A Historic Confluence of Shakespearean Mega Actor Ed Gero and Pre-Eminent South African Actor and Playwright John Kani Star in this Epic Drama at the Shakespeare Theatre Company
WASHINGTON, DC-Set during South Africa’s post-apartheid regime, two men find themselves in an untenable relationship in the U.S. premiere of Kunene and the King. Jack Morris (Ed Gero), one of the world’s leading white Shakesperean actors, is living in his home in Killarney, South Africa. Recently diagnosed with Stage 4 liver cancer, he is rehearsing his lines for an upcoming performance of King Lear. Black African Lunga Kunene (John Kani) has been assigned as his nurse during the final days of Jack’s life. What begins as two men at sword’s length results in a begrudging respect cemented over their mutual admiration for the works of Shakespeare.
This extraordinary two-hander gifts us with two of the greatest stage actors in the known world. Ed Gero universally admired for decades of his portrayals of Shakesperean leads and John Kani, one of the greatest and most respected actors, activists and playwrights to emerge from the shadows of apartheid.
It is 2019 when they meet at Jack’s home and immediately launch into verbal gymnastics. Jack, a divorcé with a distant son, is not accustomed to having a Black man in his home as anything other than a servant. “You’re not what I was expecting,” he snips. Kunene has been sent by a local agency to be Jack’s oncology nurse. Their first set-to is over the word “maid” with Kunene deftly insisting the correct word is “helper”. He wins that argument as well as Jack’s insistence he sleep in the servant’s quarters. “I stay in the house, or I go!” he retorts. Eventually, Jack capitulates. It will soon be apparent that he caves to Kunene repeatedly. I might add Jack is an insufferable racist and arrogant twit to boot. They joust about nearly everything especially Jack’s intransigence and refusal to quit drinking – his bottles and flasks are hidden everywhere.
Quarrels arise over African culture vis à vis British culture with Kunene scoring points despite Jack’s vehement protestations. The horrors of Robben Island, Mandela’s election and DeClerk’s ending of apartheid put things in their proper perspective as the two men start to bond over their respective admiration for Shakespeare’s plays. Kani weaves this dichotomy into the play with the knowledge that Mandela studied Shakespeare during his stay on Robben Island. “In the old South Africa it wasn’t politics, it was life or death,” Kunene states. During all these tête-a-têtes, Jack’s physical suffering is palpable and Kunene does his best to attend to his duties, as lowly as they are, never wavering in his professional commitment to the job at hand.
Woven between scenes Isithunywa (Ntebo), a beautiful African dancer and chanter, appears, breaking the fourth wall with the haunting echoes of lives lost and the human toll of nearly a half century under the apartheid system.
Written by Tony Award-winner, John Kani, who in 2023 was awarded an honorary OBE from the British government after this play made its debut at the Royal Shakespeare Company, it is directed by Ruben Santiago-Hudson, a well-established, Broadway multi-Tony Award winner and multiple theatre award nominee, as well as an accomplished actor in his own right. If I had to list his entire bio plus the bios of Kani and Gero, it would take pages – and it does in the playbill. Ditto for that of the two leads’ understudies and Ntebo too. The glue that brings Santiago-Hudson, Gero and Kani together is their work on and mutual respect for Shakespeare and the pre-eminent anti-apartheid playwright, Athol Fugard.
The confluence of these relationships in this extraordinary production, make this political drama an unforgettable moment in theatre history. Miss it and you’ll wonder why those that bore witness will be talking about it for years to come.
Scenic Design by Lawrence E. Moten III, Costume Design by Karen Perry, Lighting Design by Rui Rita, Sound Design by DJ Potts, Dialect and Vocal Coach Deborah Hecht, Fight Consultant Sierra Young, Dramaturgy by Drew Lichtenberg, Music Consultant Ntebo, Additional Music by Romero Wyatt.
Highly recommended!
Through March 23rd at the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Klein Theatre, 450 7th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20004. For tickets and information call the box office at 202 547-1122 or visit www.ShakespeareTheatre.org.
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