Timely study of sexual politics, power and abuse in academia
PULITZER Prize winner David Mamet’s powerful and topical play
Oleanna will be performed at the Fugard Theatre next month.
Starring award-winning actor and comedian Alan Committie as John, opposite TV star Nicole Fortuin as Carol, this hard-hitting two-hander will be presented in the Fugard Studio from September 14.
Directed by Greg Karvellas, it focuses on a female college student who engages with her male professor in a heated discussion about his lesson content and teaching style.
The relationship of the somewhat pedantic teacher and his student quickly turns into a fiendishly acute X-ray of the mechanisms of status, censorship, abuse and a charge of sexual harassment.
It examines the explosive and relevant contemporary issues of the assumption of power, intellectual freedom and sexual politics against the background of academic, institutional and structural inequality.
This volatile drama will most certainly ignite discussion and debate. Did a crime take place? Is Carol’s eventual charge the only way of regaining power over John? Is the truth even relevant after such an accusation?
Oleanna will be presented in the Fugard Studio Theatre for a limited season. It will be performed Tuesdays to Saturdays at 8pm with a matinee on Saturdays at 3pm. Sunday performances will be presented from September 30 at 3pm.
Tickets from R150 are available directly through the Fugard Theatre box office on 0214614554 or online at www.thefugard.com. There is a 15% discount for Friends of the Fugard and a 10% discount for pensioners. These discounted tickets can be booked through the Fugard Theatre box office.
Oleanna carries an age restriction of 16 for mature content and violence.