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Junkets Publisher is a small independent not-for-profit publisher specialising in new Southern African plays in The Playscript Series (for which Junkets won the 2009 Arts & Culture Trust Excellence Award) and The Collected Series, which are anthologies of Southern African plays. In partnership with the National Arts Festival, Junkets is about to publish two groundbreaking volumes of South African monologues: NOW I AM ALONE 1 and NOW I AM ALONE 2. Both volumes have been compiled by Robin Malan, Diana Wilson and David Fick.
Each volume contains 15 monologues for female performers and 15 monologues for male performers: 30 monologues in each volume and 60 monologues in all. These monologues are all Southern African in character and the writers are all from Southern Africa. The range of monologues covers all social and ethnic diversities and the material is suitable for young adult performers from about 16 upwards. The monologues will be invaluable for students doing examination pieces, for solo performances, for entry into university Drama Departments and drama schools and for auditioning for theatre groups and companies.
In the two volumes you will find experienced theatre names such as Greig Coetzee, Juliet Jenkin, Zakes Mda, Mike van Graan, Nicholas Spagnoletti, Geraldine Aron, Andrew Buckland, Omphile Molusi, Paul Slabolepszy, Brett Bailey, Fiona Coyne, Reza de Wet, Sue Pam-Grant, Sibusiso Mamba, Craig Higginson, Karen Jeynes, Ingrid Wylde, Rosemund Handler, Pieter Jacobs, Malika Ndlovu, Ashraf Johaardien, Heinrich Reisenhofer, Motshabi Tyelele, Gideon van Eeden and Jonathan Nkala. Also, new and emerging writers such as Lauren Bates, Rob K Baum, Suenel Holloway, Ongezwa Mbele, Jonathan Orton, Elaine Davie, M Cassiem D'arcy, Jon Keevy, Caitlin Macleod, Reneé Muller, Phillip M Dikotla, Pfarelo N., Vanessa Bower, Masitha Hoeane and Kei Janse van Rensburg are featured in the books.
The range of issues handled in the monologues is wide; the styles are varied; the mood and tone are contrasting; and the opportunities to display interpretative acting skills are abundant. Each monologue is given a four-page spread, detailing the monologue and the play from which it is drawn, providing information about the character and the context of the monologue and offering pointers that might be useful to the performer. The monologues themselves are set with wide margins to allow for annotations by the performer. These two volumes will prove valuable to everyone involved in drama, theatre arts and performing arts in all high schools, tertiary Drama Departments, teacher-training institutions and theatre companies.
Early reactions to NOW I AM ALONE include comments from Ismail Mahomed, Artistic Director of the National Arts Festival ("This is a lovely initiative to further advance South African theatre and playwrights."); Alison Green, Drama Teacher at the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls ("'I am so glad you are doing this.") and Paul Slabolepszy, playwright ("I love the fact that young actors will be able to tackle these monologues - very exciting!").
The publication date for both volumes is 2 December 2013, with a launch supported by the Distell Foundation to follow in January 2014. Each book costs R140 plus p&p, but "Early-Bird" orders offer the buyer a discount on each book of R20. In other words, each book will cost R120, to which p&p is added. For this discount to apply, you need to pay before the publication date. If you would like to take advantage of this opportunity, email Junkets (info.junkets@iafrica.com) for an Early-Bird Order Form.
