You are all invited to a reading of The Robben Island Bible on Friday 22 August from 11am - 1pm at Michael Oak Waldorf School. To mark Shakespeares 450th birthday, the Cape Town Shakespeare Society, in collaboration with Michael Oak, will be hosting a reading of the play, The Robben Island Bible. This is a story of the men who were forced to work long hours chipping stones from the island quarry over three decades. In their spare time they debated strategy, and studied and read whatever they could find. Shakespeare was born 450 years ago. During his 52 years, he added hundreds - if not thousands - of words to the English language and coined expressions that anyone who speaks English probably uses every day - ‘dead as a doornail’ ‘a laughing stock’, ‘fair play’, ‘neither here nor there’, ‘in stitches’ - and wrote plays that still manage to touch audiences of every generation. One of the books that they read was a copy of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare owned by Sonny Venkatrathnam who disguised the cover of the book with Diwali (Hindu festival of light) greeting cards to hide it in full view from the prison guards. This book became a treasured document on the island. Six months before he left the island in 1977, Venkatrathnam asked his 32 fellow- prisoners in the single-cell section, including the most senior leadership figures of the liberation movements, to choose their favourite passage from Shakespeare and sign their name alongside their chosen quote. Matthew Hahn, a playwright and lecturer at St Mary’s University in London, was inspired by the story and travelled to South Africa to interview eight of the Robben Island prisoners who signed a passage. He wrote a play based on these interviews and the chosen Shakespearian quotes. Extracts from the play will be performed at Michael Oak on 22nd August at 11am. The script presents the liberation leaders discussing their chosen quotes from Shakespeare. Matthew Hahn will direct the production which has been edited to last about 45 minutes. Neil Macgregor, producer of a 20-part series of BBC radio programmes said it was one of the most powerful examples of Shakespeare’s legacy that his writings could be of such influence in a political prison at the southern tip of Africa more than 400 years after his birth. youtu.be/Bg6kj0gw9S8 The play will be on Friday 22 August starting at 11am and will last until 1pm on. The format of the morning will be a brief introduction, followed by the play (45 minutes) followed by an opportunity for questions. There is no charge for attending. Michael Oak has direct access to the Kenilworth Railway Station should you wish to travel by train. For more information, contact Genevieve Langenhoven [email protected] or 021 7979728
Posted on: Tue, 19 Aug 2014 09:26:57 +0000
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