​Following a three-year hiatus, Kunene and the King returns to play on the Joburg Theatre stage during Joburg’s wintry months.

Set 25 years after South Africa’s first post-apartheid democratic elections, Kunene and the King tackles the implications of the “supposed new equality” head-on. The show has been described as “rich, raw, and shattering” by The Times. It promises to enthral critics and audiences alike.

Penned by renowned actor and playwright, Dr John Kani and directed by legendary actress, director, and author Janice Honeyman, the remarkable theatre production
stars Jack Morris, played by Michael Richard, as a white South African classical actor who, after accepting the title role in King Lear, discovers he has liver cancer.

The cantankerous Morris refuses hospitalisation, discharging himself with Lunga Kunene, a black South African played by John Kani, assigned as his home caregiver. Kunene retires from his career to tend to the querulous thespian.

While claiming to be apolitical, Morris embodies the reflexive attitude of white supremacy and consistently, when talking to Kunene, refers to him as “you people”.

Although refusing to be a spokesperson for Black people, Kunene recounts how his dreams of being a doctor were thwarted, not so much by his Soweto upbringing as by the vengefulness of “comrades” towards his storekeeper father for seeking to transcend the divisions of the apartheid era.

While spending time together, the men discover their shared passion for Shakespeare, which Kunene acquired through an isiXhosa version of Julius Caesar, and something that is part of the fabric of Morris’ life.

Through the scintillating performances of Richard and Kani, South Africa’s history is put through a confrontation between men who represent two polarised aspects of the nation’s experience — Morris, dwelling on the country’s continuing internal violence, and Kunene recalling the long history of white oppression.

The Joburg Theatre says Kunene and the King is “an exploration of race, class, politics, theatre, and the potentially unifying power of Shakespeare”.

The play premieres at the Joburg Theatre following a stint at London’s Ambassador Theatre. It’ll then go on a national tour of South African theatres, making stops at the Playhouse Theatre and the Mandela Bay Theatre Complex in July 2022. It made a spectacular debut at the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Swan Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon, England, when it debuted in a sold-out house. It has also sold out at the Fugard Theatre in Cape Town.

Kunene and the King returns to South African theatres with performances commencing at the Joburg Theatre on Friday, 27 May.

Written by Gugu Zwane
12.5.2022