CASTING ANNOUNCEMENT: I See You

The full cast has been announced for the Royal Court Theatre and Market Theatre, Johannesburg co-production of Mongiwekhaya’s new play I See You. Jordan Baker, Desmond Dube, Bayo Gbadamosi, Austin Hardiman, Sibusiso Mamba, Amaka Okafor and Lunga Radebe start rehearsals today.

Award-winning actress Noma Dumezweni makes her directorial debut. With design by Soutra Gilmour, lighting by Richard Howell, sound by Giles Thomas and movement by
Luyanda Sidiya. I See You runs from Thursday 25 February 2016 – Saturday 26 March 2016 in the Jerwood Theatre Upstairs and then at the Market Theatre, Johannesburg.

Desmond Dube, Lunga Radebe and Luyanda Sidiya are all based in South Africa.

Based on a real encounter, I See You addresses the questions of a new generation of South Africans encountering their country’s traumatised past.

“Speak to me in your mother-tongue and I will let you go.”

Post-Apartheid South Africa, after dark.

Ben meets Skinn for a night out. But the party is interrupted by the police. Ben, a young student who doesn’t know his own history, is accused of a crime he didn’t commit. And Officer Buthelezi, a former freedom fighter, can’t let it go.

“I don’t need your sorries white boy. Yes, you heard right. You know white people think we’re the same? We both look black. But only one of us is black.”

I See You (English) / Ngiyakubona (Zulu) / Ek Sien Jou (Afrikaans) / Ndiyakubona (Xhosa)

Mongiwekhaya’s Royal Court debut play is presented as part of International Playwrights, a Genesis Foundation Project. It was developed during the Royal Court’s new writing project in South Africa which began in 2013. The project was supported by the British Council and Connect ZA.

Full listings and biography information below.

The Big Idea:

Mongiwekhaya in conversation
Jerwood Theatre Upstairs
Friday 4 March, Post-show
Playwright Mongiwekhaya will be in conversation with Royal Court International Director, Elyse Dodgson.

Documentary film: Noma (Forgiving Apartheid)
Directed by Sarah Townsend
The Wilson Studio, Royal Court Theatre
Saturday 19 March 2015, 12 noon
Noma Dumezweni, once a childhood apartheid refugee from South Africa, is now a critically acclaimed stage actress in London. In this documentary she revisits her past for the first time, as she takes on a new role that will bring her back to her birthplace and face to face with a father she hasn’t seen in over 30 years.

During the 1970’s, the apartheid regime in South Africa was at its height. Seven-year-old Noma Dumezweni only knew a life on the run from the police until one day, her mother chose to leave Noma’s father and his life of activism for refuge in the UK. Fast-forward to 2014 and Noma, now an award winning stage actress in London has been offered the role of a lifetime portraying a legendary South African psychologist famous for her interviews with convicted apartheid-fuelled mass murderer Eugene De Kock. Noma gladly accepts the role but in doing so, plunges herself into a journey of self-discovery as the play moves to South Africa and forces her to reconnect with her childhood past and a father she has not seen in over 30 years.

Running time 40 minutes.
£5 or free with a ticket to a performance of I See You that day.

The Big Idea is a strand of work launched during Open Court, offering audiences radical thinking and provocative discussion inspired by the work on stage. The Big Idea seeks to foster debate and collaboration, bringing together leading thinkers and artists from all walks of life to engage with the big ideas of our times, through a series of debates and events.

