The South African State Theatre has announced they will be staging the critically acclaimed Kunene and The King, starring revered theatre giants Dr John Kani and Michael Richard from April 13 to May 7.
Marking 25 years since the country’s first postapartheid democratic elections, the play explores 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 to this querulous thespian.
In a statement shared with TshisaLIVE, the veteran thespian has to say this about the return of the play on SA stages.
“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?” said Kani.
The play, directed by Janice Honeyman, 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.
Tickets for Kunene and The King are only R150 and can be purchased at Webtickets, the production will show from Tuesdays to Sundays.
Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package. 