That Boy Has No Shoes
What is the show about?
That Boy Has No Shoes is an ‘immersive and emotional’ performance about Apartheid.
Four artefacts from the early Apartheid era, namely an axe, an eviction notice, a passbook, and a camera appear on plinths and address the audience through the microphone. Onstage, they become the repositories for the Apartheid struggle and tell stories of who they saw, what they did and where they were left behind. Lara facilitates the space, silently constructing a plinth in the background and ritualistically preparing the microphone for each artefact. Her own testimony comes at the end.
Intermixing folksong with narrative storytelling, this ‘poignant production’ pays tribute to the South Africans who fought for democracy, highlighting riots, forced removals and protests that shaped the cultural and economic landscapes of democratic South Africa. The result is ‘compelling’ and ‘powerful’.
Photography by Sophie Giddens.
![That Boy Has No Shoes [3] Photo by Amanda Wu.jpeg](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63928ff267e1b55209f710f0/86a7e899-5a36-46ca-81a7-c88a17ba4bdc/That+Boy+Has+No+Shoes+%5B3%5D+Photo+by+Amanda+Wu.jpeg)
From Mzanzi and back again. . .
That Boy Has No Shoes premiered at Camden People’s Theatre in London on 29 July 2024 as part of Camden Fringe 2024. The show ran until 3 August and was praised by audiences and theatre critics alike. It collected amazing reviews from The Reviews Hub, Everything Theatre and A Young(ish) Perspective for its emotional script and immersive staging. The show received a nomination in the ‘Camden Fringe’ category at Everything Theatre’s Etties Awards in 2025. Out of 61 shows reviewed at Camden Fringe by Everything Theatre, That Boy Has No Shoes was selected as one of the six finalists for the award.
On 11 November 2024, the show was presented at Upstairs at the Gatehouse Theatre in London as part of Voila! Theatre Festival 2024 and was nominated for an OffFest Award in the ‘Voila!’ category. On 20 March 2025, That Boy Has No Shoes premiered in Lara’s home country at Cape Town’s Homecoming Centre (District Six Museum) and ran until 23 March in honour of South Africa’s Human Rights Day on March 21st.
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Praise for That Boy Has No Shoes
‘The show is a tribute to those who have been victimized, struggled, and fought to dissolve the racially segregated policies […] The honesty and non-pretension that the audience feels in this story exemplify the hopes and courage of the young generations who are willing to excavate the “forgotten” or ignored stories and bring them to the center in the 21st century when many of us assume that South African Apartheid is a thing in the past, solved and closed.’
‘Picture yourself seated in a dark theater surrounded by the sounds of Africa; you hear the animals and the people and the traffic, then gunshots ring through the theater. That is your introduction to That Boy Has No Shoes. The selected experiences described to the audience are incredibly powerful. Each excerpt evokes outrage and empathy while deepening our understanding of the horrors of Apartheid.’
— A Young(ish) Perspective★★★★
‘Her horror at understanding the violence of her country’s history is particularly interesting to reflect on for members of the audience who are older and grew up in the global reality of apartheid. The talent in this piece is that each viewer is forced to confront their own memory, or lack of understanding, of this period of history and question the validity of their perspective. As such it is both communal and individual, informative and challenging.’
— Everything Theatre★★★★
‘The true strength of van Huyssteen’s delivery comes at the end, as the fifth plinth is completed and she stands to give her own testimony. Her story, as a white girl born after the end of apartheid but still witness to the divisions in society, is honest and heartfelt. It is a thoughtprovoking signal that the modern generation of South Africans, whatever their colour or background, is working to overcome the stains of history.’
— The Reviews Hub★★★★