Fifty years after its premiere in Apartheid South Africa, The Island has returned to the stage for a North of England Tour.
The play, written by Athol Fugard, is set on Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 18 years. It originally featured actor-activists John Kani and Winston Ntshona, two of South Africa’s finest actors who were members of The Serpent Players, a group made up almost entirely of black South African performers.
For this production by Durham-based Elysium Theatre Company, Ewen Cummins takes on the role of John and Daniel Poyser plays Winston.
This two-header play is a powerful insight into Apartheid South Africa. The two men share a cell and they also share a bond, having been imprisoned together for many years.
Both performances are strong, with Cummins and Poyser conveying a real sense of how prolonged confinement affects their spirit and outlook…it’s their brotherhood that keeps them both going when the future offers little hope.
Winston is serving a life sentence while John has been sentenced to ten years before having that reduced to a three-year term. This means he is due for release in three months and the news leaves both men contemplating their different futures.
As they move towards John’s release date, the pair are rehearsing a two-man performance of Antigone to be performed in front of an audience of prison guards and inmates. Again, this is based on what really happened on Robben Island back in 1973. Winston is struggling to remember his lines and doesn’t want to take on the role of Antigone but they work together to get ready for the play. As the days go by, John says: “Time passes slowly when you have something to wait for.”
The stage setting, designed by Caitlin Mills and Lee Ward, is simple but effective. The men each have a sleeping mat and blanket with a bucket of water to share.
The Island has been performed across the globe, including two worldwide tours by its original cast in the early 2000s. Elysium Theatre reprise this production for the fiftieth anniversary of the original play in conjunction with Queen’s Hall Art Centre in Hexham. It is the Company’s tenth stage production and as well as dates in the North East, the 15-venue tour of The Island finishes with a three-night run at The Lowry in Manchester.