For more information or images please contact Anoushka Hay on 0207 565 5063 / AnoushkaHay@royalcourttheatre.com

Notes to Editors:

Press Night:
Thursday 3 March 7pm I See You by Mongiwekhaya Jerwood Theatre Upstairs

Listings Information:
I See You
By Mongiwekhaya
Directed by Noma Dumezweni
Jerwood Theatre Upstairs, Royal Court Theatre, Sloane Square, SW1W 8AS
Thursday 25 February – Saturday 26 March 2016
A Royal Court Theatre and Market Theatre, Johannesburg production
International Playwrights: A Genesis Foundation Project
Monday – Saturday 7.45pm
Thursday & Saturday matinees 3pm (from 5 March)
Captioned Performance 23 March 7.45pm
Press Night Thursday 3 March 7pm
Age Guidance 14+
Tickets £20 (Mondays all seats £10 available from 9am online on the day of performance)
Concessions* £15 (available in advance for previews and all matinees)
Access £12 (plus a companion at the same rate)
*ID required. All discounts subject to availability.

Mongiwekhaya is a writer, performer and director with Handspring Puppet Company and has recently performed in the international tour of Ubu and the Truth Commission. Previous work includes Kagg’an Dreams (Handspring Trust); Fallen, The Feather Collector (Grahamstown Festival). He is currently Artist in Residence for Center for Humanities Research (CHR) at the University of Western Cape and a member of the newly formed SA Playriot group.

Noma Dumezweni makes her directorial debut. Her work as an actor includes Linda (Royal Court), Carmen Disruption (Almeida), The Bogus Woman (The Red Room/Traverse and Bush), President of an Empty Room and The Hour We Knew Nothing of Each Other (National); Macbeth, Breakfast with Mugabe, The Winter’s Tale, Romeo and Juliet (RSC), A Raisin in the Sun (Young Vic), A Human Being Died That Night (Hampstead/The Fugard, Cape Town/ Market Theatre/BAM, New York). Awards include an Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role for A Raisin in the Sun.

Luyanda Sidiya’s choreography includes Dominion (SANAA Africa/Soweto Theatre/ Canadian Stage Company), Makwande (Kuopio Dance Festival, Finland), Fullmoon (Johannesburg Mandela Theatre) and Siva (Seven) (National Arts Festival 2015). He trained at Dance Factory (Johannesburg) and Moving into Dance Mophatong (MIDM). As a dancer his credits include MIDM Company – performed nationally and internationally, in Botswana, U.S.A, Sweden, Austria, Finland, Italy, Luxembourg and the 2010 FIFA World Cup Opening Concert. He taught choreography and African dance modules at Bennington College in Vermont USA before joining the ACE dance and Music Company in the UK for 3 years, first as a dancer and then as rehearsal director. Awards include Most Outstanding Dancer in a Contemporary Style (2007 Dance Umbrella Festival) and Umnikelo (2012 Silver Standard Bank Ovation Award, National Arts Festival). He is the Artistic Director at Vuyani Dance Theatre and co-founded Luthando Arts Academy.

Jordan Baker will make her Royal Court debut with I See You. Her television credits include EastEnders and Doctors.

Desmond Dube will make his Royal Court debut with I See You. Other theatre credits include You Fool How Can the Sky Fall, Julius Caesar (Nelson Mandela Theatre), Who Really Freed Nelson (Market Theatre), Nongogo (The Canadian Stage/Soweto/Market Theatre), Protest (South African State) and Survival (Civic). His film credits include Hotel Rwanda, Book of Negroes, Love and Broken Bones, The Long Run and Millenium Menace. His television credits include No1 Ladies Detective Agency, Suburban Bliss, Jacob’s Cross and Hopeville. Awards include a Best Supporting Actor Naledi Award for Nongogo.

Bayo Gbadamosi will make his Royal Court debut with I See You. Other theatre credits include Little Revolution (Almeida), Mad About the Boy (Unicorn/Bush/Young Vic/Edinburgh Fringe), Little Baby Jesus (Oval House), The Gods Are Not to Blame, The Litter and Uncle Vanya (Young Vic). His film credits include Swarm and Mission London.

Austin Hardiman will make his Royal Court debut with I See You. Other theatre credits include The First Man, Fog (Jermyn) and The Dead Wait (Park). His film credits include Let the Die Be Cast: Initium, False Murder, The Sorrows, Phylis, W.E and Forget Me Not. His television credits include Ma-Mon and Dancing on the Edge.

