Fighting the sickness with a positive outlook
After being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, Themi Venturas remained positive. After decades of contribution to theatre, theatre will now contribute to his medical costs, writes Sarah James
WHEN Durban actor Themi Venturas was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, he was absolutely devastated.
“I thought I was a goner,” said Venturas.
His wife, Patricia McIntosh, head of the Patricia McIntosh School of Ballet, and his two sons, Matthew and Alexander, who now live and work in Cape Town, were equally shocked about the diagnosis, but they are pulling together.
Pancreatic cancer is not rare, but it is extremely difficult to beat. Venturas took in this diagnosis with the fighting spirit he took to other challenging tasks.
“I am a fighter,” he said, adding that he had decided to attempt to remain positive.
“I am not in denial,” he said, but admitted there were days, when he felt very sick, that were difficult for him.
With his fighting spirit, he is able to reflect on his accomplishments with a comforting sense of having reached his goals.
“I wouldn’t say that I’m at the end of my career, but I’ve achieved what I set out to achieve.”
Having single-handedly opened the Catalina Theatre in Wilson’s Wharf on Durban’s waterfront in 2001 and been involved in numerous productions all over South Africa, Venturas has been at the sharp end of Durban’s theatre community for many decades.
He was among a group of influential theatre personalities who saw and understood the power of using art in the fight against apartheid.
In the early 1980s, Venturas was highly influenced by a production of Athol Fugard’s Master Harold and the Boys at the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown. It was this play, alongside Woza Albert by Barney Simon, Percy Mtwa and Mbongeni Ngema, which sparked his interest in using theatre as a method of protest against the apartheid government. The protest play was re-presented to new audiences at the Soweto Theatre this year.
Venturas, like Simon and Fugard, wanted to have multicultural audiences and casts to speak out against apartheid injustices through theatre. “I wanted blacks and whites to be able to take part in theatre together.”
He earned his Master’s Degree in Intercultural Theatre Performance at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.
Venturas has decided to undergo chemotherapy and is one of only five people in Durban to be trying a new chemotherapy treatment.
To try to meet his high medical expenses, he and Aaron McIlroy came up with the idea of hosting An Evening
of Chemody, staring Aaron McIlroy, John Vlismas and Jem Atkins.
The proceeds will go towards his medical costs.
“I knew about the show. It was initially meant to be a comedy variety show. But I didn’t know about the GoGetFunding page they set up.”
He is overwhelmed and amazed by the support he has been given, by his theatre fellows and also by Durban’s community.
“I am immensely moved and grateful for the support I have been given. It makes me feel a bit teary, to be honest,” says Venturas.
The show will take place on Monday, June 26. Tickets, at R225 each, are available via Computicket, which has agreed to waive all commissions as its donation to Venturas’s long contribution to the theatre.
You can also follow the GoGetFunding link to donate money to this cause: https:// gogetfunding.com/medicalcosts-for-themi-venturas/