Shadow Boxing opens on 6 May at the Baxter Masambe Theatre and Athol Fugard’s acclaimed play, Blood Knot, comes to the Baxter Arena Theatre on 11 May.
Blood Knot by Athol Fugard
Francois Jacobs and Mncedisi Shabangu in Blood Knot. Siphiwe Mhlambi (c)
The multi-award-winning cast and creative team are led by James Ngcobo who directs Mncedisi Shabangu and Francois Jacobs in this hit production which recently received five Naledi Theatre nominations, including Best Director, Lead Performance in a Play, Production, Lighting and Sound Design. Winners will be announced on 16 May.
Fugard’s timeless classic, Blood Knot, which tackles themes of brotherhood and hope, first premiered in 1961 and it is as relevant today (if not more so), 61 years later. Set in the suburb of Korsten in Port Elizabeth – a place packed with people who are desperately trying to find an opportunity that will offer them some hope – the play delves into the bone of love between two brothers, the kind that transcends skin colour. They are forced to dream as they navigate the intricacies of being stuck in a place that offers them nothing but it’s squalor and the poverty that they are confronted with every single moment. Like all great classics, it is relatable and searingly intimate and offers hope in this very delicate conversation with South Africa’s present-day reality.
“In Blood Knot Fugard unpacks this country in such a brave manner as he weaves together themes that are still so pertinent in our contemporary times,” explains Ngcobo. “He explores our baggage as a nation in a poetic manner that allows us to look at who we are, what we have gone through and tickles our curiosity about the collective aspirations that we have.”
He continues, “We have witnessed glimpses of hope popping up from the horizon and then jumped back into despair and hopelessness which raises a litany of questions … do we still have the South African dream or is it a South African delusion?”
WHAT: Blood Knot by Athol Fugard
WHERE: Baxter Golden Arrow Studio, Baxter Theatre Centre, Main Road, Rondebosch, Cape Town 7600
WHEN: 11 to 28 May 2022 at 7.30pm, with Saturday matinees at 2.30pm.
BOOKING: Webtickets online at www.webtickets.co.za or at Pick n Pay stores. Age Recommendation 14 For discounted block or schools’ bookings, charities or fundraisers contact Carmen Kearns on email camen.kearns@uct.ac.za or call 021 680 3993.
INFO: Visit I Facebook | Twitter PHOTO: Mncedisi Shabangu and Francois Jacobs in Blood Knot. pic by Siphiwe Mhlambi
Shadow Boxing
Hot off its debut at the 2022 Klein Karoo National Arts Festival (KKNK), the powerful one-hander, Shadow Boxing, comes to the Baxter Masambe theatre, pairing the award-winning director Mdu Kwyama and emerging talent, Daniel Newton.
Flynn (played by Newton) is a young boxer, the son of a professional boxer who’s career never really took off. Unlike his father, Flynn is determined to become a successful, professional boxer. In doing so, he has to fight off his inherited perceptions of masculinity as he discovers his own identity. He thrusts himself into a gruelling training regime to avoid his internal struggle.
Mdu Kweyama – currently the artistic director of the unique developmental Baxter Zabalaza Theatre Festival – was awarded the Naledi award for Best Actor in a Lead Role and Best Original Choreography for Karoo Moose in 2008. His directing accolades at The Baxter include Most Honest Man, Reza De Wet’s Missing, Woza Albert and Edward Albee’s The Goat, or who is Sylvia? His direction of the Newton’s budding talent is the perfect fit.
Daniel Newton is a promising actor and musician who, in 2021, completed his BA Hons in Drama and Acting at the University of Cape Town. While he started acting for film in 2016, Shadow Boxing is his first professional performance. Media24’s review of Shadow Boxing and Newton’s performance is therefore apt, “Shadow Boxing tackles universal and relevant themes. … Newton is a talented young actor and certainly one to look out for in the future.”
WHAT: Shadow Boxing
WHERE: Baxter Masambe Theatre, Baxter Theatre Centre, Main Road, Rondebosch, Cape Town 7600
WHEN: opens 6 May to 21 May at 7pm nightly with matinee performances on Wednesdays and Saturdays
TICKETS: R50 for group bookings to R120 and are available through Webtickets online or at any Pick n Pay store.
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