Kunene and the King

Octopus Theatricals / South Africa “MAGNETIC… Director Ruben Santiago-Hudson navigates with dexterity.” South Africa, 2019. Twenty-five years since the first post-apartheid democratic elections, two men from contrasting walks of life are thrust together to reflect on a quarter century of change. Jack Morris is a celebrated classical actor who’s just been given both a career-defining role and a life-changing diagnosis. Besides his age, Jack has seemingly little in common with his at-home nurse Lunga Kunene, but the two men soon discover their shared passion for Shakespeare, which ignites this ‘rich, raw and shattering head-to-head’ (The Times). Written by South African actor, activist and playwright John Kani, this critically acclaimed, refreshingly funny, and vital new play is as entertaining as it is thought-provoking. Emerson Cutler Majestic Theatre 219 Tremont St, Boston, MA 02116 Note: This show is currently available as part of an ArtsEmerson Season Package or a group sale. Single tickets for the production will go on sale at a later date. Octopus Theatricals (Producer) Founded by Tony® and Grammy® winning producer Mara Isaacs, Octopus Theatricals collaborates with artists and organizations to foster an expansive range of compelling theatrical works for local and global audiences. Projects include: GYPSY starring Audra McDonald (lead producer Broadway); Hadestown by Anaïs Mitchell (lead producer Broadway, West End, National Tour; 8 Tony Awards including Best Musical; Grammy Award, Best Musical Theater Album); Goddess conceived and directed by Saheem Ali, music and lyrics by Michael Thurber (The Public Theater NYC); Patrick Page’s All the Devils are Here (Lucile Lortel, Outer Critics and Drama Desk Awards, Off-Broadway, US Tour); A Beat of Our Own by Rehana Lew Mirza, Mike Lew and Sam Willmott; Kunene and the King by John Kani; (…Iphigenia), a new opera by Wayne Shorter and esperanza spalding; In The Same Tongue created by choreographer Dianne McIntyre with music by Diedre Murray; Bill Irwin’s On Beckett; And So We Walked by DeLanna Studi; Theatre for One (in person and virtual) and many more. Octopustheatricals.com John Kani’s celebrated acting career stretches five-plus decades, across multiple continents. Onstage, he gave Tony and Obie Award-winning performances in the plays “Sizwe Banzi Is Dead” and “The Island” — which he also co-wrote. His world tour of the latter included stops in Paris (Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord), Stockholm (Stadsteatern), Montreal, and Washington, DC (Kennedy Center), and both shows recently enjoyed American and South African revivals. Kani also received an Olivier Award nomination for “My Children! My Africa!” As a playwright, Kani’s art has also traveled the world. “Nothing But the Truth” — a play that is now studied in South African schools — won three Fleur du Cap Theatre Awards, an Excellence in International Theatre Award, five Naledi Theatre Awards and the Olive Schreiner Prize, with productions mounted at Grahamstown National Arts Festival, The Baxter Theatre Centre, The Market Theatre, The Sydney Opera House, Port Elizabeth Opera House, and Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (the play also toured New York and Australia). Meanwhile, Bogota Arts Festival selection “Missing” completed a tour of South Africa, with a UK leg forthcoming. His directing resume includes numerous theater titles (“Goree;” “Blues Africa Café;” “Kagoos;” “The Meeting,” at The Market Theatre; “The Bacchae;” “Friday’s Bread on Monday,” “Sellout,” “The Last Bus,” and “The Cure,” at The Serpent Players). In 2008, he made his film directorial debut with an adaptation of his play “Nothing But the Truth.” The feature claimed the Silver Etalon de Yennega at the Ouagadougou Panafrican Film and Television Festival. Television and film credits include: Wallander and Inkaba (which he also created), The Wild Geese, The Grass Is Singing, Marigolds in August, Victims of Apartheid, An African Dream, Option, A Dry White Season, Sarafina, Saturday Night at the Palace (Taormina International Film Festival’s Golden Mask), Kini and Adams, Ghost and the Darkness, The Tichborne Claimant, The Final Solution, The White Lion, The End Game, The Suit, Coriolanus, How to Steal Two Million, Captain America: Civil War, Black Panther, Murder Mystery, and Disney’s 2019 remake of The Lion King (voicing Rafiki). Countless awards and honors have been bestowed on Kani throughout his extraordinary career, among them honorary doctorates from the University of Durban Westville, Rhodes University, The University of Cape Town, and Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University; the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation Award; and the Fleur du Cap Theatre Award for lifetime achievement. In 2005, he received the Order of Ikamanga from the President of the Republic of South Africa, recognizing his contribution in the struggle for the liberation of his country through his work in the arts. Photo Credit: Teresa Castracane Photography Ph