New Perspectives to tour Fugard reconciliation play

Published: 20 December 2014
Reporter: Steve Orme

Ben Cutler is Gideon in Playland
David Carr plays Martinus

East Midlands rural touring company New Perspectives is to tour Athol Fugard’s Playland, which explores the possibilities for reconciliation after apartheid in South Africa, in the run-up to the 2015 General Election.

New Perspectives artistic director Jack McNamara commented, “it feels like an important time to tour this particular play, with the rise of UKIP and the upcoming election.

“It’s a rarely-seen work by one of the most important playwrights in world history, so an urban environment might have been a more expected route for it. However, I passionately believe this is a subject that needs to be brought into the heart of the country, to open up discussions about where fear and intolerance can lead us.

“Our first show in 1973, about the murder of David Oluwale, was an exposé of racism that lay buried in British society. I want to believe we’ve moved on since then, but of course there are daily examples of prejudice, both personal and institutional, that continue to hold us back as a nation.”

Playland is set on New Year’s Eve. Two strangers meet at night in an amusement park in the heart of rural South Africa. Martinus, a black South African, is the amusement park's night-watchman. Gideon, a white Afrikaner and ex-serviceman, has gone there for a good night out. When they find themselves face to face, their encounter is “charged with history and danger”.

South African-born Ben Cutler plays Gideon and David Carr from Birmingham is Martinus.

Ben Cutler trained at the École Philippe Gaulier. His work includes UK tours of Romeo and Juliet and The Great Gatsby; Kakiseni Showcase at the Temple of Fine Arts, Kuala Lumpur and The Double Bass at Mundolingua, Paris.

David Carr graduated from Central School of Speech and Drama in 1990 and has since had many theatre roles. His recent work includes Charles The Wrestler in As You Like It and Aegon in The Comedy of Errors for the Royal Shakespeare Company and understudy for Othello in the National Theatre’s 2014 production.

Playland opens at Derby Theatre on Friday and Saturday, 13 and 14 February. It then tours to Cambridge, Lincoln, Thoresby Riding Hall in Nottinghamshire, Bonnington Theatre in Nottingham, Oundle in Northamptonshire, Worcester, Malvern, Pattingham near Wolverhampton and the Florence Nightingale Memorial Hall, Derbyshire on Sunday 8 March.

Full details are available at the New Perspectives web site.

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