RACE FOR NAF

The National Arts Festivals in association with The Playhouse Company are proud to present Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Mamet’s contentious 2009 play, Race. Produced by special arrangement with Abrams Artists Agency New York, Race will be presented with a star cast of actors in Graeme College in Grahamstown from July 2 to 4.

The play’s riveting plot revolves around three lawyers, two partners - one African-American, one white - and their young, African-American law clerk, who are debating whether or not to take the case of a wealthy white man accused of raping an African-American woman. The play, like the case, is not open and shut.

Shame, guilt, class, sex, lies - and, of course, race - are all provocatively stirred together in this fast-paced show that is guaranteed to leave theatregoers dissecting and discussing it long after the curtain falls.

As the playwright wrote in an essay about his work, “Race, like sex, is a subject on which it is near impossible to tell the truth.” Audience members will undoubtedly bring their own set of judgments and preconceptions into this work that delves into a most complicated and fraught subject.

As was the case, when the play was performed at the Playhouse in Durban in October last year, direction is by Clare Mortimer with design by Sarah Roberts and lighting design by Mannie Manim. The stellar cast includes Sello Maake Ka-Ncube and Michael Richard playing their original roles of the legal partners, Henry Brown and Jack Lawson. The NAF production sees Graeme Hopkins playing Charles Stickland, the character accused of rape, and actress-singer-dancer Nondumiso Tembe in the pivotal role of Susan, the young legal intern.

Race runs at Graeme College in Grahamstown from July 2 to 4 with performances on July 2 at 20h00; July 3 at 14h00 and 20h00 and July 4 at 12h00 and 16h00. Booking through Computicket. Booking kits are available from selected Standard Bank branches, selected Exclusive Books and Computicket branches. For more information on the programme, accommodation and travel options visit www.nationalartsfestival.co.za or click on the banner advert at the top of this page.