The day when Sello Maake will replace John Kani in a role he seems to have written with nobody else in mind but himself

By Edward Tsumele, CITYLIFE/ARTS Editor

There is one thing, in fact a couple of things you cannot take away from John Kani, and among those is that he is a good actor, director and writer. Actually damn good. His sense of history and capturing it on stage is best illustrated by his seminal theatre piece Nothing but the truth.  The play since its first staging at the Market Theatre in the 2000s has since enthralled audiences around the world. There are very good reasons for that. The piece tells a good story of a post-apartheid South Africa. I have since seen a couple of the play on stage, and each time John Kani was playing the main role of Sipho, and doing it so well, it became almost unimaginable that another actor in South Africa could possibly upstage him in that role.  I mean the way Kani in the past has played that lead role so well, it is as If he wrote that role with nobody in mind except himself.  It is a natural fit for this talented legend.

Before we get there, let us get back to the issue of post-apartheid theatre. I still remember very well early in the country’s democracy, there was a moment of awkwardness in artistic creativity in the country, especially because the monster that provided most of the material in song, film, stage plays and on pages in the past, apartheid was gone. And the question then became and now what? In other words were South African creatives going to be able to create works of stage, film, song or books that could still be relevant in a free country? That debate went on for sometime in the early years of democracy.

And of course South African creatives prevailed and found new relevant material that did not use the issue of apartheid as the narrative ark in their story telling. The creative juice of South African creatives did not die with the death of apartheid.  Nothing But the Truth is one of those plays that outlived the apartheid motivated collective narrative of the South African story.

And then the question became, could the story be sustained by having another actor other than Kani playing the lead role of Sipho without diminishing the potency of the story as a post-apartheid classic?  I had my doubts in the past. But not anymore. That is till this week when the cast of the new version of Nothing but the Truth was announced as the play for the first time heads to Theatre on the Square in Sandton this March.  Damn me, I should have of course known that Kani has a possible replacement in that lead role in the name of none other than theatre and TV legend Sello Maake.

Here is an actor who has proved himself to be a formidable actor both stage and TV over the years ,and there is no doubt that he will take a good account of himself in this challenging role of replacing a legend for a role that seems like  Kani wrote it with himself in mind in the lead role, and possibly no one else. But when I received the news of the cast this week, my eyes were actually opened to other possible replacements for Kani in the role of Sipho in Nothing but the Truth.

“We are excited to announce the cast of the classic, iconic South African play by John Kani, Nothing but the Truth. The production, presented by Sello Maake KaNcube and Daphne Kuhn, will open at Sandton’s Theatre on the Square in Sandton
on the 29th March for a three-week run until the 16th April.
It will star well known and multi award-winning stage, screen and TV actor Sello Maake KaNcube, supported by two brilliant young actresses, Mbali Nhlapo and Ziaphora Dakile..
 
Nothing but the Truth by the award-winning actor and playwright John Kani, had its world premiere at the Market Theatre in 2002. Kani’s first play has been hailed as a contemporary South African classic and is now a matric setwork,” announced Theatre on the Square on Monday, February 6, 2023.
 
Nothing but the Truth is a gripping and thought-provoking exploration of family relationships. It is funny and serious at the same time – but more than ever relevant. It is a play about two brothers, of sibling rivalry, of exile, of memory, of reconciliation – and the ambiguities of freedom. It is  also an investigation between those who risked their lives to lead the struggle against apartheid – and those who returned victoriously after living in exile. 
 The production will be directed by leading and award-winning Charmaine Weir-Smith with set design by the ingenious Greg King.

.Bookings are already open at Computicket or directly with the theatre on 011 883 8606.