The iconic, multi-award-winning South African play Saturday Night at the Palace will once again grace the Gauteng stage, more than 40 years after its explosive debut during apartheid in 1982.
Opening at the Joburg Theatre on 28 July until 20 August, Saturday Night at the Palace is bound to have just as poignant an impact as it did when it rose to acclaim in the 1980s, and was described as “shattering” and “political theatre at its best”.
Written by the award-winning playwright and actor Paul Slabolepszy in 1981, the play launched Slabolepszy’s theatrical career and quickly earned him a reputation as one of the most skilled theatrical writers and performers in the country.
Saturday Night at the Palace tackles the ugly impact of institutionalised racism during the height of apartheid. It weaves the delicate, harsh realities of its three main characters together and draws audiences deeply into a voyeuristic experience of their lives.
Its impact saw the play win phenomenal local and international prestige with sold-out shows across the country in 1983, after which it travelled to Ireland and the Gothenburg Festival in Sweden before a six-week season at London’s Old Vic Theatre.
Saturday Night at the Palace won multiple DALRO, Vita, and Fleur du Cap Awards between 1982 and 1984, and now Gauteng audiences can experience this exceptional work 40 years later.
Inspired by a headline in The Star newspaper in 1981 that read “Bizarre Attack on Roadhouse”, the play unravels the stories of two working-class white men (Vince and Forsie) who arrive at an isolated roadhouse (the Palace) at closing time.
The black waiter (September) who works there is about to go on leave to visit his family whom he has not seen in over two years as they live in an apartheid-enforced homeland.
The play seduces its audience with delightful comic banter before swiftly immersing them in the shocking reality of the unfolding events. An unhinged Vince has just been dropped by his soccer team and his housemate Forsie has been given the daunting task of informing him that he has also been evicted from his commune. A volatile situation unfolds at the roadhouse, where the combination of deep insecurity and entrenched racism sees September bear the tragic brunt of Vince’s unravelling life.
Joburg Theatre Artistic Director James Ngcobo says: “While apartheid no longer exists as a political system, the existence of entrenched racism — not only in our society but globally — still inflicts ugly wounds that need to be healed and deep scars that need to be exposed. Saturday Night at the Palace is not only a powerful human story, but it is also one that still sadly remains relevant today. Much has changed but unfortunately, much has stayed the same. I hope that by bringing this iconic play back to the stage, we inspire the need for insight, change and meaningful conversation that moves us forward. When theatre can manifest this type of engagement, we see and experience the true glory of our art and it is also a celebration of Paul Slab’s voice, a voice that has inspired and mentored the next generation of storytellers throughout the years”
Originally starring Fats Dibeko, Bill Flynn, and Paul Slabolepszy and brought to acclaim under the direction of Bobby Heaney in the 1980s, this 2023 staging has been expertly directed for its 2023 audiences by acclaimed director Albert Maritz and stars Charlie Bouguenon (Vince); Samson Khumalo (September) and Francois Jacobs (Forsie).
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