PLAYWRIGHT: BARNEY SIMON

DIRECTOR: KARABELO LEKALAKE

VENUE: SCAENA THEATRE

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

Dates and times:

29 October 2014              19h30

30 October 2014              19h30

31 October 2014              19h30

Prices:  R 40.00 for adults / R 30.00 for students or scholars / R 25.00 for pensioners or for groups of 10 or more

Bookings:   Computicket (0861 915 8000)

Born in the RSA was improvised from life. The play looks at the atrocities of the apartheid regime. This docu-drama is based on real-life characters that were caught up in the 1985 state of emergency. The play focuses on political events that challenged the perception that, in our society the victims are only those who are oppressed. The audience gets to encounter and listen to personal testimonies of people who were caught in the cross fire. The interwoven stories of the seven characters vividly paint a bleak picture of the apartheid regime and the South African Police’s tactics: the guilt by association, sudden arrest, slow interrogation and forced confessions through torture.

Glen Donahue (Magnus Mc Phail) is a Wits University graduate and betrayal is the name of his game. Glen is highly paid by the police to spy on “trouble makers”.  He does not mind compromising people close to him as long as he can be compensated appropriately.  This is evident when he has a steamy affair with Susan Lang (Marle Visagie) simply because he is spying on her. Susan, an art teacher is totally taken by Glen’s charm. Her remarkable characteristic of being loyal to the liberation movement is apparent in the play. However, she seems to be unaffected by the notion of being Glen’s mistress. Nicky Donahue (Imke Reinecke) married to Glen, is kind to blacks, but prefers not to listen to stories of how black people suffer because of apartheid.

Sindiswa Ngube (Keketso Tsiane and Petunia Kgotlhe), a black schoolteacher, is guilty of no crime except being the sister of the trade-union leader, Thenjiwe (Dieketseng Dlamini), with whom Susan is affiliated. Sindiswa's punishment in the play is the arrest of her 10-year-old son on trumped-up charges. An Afrikaner activist lawyer Mia Steinman’s (Rona Van Blerk) career is influenced by renewed political activist such as Braam Fischer, Nelson Mandela and Oliver Tambo. Since childhood Mia was exposed to various people visiting her parents’ house and all she wants is equal rights for everyone.

The sweet musician Zack Melani (Che Keet) is so disturbed by the cruel treatment of his friend's incarcerated child that, to his horror, he finds himself inexorably driven into becoming ''the black King Kong'' whites fear him to be. As he fantasizes about cracking the skulls of white schoolgirls, the audience sees the begetting of violence by violence.

The three day performance of Born in the RSA is at Scaena Theatre from 28 till 31 October at 19:30. Tickets are available at Computicket.