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Swansong for Kani's classic
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May 18, 2009
By Candice Bailey
'It was just a little story I wrote for my brother, that's all it is," says John Kani.
When Kani wrote the play Nothing But The Truth in 2002, it was part of a personal process to help him come to terms with the death of his brother at the hands of police and his inability to forgive the perpetrators.
But little did he know his tale of two brothers would capture the hearts of patrons across the world.
Seven years after it premiered at the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown, it has celebrated 16 runs worldwide, been hailed as a South African classic, turned into a setwork book for high school pupils, and converted into a film.
Nothing But The Truth has returned to the Market Theatre this weekend for a month-long run.
But this run will hold a very special memory for Kani as it will be his swansong for the play, as it will be the last time he performs the role of the brother Sipho.
"I am putting it aside and getting on with my other work," he told 48 Hours this week.
He explains that while the play had been a very therapeutic experience, it was time to move on.
"It brought to me my own peace. I could say, 'yes, I forgive'. I could walk away and say it's time for me to be part of the building of this country and think of my brother as a great sacrifice and I could think about it with great pride."
Every evening that Kani performed the play was an emotional experience.
"I would go to the place that touches those emotions. It touches that raw nerve in my emotion every evening and I don't want to go through that. I experience that warmth, that emotion and that little tear in the corner of my eye. I feel I have served the story and done my part."
Kani's brother, Xolile, was shot dead by police in Port Elizabeth in 1985, and although the family were mentioned by many people during the Truth and Reconciliation Commission process, they never went to the hearings.
"My mother said others had told their stories and hers was told in that. She also said she didn't want to picture in her mind the person who shot her son. So it stayed with me until I wrote this story."
Kani's initial attempt ended after 15 pages with him thinking it was too much of him standing on his political soap box.
Three months later he went back to the material and found the inspiration for the story of two brothers, their relationship and their different approaches to politics.
"One formed part of the masses who would attend the consumer boycotts, the stay-aways and the rallies, while the other was the firebrand political activist."
The story revolves around Sipho, who has to bury his estranged brother, who lived in exile.
He, his daughter (played by Leleti Khumalo) and his niece (played by Welile Tembe) are forced to confront the betrayals, jealousies and animosities of the past, both political and personal.
Kani says he has been inundated with people who wanted the play.
But when the Market Theatre's artistic director, Malcolm Purkey, approached him for a rerun, he just couldn't refuse.
"I had already said no to so many other people I thought okay, one more time. This one will be the swansong.
"I considered my relationship with the Market Theatre. I am the patron and the ambassador of the Market Theatre."
Kani's director, Janice Honeyman, says the play had been running for such a long time and had so much response because it was a beautiful human story.
"Whatever the political situation is, people have a family story. The political content is all there but it is not the primary interest.
Evening shows start at 8pm and tickets prices range from R50 upwards.
Tickets can be booked through Computicket or through the Market Theatre.
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