See ‘Die Laaste Karretjie Graf ‘this March

WHAT do a pensioner, a high school girl and a poet have in common? They have all been cast for their unique stage skills in the upcoming Athol Fugard play, ‘Die Laaste Karretjie Graf’.

The play will be staged in May as part of the 37th Annual Theatre Festival of Committed Artists of Namibia (CAN) who secured the exclusive Namibian performing rights for the play which was the only Afrikaans stage work ever written by Fugard.

This socially apt stage work reflects very strongly on gender violence, a pandemic viewed and considered to be a growing African social problem. More than 80 established Namibian actors and would-be actors have vied for and auditioned for roles in the play since January.

True to CAN’s policy, new and old theatre faces will be featured in this production. The cast consists of veteran actors Elenore Khoa (Ouma Mieta), who performed the lead role in the Afrikaans version of ‘King of the Dump’ in the late 80s and won the best actress award of the Namibian Youth Theatre Competition, and Shirley Swartz (Sarah) a university researcher who performed in Fugard’s Afrikaans version of ‘Boesman en Lena’ in 1980.

Namibian award-winning playwright and theatre director Frederick B Philander wrote ‘Koning van die Ashoop’ and translated ‘Boesman en Lena’ to Afrikaans all those years ago. ‘Koning van die Ashoop’ in 1996 as ‘King of the Dump’ won best radio drama category price in an international award of the New York Radio Festivals.

Philander, who is directing ‘Die Laaste Karretjie Graf’, has directed other Fugard hit plays such as ‘My Children-My Africa’, ‘Play Land, Valley Song’ and ‘The Road to Mecca’ over the years.

Other actors in the cast include: Rehoboth-based actor Wayne Beukes in the male main role, (Koot Geduld), a multiple murderer of two wives. Beukes last year superbly portrayed the part of Cheswick, a mental patient in the knockout American play ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’, also staged by CAN. In the role of his son (Pienkies) is David Campbell who also acted in ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’ in 2015.

Katatura-based actors who have been cast in this play are: John Isaacks (Toek-Toek) as one of three sons in the Geduld clan.

He has brilliantly performed the part of Lucky in 2014 in a production of ‘Waiting for Godot’. Sibali Ghobetsi, a published poet (son Outjie), and Astrid Dirks, a Grade 9 pupil at Khomas-Tura Secondary School (daughter Rokkies), are the newcomers to acting.

‘Endgame’ by Samuel Beckett is the second play of the 2016 Theatre Festival, which will be staged in August. For more information, call Philander on 0817172406.

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