FRASER GRACE- the plays

Home About Perpetua BWM Frobisher's Gold WKMD? Gifts of War Butterfly

Tongues Radio Opera Fiction Addresses News Books Acknowledgments

FRASER GRACE Online- the Plays (4):

Who Killed Mr Drum?

SYNOPSIS A vibrant and heartbreaking evocation of 1950's South Africa, based on the book by Sylvester Stein, of the same title. It was first commissioned by Treatment Theatre.

(A clip of Andi Osho singing 'Back of the Moon' as Dolly Rathebe).

Can Themba works at 'Drum Magazine' where he is the epitome of the hard-working, fast living journo, worshipping only the written word and the female form - and constantly defying the restrictive absurdities of Apartheid. The only steadying influence in his life is his hero and mentor, Henry Nxumalo, aka the original investigative journalist, Mr Drum. But when Henry is found stabbed in a back alley, Can's life begins to unravel. Will his anger find expression in anything other than self-destruction? Can his white girlfriend Lizzie, the love of his life, do anything to save him?

Cast: Twelve (10 male & 2 female)

Production History

Treatment Theatre, Riverside Studios, Hammersmith, 1 September 2005.

Directed by Paul Robinson, Designed by Francisco Rodriguez-Weil.

Sergeant Bezuidenhout..................... ..Jon Cartwright

Sylvester Stein..............................Stephen Billington

Can Themba............................Sello Maake Ka-Ncube

Henry Nxumalo.........................................Wale Ojo

Bob Gosani..........................................Wela Frasier

Bloke Modisane.................................Israel Aduramo

Casey Motsisi....................................Marcel McCalla

Dolly Rathebe..........................................Andi Osho

Todd Matshikiza/ Tsotsi 2..............Emmanuel Ighodaro

Lizzie Hutchinson...........................Georgina Sutcliffe

Zeke Mphelele..................................Lucian Msamati

Tsotsi 1/ Moetsie.................................Ayedeji Aloba

Design Richard Matthews, Video Design, Chris Rogers, Music and Sound Design, Scott Myers, Lighting Sherry Coenen, Costumes Alexandra Khariban

Please be patient-some of these high quality JPEGs take a little while to load (up to a minute) but it is certainly worth the wait.

Fraser's View What a show! A huge cast (by fringe standards), top design and production values and great music as can be heard in the sound clip- that is Andi Osho singing as Dolly Rathebe-what a gal!).

The show was a real credit to the Treatment Theatre Production Team, and to Paul Robinson who directed.

Working on the script with Paul, and co-writer Sylvester Stein, was the best kind of rollercoaster. We tried to pull off not only a genuine drama, but also an evocation of a very particular time in South Africa's history, and a celebration of an outstanding gang of jazz-obsessed, hard-drinking black journalists. Based on Sylvester's own book, of the same title, it also recalled a very piquant episode in his own life. Quite a brief! In the end, we drew not only from Syl's book, but from some of the characters' own accounts of the time; Can Themba' s 'The Will to Die' and Bloke Modisane' s 'Blame Me on History' stick in the mind.

A great adventure, and in the end, a generous, crowd-pleasing show- and a reminder that Apartheid in South Africa wasn't only about mad prejudice, but about the waste of a great many talented lives.

Future: A new production would be fantastic - Sello would love one in South Africa - and we might get the script down by another twenty minutes, too!

Reviews Clipped

...a fascinating portrait of 1950's South Africa ... the Guardian

Alive with pain, passion and humour....... ..the Telegraph

...a rich, shrewd, generous- spirited piece...the Independent

...you can't fail to enjoy yourself. Sunday Telegraph

Home About Perpetua BWM Frobisher's Gold WKMD? Gifts of War Butterfly

Tongues Radio Opera Fiction Addresses News Books Acknowledgments