THEATRE REVIEW: Bailey’s Samson renders reconciliation as a myth
Playwright explores postcolonial tensions by transporting the Old Testament figure from the periphery to the centre
In February, Brett Bailey became the fifth South African since 1991 to be awarded a Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres (Knight in the Order of Arts and Letters) from the French ministry of culture. His production company, Third World Bunfight, has had an extended connection with France since 2011 and has toured four works across multiple cities in the country. At the 2018 Marseilles festival, Bailey was asked to put together a photographic publicity campaign. The French cultural ministry has joined co-producers Woordfees and the National Arts Festival, where Bailey is the chair of the curatorial committee, in contributing to the staging of Bailey’s forthcoming play Samson, his 14th to date. “Success is a key to getting the opportunities to make more work,” said Bailey. “The real advantage is it enables me to get funding, gigs and have attention on my work. But I am not interested in attention on me.” Bailey graduated in drama from the University of Cape Town in 1991 and began turning...
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