(The
cast and director of “To House” - pictured clockwise from back left: Sandile
Mthembu, Ashwin Singh, Rowin Moonsamy, Sivani Chinappan, Michael Gritten, Ralph
Lawson & Menzi Mkwane. Photo by Val Adamson)
The Singh Siblings in association with The
Playhouse Company present a new production of award-winning playwright Ashwin
Singh’s To House. First staged at The
Playhouse in 2006, it runs in the Drama Theatre from October 5 to 7, 2017. One
of Durban’s best-known international theatre pieces, it remains as relevant now
as it was a decade ago, with South Africa’s continuing racial divisions and
increasing class conflicts.
Directed by legendary South African
theatre-maker Ralph Lawson, the new staging of To House features a distinguished cast including Michael Gritten,
Menzi Mkwane, Rowin Munsamy, Sivani Chinappan, Sandile Mthembu and Ashwin
Singh.
The classic drama is set in a
multi-cultural sectional titles development in a typical middle-class Durban
suburb. It is essentially about the clash of the conservative cultures which
dominate the Durban socio-political landscape in post-Apartheid South
Africa. Jason and Sanjay have a
tentative friendship based on mutual needs and their increasing condemnation of
hotshot lawyer, Sibusiso Khumalo, who lives in the same sectional titles
development.
Jason is increasingly alienated from his
community and is battling to deal with the consequences of his recent job loss
and pending divorce. Sanjay is in a professional battle with Sibusiso and is
struggling with his attraction to Sibusiso’s live-in girlfriend, Kajol, which
he cannot express. Meanwhile Sibusiso longs for greater independence but has to
deal with the consequences of Kajol’s mother’s ill treatment by her extended
family. The arrival in the second half of the play of Kajol’s Machiavellian uncle,
Deena, serves as the catalyst to expose the truth behind the characters’
courses of action which ends in a brutal confrontation between Sibusiso and
Jason.
To
House was first published by UK publications
company Aurora Metro Books in the 2006 collective anthology, New South African
Plays. In 2013, it became a headline play in Singh’s individual anthology, Durban Dialogues, Indian Voice, also
published by Aurora Metro Books. The seminal work has been studied at
universities in South Africa, India, Canada and Europe.
Renowned Indian scholar Prof Pranav
Joshipura presented a paper on the play at the international conference on
South African theatre in Brussels this year, and respected Canadian academic Dr
J Coplen Rose wrote a chapter on the play in a new book entitled Relations and Networks in South African
Indian Writing.
Singh says he is delighted to be working
again with Lawson. The two collaborated earlier this year on the remarkably
successful production of Singh’s one-man play, Reoca Light at The Playhouse (performed by Rory Booth). “Ralph is a
meticulous and sensitive director. He also has a substantial appreciation of
South Africa’s complex cultural milieu, so I believe that he is the perfect
director for this work. I am particularly excited to be working with him on
this project as it won’t just be as a playwright but also as an actor,” says
Singh.
The playwright also believes To House will find an emotional
resonance with a wide audience because it deals with real issues in South Africa’s
contemporary socio-political landscape and features characters with which
people will identify. The innovative set which Lawson has designed will also
enhance the play’s visual appeal.
To
House runs each evening from October 5 to 7 at 19h30
with a matinee on Saturday afternoon at 15h00. Tickets R100, with concessions
for pensioners and students. Booking is via Computicket on 0861 915 8000,
online at www.computicket.com, or by calling The Playhouse Box Office on 031
369 9540/ 369 9596 (office hours).
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