Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Robben Island ‘bible’ returns
WHEN former political prisoner Sonny Venkatrathnam takes the ferry to Robben Island next Saturday, he will carry with him the so-called Robben Island bible, a copy of the Complete Works of William Shakespeare sent to him by his wife in the 1970s during his imprisonment there.
Venkatrathnam, 82, and his daughter Zinaida Pillay are travelling to the island to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death.
He had asked his wife to send him the book during a brief interlude when prisoners were allowed non- religious books. It was later taken away by authorities, but Venkatrathnam managed to get it back by convincing a guard it was the “The Bible by William Shakespeare”. Once it was back in his possession, to better disguise it from the prying eyes of warders, he covered it with Diwali greeting cards featuring Hindu deities, which still adorn it today.
Venkatrathnam, who was in prison between 1972 and 1978, secretly shared the book with fellow prisoners in the singlecell section, asking them to mark their favourite passages. According to playwright Matthew Hahn, who studied the book’s history while writing his play The Robben Island Shakespeare, 33 prisoners signed it, including Mac Maharaj, Walter Sisulu, Nelson Mandela, Govan Mbeki and Ahmed Kathrada
The passage marked by Mandela, dated December 16, 1977, is from the second act of Julius Caesar. It starts: “Cowards die many times before their deaths / the valiant never taste of death but once.”
On his release in 1978, Venkatrathnam took the book with him and it has been his prized possession ever since.
He told Weekend Argus while he has returned to the former prison island, this would be the first time the book had crossed the water separating the prison from the mainland. “The Robben Island bible is kept at home with me, on my bookshelf,” said Venkatrathnam, who lives in Durban.
“I often read through it when there are no cricket matches for me to watch on TV. The book is in relatively good condition. All the pages and the spine are still intact.”
Kseniya Filinova- Bruton, managing director of Educape and creative director of The Shakespeare Schools Festival South Africa, organised the trip. She said there was no better way to celebrate the life and works of the 17th century bard and the “heroes and stories of Robben Island” than to bring the book back to the island.
“Shakespeare is one of the few artists who is truly globally unifying in scope,” she said.
Local theatre director Mandla Mbothwe will on Saturday present a performance on the island, which will include the recitation of some of the freedom fighters’ chosen passages from the book, as well as scenes from Hahn’s The Robben Island Shakespeare.
Joining a cast of established actors will be pupils from Vista Nova and Westville Boys’ High Schools. After returning from the island, Westville pupils will at 4pm put on a free perform- ance of Shakespeare’s work at the V& A Waterfront’s amphitheatre.
Fifteen schools participating in The Shakespeare Schools Festival will put on 30-minute versions of Shakespeare’s plays at the Baxter Theatre from Monday to Thursday, starting at 7pm.
jan.cronje@inl.co.za