Cartoonist pays tribute to playwright pal
PROTEST playwright Kessie Govender’s first play, Stablexpense, will grace the stage again for the first time in the 11 years since his death — with a little help from an old friend.
Cartoonist Nanda Soobben has created nine digital portraits of provocatively dressed women to be used in the play to honour his friend.
The images will be projected on screens during a scene set in a shebeen.
Soobben’s friendship with Govender dates back to the 1970s.
“Back in the day, it was a small world. We all knew each other and we were all struggling artists. We spoke about the simple things like how to make a living,” said Soobben.
He said he and Govender always meant to collaborate on a project but never got around to it.
When Govender’s widow, Jayashree, and Caroline Smart, both codirectors, approached him to create the artwork for the play, he embraced the opportunity.
Soobben said he enjoyed the use of irony in the 1974 play’s tale of two simple Indian rubbish collectors and their white boss.
Jayashree said she hoped the staging of the work would teach and entertain a new generation of theatregoers. “Kessie always believed that theatre was about education and also entertainment,” she said.
The play will be staged from Thursday until November 30.