DOUGLAS FIELD relishes the hard-boiled language, satire and humour of the third and last of the Harlem trilogy
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An infection yet to heal
There's an invisible third presence throughout John Kani’s magnificent play — the malevolent incubus of apartheid, says GORDON PARSONS
Mirror to apartheid: John Kani and Anthony Sher in Kunene and the King
[Ellie Kurtz]
STEPHANIE BROWN draws attention to the hidden labour of the female embroiderers, and how a 19th century replica made no such error
MIK SABIERS revels in a band that ploughs an idiosyncratic furrow of expletive laden, guitar-driven alt rock
ANDY HEDGECOCK, MARIA DUARTE and ANGUS REID review Synthetic Sincerity, Our Hero, Balthazar, Heartstopper Forever, and A Year In London
The bard invites readers to a gig, raps for Clacton, and lays out the Burnham-Hurzeler conundrum
RON JACOBS recommends an important book that enhances the oppositional theories put forth by Fanon and, in doing so, remakes psychology itself
Kunene and the King
Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon
VETERAN white South African actor Jack Morris (Anthony Sher) is due to crown his career by playing King Lear. Diagnosed with terminal liver cancer, from the moment his medical carer Lunga Kunene (John Kani) turns up, their respective attempts to find a working relationship are beset by their country’s shared history.
In Kani’s two-hander, their progress towards recognising one another as individuals and not as products of their corrupted past is infused with humour and mediated through confronting cultures, languages and, fascinatingly, as the stricken Jack struggles to learn Lear’s lines, Shakespeare.
Just as Shakespeare’s character has to learn to see his world through unclouded vision and find a shared humanity, so Jack edges towards a freedom born of mutual respect. Similarly, Kunene has to assert his professional pride and racial self-respect to cope with an awkward patient wallowing in sardonic disgust at his situation.
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