Considered one of South Africa’s best and most prolific playwrights, Athol Fugard’s body of work was shaped by Apartheid into a form of protest, highlighting its brutal impact through memorable characters and atmospheric stories.
In memory of this South African theatre giant, who passed away in March this year, the National Arts Festival, in collaboration with the Mandela Bay Theatre Complex, will bring two Fugard plays, both co-written with John Kani and Winston Ntshona, to the 2025 Festival. The Island will be staged from 27-29 June and Sizwe Banzi is Dead from 2-4 July.
Sizwe Banzi is Dead tells the story of Styles, an intelligent, capable, and talented man who leaves his job as a factory worker to follow his dream of owning a photography studio. Styles pursues his talent with a camera to preserve the faces and identities of his people, who would otherwise be forgotten by the rest of the world. The play also tells the story of Sizwe Bansi, a man condemned by his government to a life of poverty. Xabiso Zweni will also appear in this production alongside Anele Penny.
Zweni speaks of his process in bringing the works to life for this edition. “It’s a great honour and privilege for me as a director to be trusted to bring these classical works to life at the National Arts Festival. We are celebrating 50 years since they (Dr’s Kani, Ntshona and Fugard) won a Tony Award on Broadway for these works. I’ll be adding a new spin to both shows with music that speaks to the beat of New Brighton in the Port Elizabeth (now Gqeberha) of the 70s, while keeping the aesthetic and simplicity of how these two stories were told. These works will also be relevant today, and for as long as South Africans are living against the backdrop of Project Apartheid, with its social, economic, racial and land inequality. It’s all about survival for poor South Africans.”