Sibusiso Mamba will make his Royal Court debut with I See You. Other theatre credits include Sizwe Banzi is Dead (Young Vic Theatre/London and UK tour with Eclipse Theatre), Nongogo (Market Theatre), Romeo and Juliet (Chichester Festival), Othello (QM2), Train to 2010 (Crossroads) and Julius Caesar (Civic). His film credits include Crime: it’s a way of life, Coronation Street: Out of Africa and Wah-Wah. His television credits include Doctors, Isidingo, Society and Soul City. Sibusiso is Script Editor on the South African television show Skeem Saam and is International Associate Artist at Crossroads Theatre in New Jersey, USA.

Amaka Okafor will make her Royal Court debut with I See You. Other theatre credits include Hamlet (Barbican), Mermaids (Shared Experience), Bird (Root/UK Tour), Glasgow Girls (Citizens/Stratford East), The Snow Queen, Flathampton (Royal & Derngate/India Tour), The Three Musketeers, Beauty and the Beast, The Garbage King, The Tempest, The London Eye Mystery, Cinderella (Unicorn), Dr Korczak’s Example (Royal Exchange/Arcola), Sabbat (Dukes Lancaster), The Bacchae (National Theatre of Scotland), Branded, Hitting Heights (Old Vic), Robin Hood and the Babies in the Wood, Red Oleander, When Brecht Met Stanislavski, The Alexander Projekt (Salisbury Playhouse), Meantime (Soho), Tracey Beaker Gets Real (Nottingham Playhouse/National Tour), Stamping, and Shouting and Singing Home (Polka). Her television credits include Grandpa in My Pocket, Doctors and The Bill.

Lunga Radebe will make his Royal Court debut with I See You. Other theatre credits include Antigone: In the World (King Kreon/Kenya and South Africa Tour), Avalon: a New Township Play (Schapiro/UK Tour), Tears of Anatolia, The Seagull (Schapiro), The Last Pro in Yeoville (Windybrow/Grahamstown Arts Festival), Touch My Blood (Market Theatre, Grahamstown Arts Festival), The Dead Politician (Macufe Festival), Much Ado About Nothing, Armed Response, I Need a Gun, Love, Crime and Johannesburg (Wits), Mampatile (Wits/ Grahamstown Arts Festival), The Blue dress, Red Roses and Scarlet Tie (Civic) and Reverse Lullabyes (Drill Hall). His television credits include Skeem Saam, Vaya, Muvhango, Inzingane Zobaba, Mthunzini.com, Zero Tolerance and Backstage.

International Playwrights at The Royal Court Theatre

Over the last two decades the Royal Court has led the way in the development and production of new international plays, facilitating work at grass-roots level and developing exchanges which bring young writers and directors to work with emerging artists around the world. Through a programme of long-term workshops and residencies, in London and abroad, a creative dialogue now exists with theatre practitioners from over 70 countries, working in over 40 languages, most recently Chile, Cuba, Georgia, India, Lebanon, Mexico, Palestine, Russia, South Africa, Syria, Turkey, Ukraine and Zimbabwe
All of these development projects are supported by the Genesis Foundation and the British Council.
The Royal Court has produced dozens of new international plays through this programme since 1997, most recently Fireworks by Dalia Taha (Palestine) in 2015, The Djinns of Eidgah by Abhiskek Majumdar (India), A Time to Reap by Anna Wakulik (Poland) in 2013, Remembrance Day by Aleksey Scherbak (Latvia), Our Private Life by Pedro Miguel Rozo (Colombia) in 2011 and Disconnect by Anupama Chandrasekhar (India) in 2010.

International Director: Elyse Dodgson
Associate Director (International): Richard Twyman
International Assistant: Sarah Murray

You download the I See You Casting Announcement click here