The Road to Mecca
by Athol Fugard
Directed by Kerry DiMaggio
Artistic Direction by Michael Siebrass
Show Times
September 11 – September 12, 2015
Friday @ 7pm
Saturday @ 2pm and 7pm
About
It is 1974 and Miss Helen, a widow, lives alone in New Bethesda, a rural Afrikaner town in a semi-desert agricultural region of Apartheid South Africa. During the time since her husband’s death, Helen has transformed her home into a work of art, creating her own “Mecca” of beauty and freedom amid a community of conformist, church-going Afrikaners. Facing mounting pressure to abandon her independent life for a church retirement home, Miss Helen calls upon her only confidant, Elsa Barlow, a fiery young teacher from Cape Town. Elsa arrives at Miss Helen’s doorstep on the same evening the local pastor, Marius Byleveld, arrives to coax out Miss Helen’s decision. As Miss Helen struggles to affirm her life and art, the three enter a mighty showdown that pits conformity against free expression, faith in community against faith in oneself.
This unusual drama by premiere contemporary dramatist Athol Fugard is a penetrating study of the role of the artist in any society. The Road to Mecca was produced in London and New York to great critical acclaim, and was the winner of the 2008 Best Foreign Play.
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Sponsors
Gina Kirk & Jim Solomon
Ubu’s Other Shoe Season Sponsors
Presented by special arrangement with Samuel French.
Our staged reading series is named after the infamous trilogy of plays written by Alfred Jarry that were banned from the stage after riots erupted on opening night. Ubu's Other Shoe pays homage to the spirit of Jarry and to all artists who strive to explore the fringes of their art. This exciting series exists to offer actors, directors and audience members an opportunity to experience incredible plays that do not necessarily fit into our regular main stage season. Thank you for taking this journey with us.
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