(Kurt Egelhof)As part of its season of New Stages 2011 productions, The Playhouse Company in Durban will present For Generations, Kurt Engelhof’s highly acclaimed one-hander. This powerfully enacted retrospective work is seen through the eyes of the author’s grandfather and father. He also shares his own poignant milestones and moves into the future with his son, Aston, who, at 15, is part of the post-apartheid generation learning about his country’s shameful history through school books.
In his compelling piece, Egelhof tells the story of his family – his white musician, war-hero grandfather Sonny and his Xhosa bride Violet; his father Basil who worked too hard in the whaling station on the Bluff and his mother Marjorie Lucas; himself, Kurt the actor / director; and his sports-mad schoolgoing adolescent son, Aston. Their stories and characters intertwine with the passing of the years.
Engelhof, a former Durbanite now based in Cape Town, previously appeared in For Generations at The Catalina Theatre in 2009.
In his artSMart review of that production, Maurice Kort wrote: “This is an inspiring piece of work bringing to life in a dramatic narrative style the age-old rhetoric Who Am I, Where Do I Come From and Where Am I Going?”
An engrossing theatre experience, For Generations carries through the message that sometimes there are stories that demand to be told … Engelhof encourages us to delve into our own backgrounds, to embrace our own stories and let them out for the world to hear.
For Generations has performances in the Playhouse Loft on October 6 at 10h00 and 12h00 for schools audiences, with public performances on October 7 at 19h30 and October 8 at 14h30 and 19h30.
Tickets at R55 (R40 students and scholars) booked through Computicket on 0861 915 8000 or online at www.computicket.com or through the Playhouse Box Office on 031-369 9540 (office hours).
Posts
