By Gcina Ntsaluba
The National Arts Festival will pay tribute to one of South Africa’s most influential playwrights this year, staging two seminal works by the late Athol Fugard in collaboration with the Mandela Bay Theatre Complex. Both productions, co-written with legendary actors John Kani and Winston Ntshona, will bring Fugard’s powerful anti-apartheid narratives to a new generation of audiences.
The Island runs from 26-29 June at St Andrews College, followed by Sizwe Banzi is Dead from 2-4 July at the Centenary Hall. This marks 50 years since these groundbreaking works earned their creators a Tony Award on Broadway – making them the first people from Africa to receive this prestigious honour.
A new generation takes the stage
Gqeberha-based director Xabiso Zweni will helm both productions, featuring local young actors Anele Penny and Fiks Mahola in leading roles. For Zweni, the responsibility of bringing these classics to life represents both honour and artistic challenge.
“It’s a great privilege for me as a director to be trusted to bring these classical works to life at the National Arts Festival,” Zweni explains. “I’ll be adding a new spin to both shows with music that speaks to the beat of New Brighton in the Port Elizabeth of the ’70s, while keeping the aesthetic and simplicity of how these two stories were told.”
The Island, set in an unnamed prison clearly based on Robben Island, follows two inmates who spend their days in forced labour and their evenings rehearsing Sophocles’ Antigone. The Greek tragedy becomes a powerful metaphor for their own circumstances as political prisoners under apartheid, with one character facing imminent release while the other confronts a life sentence.
Sizwe Banzi is Dead tells the interconnected stories of Styles, a factory worker who pursues his dream of opening a photography studio to preserve the faces and identities of his community, and Sizwe Banzi, a man trapped in poverty by government policies. Zweni will appear in this production alongside Penny.
Timeless relevance
Despite being written during apartheid’s darkest years, Zweni believes these works remain urgently relevant. “These works will be relevant today, and for as long as South Africans are living against the backdrop of Project Apartheid, with its social, economic, racial and land inequality,” he says. “It’s all about survival for poor South Africans.”
This sentiment is echoed by National Arts Festival Artistic Director Rucera Seethal, who notes that “by focusing on the personal, Fugard’s work has remained timelessly aligned to the struggles of exclusion and persecution faced by many today.”
Fugard’s Eastern Cape roots
Fugard, who passed away in March 2025, maintained deep connections to the Eastern Cape throughout his career. Born in Middelburg, he spent much of his life in the region, forming his legendary collaboration with Kani and Ntshona while finding the solitude needed to craft his solo works.
The playwright’s relationship with the National Arts Festival stretches back to its inception – he was among the first to present work at the inaugural festival in 1974, staging Boesman and Lena to critical acclaim. His plays have since been continuously reinterpreted by new generations of theatre makers.
Honouring a legacy
The Mandela Bay Theatre Complex has taken concrete steps to preserve Fugard’s memory. CEO Monde Ngonyama reveals that the company has erected a stained glass window featuring Fugard, Kani, and Ntshona, renamed from Belmont Terrace to Athol Fugard Terrace, and commissioned a feasibility study for developing the Kani Ntshona Fugard Performing Arts Precinct.
“As we celebrate the life of Athol Fugard, we must not forget that he was a mirror of his time,” Ngonyama reflects. “This helps us to allow playwrights of today to be the mirror of their own time.”
Eastern Cape MEC for Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture, Sibulele Ngongo, describes Fugard’s passing as prompting “a deep sense of loss,” but finds comfort in knowing “his body of work has truly served us well and will continue to do so for many years to come.”
Contemporary questions
The 2025 productions will explore whether the original messages remain as vital today as they were 50 years ago. While the Constitution now protects freedoms that were denied under apartheid, the productions will examine whether new forms of censorship and social pressure have emerged to replace old restrictions.
“We want society to always keep itself in check, to be mindful of absolute freedom if freedom means anything at all,” said Ngonyama.
Post-show discussions will follow both productions, with The Island discussion on Saturday 28 June and Sizwe Banzi is Dead on Thursday 3 July. Dr John Kani will headline the Department of Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture’s Literature Festival as part of the Eastern Cape Showcase, where he will pay tribute to both Fugard and Winston Ntshona.
Through these productions, the National Arts Festival ensures that Fugard’s unflinching examination of human dignity under oppression continues to resonate with contemporary audiences, proving that great art transcends its historical moment to speak across generations.
