John Kani’s Kunene and The King to grace stages of South African State Theatre
By CityLife Arts Writer
The South African State Theatre has announcing the staging of the critically acclaimed Kunene And The King, starring revered theatre giants Dr. John Kani and Michael Richard from 13 April to 07 May 2023. The showcase is in accordance with the production’s nation-wide tour which kick-started last year in Johannesburg, on the heels of its London’s spell. Now theatre lovers can flock to The Capital -where Africa’s largest theatre complex is based- and be dazzled by this riveting piece of theatre that has just earned seven Naledi Theatre Awards nominations last month.
“How do you put a nation’s history on stage?” In this remarkable play, Kani – as formidable a writer as he is an actor – does it through a confrontation between two men who represent polarised aspects of the South African experience. Marking 25 years since the country’s first post-apartheid democratic elections, the play becomes an exploration of race, class, politics, theatre, and the potentially unifying power of Shakespeare.
Michael Richard plays Jack Morris, a cantankerous old actor who hopes to overcome severe liver cancer to get to Cape Town to play King Lear. Kani himself is Lunga Kunene, a retired career assigned by an agency to tend this querulous thespian. While claiming to be apolitical, Morris embodies the reflex attitudes of white supremacy and consistently, when talking to Kunene, refers to “you people”. Although refusing to be a spokesman, Kunene recounts how his own dreams of being a doctor were thwarted, not so much by his Soweto upbringing as by the vengefulness of “comrades” towards his storekeeper father for seeking to transcend the divisions of the apartheid era.
Kani comments: “Kunene and the king has been a special gift to me as a writer. I wrote the play to deal with some questions that I had within myself. It gives me great pleasure to bring my play back to South Africa, for the people I write for and to be reunited with the State Theatre. Kunene and the King asks, we fought for liberation. We fought for freedom. We ended up with democracy. What is democracy?”
Directed by Janice Honeyman, Kunene and the King is set 25 years after the country’s first post-apartheid democratic elections and tackles head-on the personal implications of the supposed new equality. Described as “rich, raw and shattering” (The Times), the show certainly impressed critics and audiences alike. It was listed among the top 10 best plays produced by the Royal Shakespeare Company in 60 years. Kani was presented with the Pragnell Shakespeare Birthday Award in 2021.
The production has been nominated for Best Theatre Set Design, Best Original Soundscape, Best Sound Design, Best Director Of A Play (double), Best New South African Script, and Best Production Of A Play at this year’s Naledi Theatre Awards which will be held on 22 May at Joburg Theatre.
Kunene And The King which opened at Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford Upon the Avon in the UK March 2019, transferred to the West End in London at the Ambassadors Theatre from January to end of March 2020 where Kani appeared in it with the late Sir Antony Sher.
Tickets for Kunene and the King are only R150 and can be purchased at Webtickets, which is available at the State Theatre, Pick n Pay stores, and online https://bit.ly/41SaxS1 For group bookings, patrons can contact 012 392 4000 or e-mail eugene@statetheatre.co.za. The production will perform from Tuesdays to Sundays.