward a seated performer in orange while another figure bends over a chair nearby.

Two performers kneel facing each other on the glowing green mound, framed by darkness and a blue rim of light.

One performer curls low on the green mound while a man in pale clothing bends near a chair under warm overhead light.

A solitary performer sits on the glowing green mound beneath hanging objects, with another figure standing in the distance.

Two performers hold each other in a close silhouette against a warm backlight and cool blue edge.

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