(Pic: Mike van Graan)Latest play from Mike van Graan is a dark comedy about life, friendship and survival.
Is It Because I'm Jack? is the latest play from the pen of award-winning South African playwright Mike van Graan, author of Green Man Flashing, Two to Tango and the hit satirical franchise Bafana Republic.
A very dark comedy about life, friendship and survival, Is It Because I'm Jack explores what happens when four young friends in the prime of their lives are forced to confront their mortality after one of them - a stand up comic - is diagnosed with a life-threatening illness. Is it all just a bad joke?
Due to premier at the Aardklop arts festival in Potchefstroom on September 26, Jack has a stellar cast including Clyde Berning, Anele Matoti, Morne Visser and Andrew Laubscher. The director is Yvette Hardie.
A comedy about mortality? If anyone can tackle that, it's van Graan, who has never shied away from controversial and provocative themes. "If I have a brand as a playwright, then it is that I engage with the pressing macro political, social and economic issues of the day. Is it Because I'm Jack? is my first largely character- (rather than issue-) driven dark comedy. It still raises provocative questions that will hopefully have audiences thinking for some time afterwards, but it allows - and challenges - me to grow as a writer, while having some fun."
After Aardklop, Is It Because I’m Jack? will have runs at On Broadway in Cape Town from October 5 to 15 before moving to the State Theatre in Pretoria to run from October 18 to 30.
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