Dr John Kani and Professor Sarah Roberts direct and design Othello at Wits
February 18, 2010 – Othello, by William Shakespeare, will be mounted by the Drama division of the Wits School of Arts (WSOA), with an ensemble comprising current senior performance students and post-graduates.
The project is headed by Dr John Kani, veteran actor, writer, director and cultural activist, working in collaboration with Sarah Roberts, professional designer and associate drama professor.
Kani and Roberts’ working relationship spans 20 years, with several professional collaborations to their credit. They have worked together on such varied projects as Hedda Gabler; Driving Miss Daisy and The Meeting. Since 2001 the duo have worked together on Kani’s internationally-acclaimed play, Nothing But the Truth (directed by Janice Honeyman), which has played around the world.
Internationally-acclaimed actor John Kani is celebrated for his performances in major Shakespearean roles, among them Othello, and more recently, Caliban, in The Tempest. This project gives a new generation of actors a chance to learn from an artist whose life has been lived at the forefront of political struggle in South Africa, and in making public art. Kani will share much of his working experience with the students he directs on this production.
Award-winning designer Roberts has, for the past six years, presented a paper to the Johannesburg Shakespeare Society on various themes, drawing on her experiences of designing Shakespearean sets, particularly for the Take-Away-Shakespeare Company with James Wylie and Sean Taylor.
In a unique historical moment, Kani will direct his son, Atandwa Kani, in the title role. Atandwa is a recent graduate of the division and his professional debut in Shakespearean theatre was in the role of Ariel, to his father’s Caliban, for which he has been nominated for a Fleur du Cap.
Atandwa brings additional skills to the project as a result of The Tempest enjoying a season in Stratford, with cast members attending voice and acting classes there.
Kani and Roberts are both deeply committed to the production’s success, as well as to a tradition of work that has made South African theatre vibrant, compelling and strongly influential within the arts and culture community.
The work is a matric schools set-work, so young audiences will be treated to watching performers only a little older than themselves tackling this complex work.
Mr Phala, a Drama for Life 2010 Scholar, will assist Kani with the production.
Othello will be showing at the Wits Theatre from April 9 to 24, 2010. Please call the box office on (011) 717 1376 for more information.