John Kani’s “Kunene and the King” pokes fun at the varied polarised perceptions of two elderly men from different occupations while exploring contemporary socio-political commentary through method acting.
The internationally acclaimed stage production stars Michael Richard as Jack Morris, a cantankerous, brilliant actor who has been cast as King Lear in Cape Town, but unfortunately, he has been diagnosed with terminal liver cancer. He doesn’t want to go to a hospice but rather prefers to hire a nurse to look after him in the comfort of his home.
“He’s expecting to spend the rest of his life with a wonderful, beautiful white nurse.”
A doorbell rings in leafy Killarney and in walks high-care Senior Sister Lunga Kunene (played by Kani), a retired male-nurse assigned by an agency to tend to this querulous thespian.
“His first reaction upon seeing Sister Kunene is to call the police. That’s what I wanted to portray. That there’s a distrust that still exists within this attempt to build a non-racial society, a rainbow nation. It is a work in progress, but there are still certain pockets of white communities that resist change,” Kani says.
While claiming to be apolitical, Morris embodies the reflexive attitudes of white supremacy and its subtle nuances. Kani says his play examines what it would take if these two men, representing different racial views, were locked in a room. Through their interaction, Morris gets to assess his racial prejudices and learn things that even white people don’t know.
“Jack belongs to that community of white people that don’t want to see change because it would mean they have to lose their position of supremacy and entitlement,” he adds.
The concept of black people being corrupt, violent, rapists, and everything else is still stuck in the minds of young white people who grew up knowing that this was once their father’s country, and now it must include other people, Kani explains.
“If you could just look at somebody and see a person, not a concept, not their history. Open up and go through the windows of your soul. If we could get out of the theatre having learned this, then we could respect each other.”
The highly feted actor, director, playwright, and producer says he wrote the play after speaking to friends from two racial groups about the socioeconomic amends made since the advent of democracy. He says their accounts of how far the country has gotten since 1994 differed, and he wanted to explore why that was.
“Every play I write, my whole being as a storyteller, I hold a mirror to society. What you see in the mirror is your problem,” he says.
Kani notes that in all his plays, he examines societal ills, and his latest offering at the Joburg Theatre is no different, as it explores race, class, politics, and Shakespeare’s potentially unifying power during South Africa’s 25th anniversary of the post-apartheid elections.
“What we see now in our society is a dichotomy. There’s incredible progress on one hand and incredible nonprogress on the other.
You cannot believe that a young white boy could pee on the property of a black student in 2022; where does that come from, and you say this country has changed? I’m not saying it hasn’t.
The new revolution is not going to be anti-this or that, it’s going to be a disappointment in a democracy or freedom that was never delivered,” he says.
Kani argues that it is every South African’s responsibility to be an active citizen in building a non-racial society.
“We are failing ourselves as citizens of this country by not being active and demanding for our rights to be upheld. Change will happen when we take our political rights and make them the daily normal function of a free human being.”
Acclaimed as he is, Kani says he returned to the cutthroat style of theatre performance because it gives him a platform to tackle societal issues unhindered.
“I do movies because they pay handsomely and give me international recognition. Television I do because it gives me access to your living room and makes me entertain you.
But I love theatre because it is immediate; that’s what reminds me that I am an artist, that I serve the community, that I need to engage the individual and people within the theatre on issues that I believe were swept under the carpet, including gender and race issues, political issues, violence, as well as corruption within government and business; I can’t do that in a movie or TV. ”
Xoliswa Nduneni-Ngema, the Chief Executive of the Joburg City Theatres, says theatre is a vehicle — even though at times overlooked — that drives the production of the next generation of storytellers.
“We are thrilled to partner with theatre doyens such as John Kani. It is pivotal to always tell our stories as we introspect on history and look forward to building a brighter future as a nation,” says Nduneni-Ngema.
The internationally recognised theatre production premiered on the Mandela Stage at the Joburg Theatre following a stint at London’s Ambassador Theatre. “Being at the Mandela Theatre is almost completing a journey that I have been on for a long time. Meet me at the Joburg Theatre on my way to the Playhouse in Durban, and then to the Mandela Bay Theatre complex.”
Kunene and the King plays at the Joburg Theatre stage until Sunday, 19 June in line with public health restrictions on Covid-19. Tickets are limited: Visit www.joburgtheatre.com or call 0861 670 670 to book your seat.
06/06/2022