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Dateline: 25th April, 2007
Monday 16th April, 2007, was the first anniversary of the death of actor Brett Goldin and his friend, fashion designer, Richard Bloom in South Africa. Just over a year after their brutal murder the case still continues and has yet again been postponed.
Goldin and Bloom were murdered just days before the actor was due to leave for Stratford-upon-Avon, where he was to perform the role of Guildenstern, in the Baxter Theatre Centre’s production of Hamlet, directed by Janet Suzman, as the first visiting company to perform in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Complete Works Festival in April 2006.
The Brett Goldin Bursary Fund was founded immediately by the Royal Shakespeare Company in England, The Actors Centre in Johannesburg and the Baxter Theatre Centre in Cape Town, in honour of his memory.
The first winner of the Bursary was announced as 27 year old actor and playwright Omphile Molusi. The announcement was made at a function on Monday 23rd April at The Actors Centre in Johannesburg. Auditions have been held over the past few months at the Baxter Theatre Centre and The Actors Centre in front of judges, including the actress Dorothy ann Gould, Sean Mathias, Brett Goldin’s mother Denise, and Hilary Sempel. For these auditions the actors were required to perform two classical speeches and talk about their reasons for wanting to be awarded the bursary.
Dorothy ann Gould, Artistic Director at The Actor’s Centre and the actress playing Gertrude in the same Baxter production of Hamlet as Goldin, said, “It has been a very emotional process for me because I was so close to Brett. I was just amazed at the quality of talent, commitment and passion for Shakespeare displayed by the actors who auditioned. I am excited to see what Omphile will bring back to the community which he comes from, as well as to the arts community in South Africa. The process has been a great leveller by bringing together different groups of people who not only love Shakespeare but also share a love for this beautiful young actor.”
The Brett Goldin Bursary Fund was kick-started by donations from RSC Associate Artist, Sir Antony Sher and Honorary RSC Associate, Janet Suzman.
Suzman explains: “This fund has enabled a sort of cultural heart transplant. A young performer will experience something of what was so cruelly taken from Brett Goldin. I'm so pleased that out of bad comes some good. I congratulate the recipient and I wish him or her a fruitful time with the RSC.”
Sir Antony Sher says, “The murder of Brett Goldin (along with Richard Bloom) a year ago sent shockwaves through the theatre communities of both South Africa and the UK. Personally I found it especially haunting because of a sense of identification - a young South African actor dreaming of building a career overseas. That was Brett in 2006. And that was me in 1968. What if something calamitous had happened to me just before I could realise that dream? The RSC, The Actor’s Centre and the Baxter Theatre have created the Brett Goldin Bursary to allow another young actor to experience what Brett was so cruelly robbed of. I know that this Bursary provides some comfort to Brett's grieving family - his mother Denise and sister Samantha - and, in a way, it comforts us all. Through the Bursary we can make something positive and strong out of something tragic and senseless, and this surely honours Brett's memory in the best possible way”.
Greg Doran, Chief Associate of the RSC agrees. “In Stratford-upon-Avon, we were all deeply saddened to hear of the murder of Brett Goldin. The Hamlet company, the first overseas visitors to our Complete Works Festival, arrived in a state of stunned shock. In performance every other line of the play seemed charged with extra significance. It was as if Shakespeare was responding with words to articulate and start to heal the burden of grief which lay so heavily on everyone there.”
He continues, “The need to try and do something to help that healing process was very strong, and the notion of a bursary in Brett's name was devised, like so many other good ideas in Stratford, in the actors' pub, The Dirty Duck. The bursary was born out of a determination to provide something of the opportunity which Brett was so looking forward to and was cruelly denied: a chance for a young South African actor to come to Stratford and have access to the sort of classical training enjoyed by members of the Royal Shakespeare Company. We all look forward to welcoming Omphile to Stratford, with open arms, in Brett's name. “
Omphile Molusi will travel to the UK to begin work with the RSC during the week of 11th June, returning to South Africa in the week of 9th July.
Funded by the RSC Artist Development Programme, he will receive travel and accommodation expenses and a daily allowance whilst in the UK. The bursary also includes a trip to London, including tickets for two London performances as well as tickets for all the Stratford productions (King Lear, The Seagull, Richard II, Henry IV Parts I and 2, Macbeth and Macbett) and free access to other RSC events.
Whilst at the RSC, he will also get the chance to attend the actors warm-up sessions and any RSC Artist Development sessions, as well as receiving four hours of solo voice and verse classes each week. He will also attend any rehearsals at the directors’ discretion and two sessions with a director or assistant director as well as opportunities to attend workshops led by the RSC Learning Department.
Omphile says, “It feels like it’s a great journey I am on. I am overwhelmed and happy. It will be fundamental for me to contribute to theatre and arts communities, whatever I have learnt there. It is important that people respect theatre, and not those of us who are in it, but also the public at large. I plan to share this knowledge and experience with young people in my township and other townships, and help aspiring actors to grow and send them on their journeys. I am grateful to the RSC, the Actor’s Centre and the Baxter Theatre Centre for this opportunity.”
It is hoped that much of the educational experience will come from observation, discussion with personnel working in the RSC’s Production, Press and Casting departments and through contact with the RSC ensemble of actors. Please note that all three Archive indices are very long and will therefore take some time to download.
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