SOLOMON AND MARION to Run 16 October - 1 November at Birmingham Repertory Theatre

A powerful story of two injured souls searching for redemption in a fragile, post-apartheid South Africa, Solomon And Marion featuring Dame Janet Suzman and Khayalethu Anthony, opens at Birmingham Repertory Theatre from 16 October - 1 November.

In Solomon And Marion two very different characters, an ageing and heart-broken woman and a mysterious young man, each from opposite ends of the South African social spectrum, and each carrying stories of significant loss, are thrown together by extraordinary circumstances.

Marion has watched her life drain away. Isolated from her home and grieving for her dead son and lost husband, she's struggling to find meaning in a country that has been utterly transformed. But it's the only home she has ever known.

As the new South Africa braces itself for the inevitable protests and unrest that precede the 2010 World Cup finals, hope enters her life in the form of Solomon, the grandson of Marion's former servant. He says he wants to take care of her, but what is his real motive?

Solomon And Marion brings together two very dynamic theatre luminaries as South African author Lara Foot directs her own two-hander with Janet Suzman in the role of Marion. Lara Foot, Artistic Director of Cape Town's Baxter Theatre says of the play:

"I wrote this play with Janet in mind. The tone of her voice was in my head," she says. "The play was inspired by a conversation I had with psychotherapist Tony Hamburger. It was motivated, in a sense, by a time in Cape Town when South Africa felt desperate both politically and socially. The negativity around crime and instability was made more intense when the actor Brett Goldin was murdered in 2006 just before the company was due to leave for the UK to perform in the Baxter Theatre Centre's production of Hamlet at the RSC, which Janet directed. The empathy that I felt for Brett Goldin's mother, coupled with Janet's heartache, courage and resilience; invoked in me a feeling, which sparked an intuition and led me towards writing Solomon And Marion."

South African born Janet Suzman is an Oscar nominated British actress with an illustrious career across both stage and screen. She has twice won the Evening Standard Best Actress Award and received Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for her first lead in the film Nicholas and Alexandra. In a career spanning five decades, she has played almost the full list of Shakespeare's female leads, as well as directing adaptations of Othello and The Cherry Orchard. The Sunday Times has hailed her performance of Cleopatra as "the greatest Cleopatra of the past 50 years."

Twenty-seven year old Khayalethu Anthony was chosen from fourteen actors through a rigorous audition process for the role of the young Solomon. He is a founding member of the Imbawula Theatre Company and has previously performed in the international touring production of Waiting For The Barbarians.

Solomon And Marion is designed by Patrick Curtis with lighting design by Mannie Manim.

In addition to Solomon And Marion, The REP will be marking 20 years of the new South Africa throughout October with a series talks and films. On Monday 6 October Dame Janet Suzman discusses her life and career as part of the Birmingham Literature Festival.

In collaboration with Flatpack Film Festival and as part of Afrovibes the UK premiere of a short film, Unogumbe, will be screened prior to the performance of Solomon And Marion on Friday 24 October at 7pm. Unogumbe relocates the story of Noah's Ark to present day South Africa. Beautifully sung in Xhosa and performed with traditional African instruments, this vibrant celebration of life will have audiences dancing throughout.

On Monday 27 October at 7.45pm, Come Back, Africa - a recently restored portrait of a township, made undercover in Johannesburg will also be shown. The film was one of the first candid glimpses of South Africa under apartheid. The filmmakers pretended to be making a music video while shooting, and the results include a legendary shebeen sequence featuring singer Miriam Makeba. South African acapella singing group The Soil will also perform.

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