THEATRE REVIEW
Genius combines in a familiar Athol Fugard idiom
To have two of SA’s best actors in an Athol Fugard face-off on stage is something to cherish. John Kani and Dawid Minnaar are bringing his play The Train Driver to life. It was first produced at the Fugard Theatre in Cape Town in 2010, where it was directed by Fugard. It is a story that might seem without much flesh yet, in the South African context, every sentence is layered with pain and memory. The Train Driver is written in the familiar Fugard idiom, which teases and twists with his tale, coaxes it to unfold and doesn’t take a breath until he deals the final blow. Director Charmaine Weir-Smith wanted to know if she could relate to the story before accepting this gig and how she honours the text is part of why it unspools with such honesty. It cuts to the bone, with very little to detract from the pain as there are only two men sharing their stories on the stage. In the past, and still today, two men with different colours on their skin struggle to reach out to each other. The da...
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