The Unlikely Secret Agent at Marylebone Theatre

It’s 1963, South Africa. The country is on a knife edge. Political protest, sabotage and violence engulfs the country. The Apartheid government, under Hendrik Verwoerd, brutally suppresses resistance. Under the State of Emergency, the feared Special Branch of the police arrest anyone suspected of being involved in underground activities.

Eleanor, an unassuming, young single mother is arrested at Griggs Bookstore where she works in Durban and taken for questioning. The police are on the hunt for her lover, the notorious “terrorist”, Red Ronnie Kasrils. She finds herself detained under the 90-day detention act and brutally interrogated. They will “break her or hang her”.

Ronnie is wanted for his involvement in a string of sabotage bombings of electricity pylons, the Durban post office and the offices of the Special Branch. There is no point in her resisting, the police “know everything”.

But do they really? Eleanor is keeping a secret. She is a clandestine agent for the Underground ANC. But she must protect her comrades and Ronnie. She makes the daring decision to fake a nervous breakdown in order to be transferred to a psychiatric institution. From there, she begins to plot her escape.

“Powerful performances…a gripping piece of theatre” – Cape Robyn

“Full of courage and heart.” – Broadway World

“In equal measures chilling and heart-warming…” – Broadway World

“Packed with adrenaline and excitement and danger.” – Daily Maverick

“… a love story and a political thriller, but with enough humour to counter the darkness and depravity of the interrogation scenes.” – Mail & Guardian

Written and directed by Paul du Toit.

Starring Erika Breytenbach-Marais, Wessel Pretorius, Sanda Shandu, De Klerk Oelofse and Ntlanhla Kutu.

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