DRAMA
AFRICAN PLAYS
The BBC World Service annually holds an African play writing competition to discover talented new
African writers. This year marks the 30th anniversary of African drama on the service.
Entrants should submit not more than one play of 28 minutes in length on any theme of interest to
listeners in Africa.
The best three plays will be produced in the BBC World Service drama studios at Bush House in
London with a cast of professional actors.
First prize will be œ800 sterling, second œ400 and third œ200. The contest is open to any African
writer not normally resident in the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland and the play must be substantially in
English.
Plays must be received no later than October 18.
For details write to: Ms Susanna Flood, Publicity and Marketing Manager, Africa and Middle East,
BBC World Service, Bush House, PO Box 76, Strand, London, WC2B 4PH, UK.
Fax 0944 171 373 3933.
AFRICAN STORY THEATRE
The Square Space Theatre at the University of Natal, Durban, is the venue until September 7 for
perfor-mances of African Story Theatre. Performed by students of the University of Natal's speech
and drama department and compiled by director Nerissa Phillips, the programme is taken from various African myths
and legends.
OUR COUNTRY'S GOOD
Timberlake Wertenbaker's multi-award winning play, Our Country's Good, will be
presented at the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre from September 16 to 21 under the auspices of the University of Natal's
speech and drama department.
Director Dr Mervyn McMurtry des-cribes the play as "a tribute to the trans-formative power of
theatre" and is especially excited as this production will be the South African premiere.
Winner of London's Laurence Oliver Play of the Year Award in 1988, Our Country's
Good was hailed by New York Times critic Frank Rich as "a play that says 'Yes, the theatre is important,
a boon to civilization.'"
Our Country's Good
also appears at the Hilton Drama festival (see back cover)
STUDENT DRAMA
The Playhouse Company's education and development department is presenting KZN's up-and-coming
drama talent in a Student Drama Festival at the Playhouse Studio from September 18 to 22.
According to the publicity university, technikon and college students across the province will stage
"new and established dramatic works from every aspect of the drama spectrum, each piece as varied as it is ground-
breaking."
The festival is open to all drama training institutions in KZN. For further details contact Muzi Gama
on 369-9461.
NONGOGO
First performed in South Africa in Johannesburg in 1959, Athol Fugard's Nongogo
tells the story of Queenie, an ex-prostitute trying to make a break from her life as a shebeen 'queen'.
Queenie is a former 'nongogo' (a woman for two-and six), a prostitute soliciting among the lines of
gold-mind workers queuing for their pay. Although she now has a measure of material success, she is anything but
happy. A young salesman walks into her life and she finds herself responding to his air of decency but a business
associate and sometimes gangster, has other ideas!
Nongogo
deals with hopes for a better future and new-found freedoms but also lost
impetus and survival. Up-and-coming young director Jerry Pooe directs Nongogo and, judging from
his previous work, this should be worth seeing.
Nongogo
opens in the Playhouse Sanlam Loft on September 20 and runs until October
6.
ARTS UNLIMITED
The television programme on the arts, Arts Unlimited, is transmitted on Thursdays
at 22h10 on SABC3. Arts Unlimited is produced by Allen Auld.
Department of Drama Studies