SIZWE BANZI IS DEAD Tour Coming to Studio Theatre, 20-24 May
Eclipse Theatre Company and the Young Vic present the anti-apartheid play, Sizwe Banzi is Dead, at the Studio Theatre from Tuesday 20 until Saturday 24 May, as part of its nationwide tour.
Set in Port Elizabeth, South Africa in 1972, the story follows Sizwe Banzi, whose passbook gives him just three days to find work. No work and he'll be deported. That was four days ago. When Sizwe stumbles across a dead body with a passbook, he asks himself - does his identity card really define who he is? Could he give up his family and his name in order to survive?
Eclipse Theatre Company return to their Sheffield home for the first time since 2011's One Monkey, Don't Stop, No Show with this co-production with the Young Vic. Directed by the Young Vic's Genesis Future Directors Award winner Matthew Xia, Sizwe Banzi is Dead exposes the struggle for freedom and identity in apartheid-era South Africa.
Dawn Walton, Artistic Director of Eclipse Theatre Company, said: 'It shocks me that a play developed at the height of apartheid in South Africa over 40 years ago still holds so many truths about 'identity' for a contemporary UK audience. We are proud to be sharing this incisive production with Eclipse Theatre audiences across the UK.'
Director Matthew Xia says: 'Athol Fugard and his collaborators have created a brutally honest portrayal of the everyday struggle faced by millions of South Africans under the apartheid regime. Despite the collapse of apartheid in the early '90s the wider themes of immigration, identity and survival resonate all too loudly today.'
Sizwe Banzi is Dead comes to the Studio Theatre from Tuesday 20 - Saturday 24 May. Tickets are on sale now, priced from £12.50 - £15.50 and can be purchased from Sheffield Theatres' Box Office in person, by calling 0114 249 6000, and online at sheffieldtheatres.co.uk. A transaction fee of £1.50 (£1.00 online) applies to all bookings made at the Box Office, excluding cash.
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