Theatre icon Dr John Kani is set to explore unique family dynamics fused with awkward race relations and regrets as he takes on a new show, Fences, to open in Joburg next month.  

Kani has been locked in rehearsal for two weeks with some of SA’s best talent — his son Atandwa and actors and directors Tumisho Masha, Hlomla Dandala, Sbusiso Mamba and Khutjo Green.

Fences, a 1985 show originally written by African-American playwright August Wilson and directed by Ricardo Khan, is set to open at the Joburg Theatre in Braamfontein as part of Black History Month.

As he chats to Time Out about the show with Green, who plays Rose in the story, Kani cannot help singing praises of the actors he has brought together.

“You sit in that room with that over 50 years of experience and as an elder in the business, you sometimes worry about whether there will be a baton hand-over process. I have always known that the country has produced many actors like Seputla Sebogodi, Sello Maake ka Ncube, Vusi Kunene, Sibusiso Mamba, Hlomla Dandala and Tumisho Masha.

“I feel lucky to be in the company of young people who are this talented. After these few days working with them, I said to myself, ‘John pull up your socks, these people want their space. And they are coming in fast.’ It is a wonderful feeling to be in that room with them. It shows that theatre is not only alive in SA but thriving. We only need tools in the form of finance.”

With an all-star ensemble led by Kani, the show is an emotional tale of a family headed by Troy (played by Kani) and his wife Rose (Green). They navigate the hurdles surrounding them together with their son Cory (Atandwa), Troy’s son from a previous relationship Lyons (Dandala), his brother Gabriel (Mamba) and his best friend Jim Bono (Masha).

Fences  explores the evolving African-American experience while examining race relations and other themes which resonate with what SA experienced during apartheid, into democracy and celebrated over the years.

Kani reveals that while touring New York with one of his classic hits Sizwe Banzi is Dead, internationally acclaimed director Tim Wood invited him to work on Fences with him. Wood even suggested to Kani to rope in his son to play the role of Cory.

“I brushed him off then and did movies and theatre shows. A few years later, I felt ready to work on it (Fences). Around the same time, Denzel Washington released the film version of the play in 2016. As a result, I had to shelve it for a while because I wanted the movie hype to die down.

“When the time was right I spoke to Xoliswa Nduneni-Ngema (Joburg Theatres CEO), who agreed to host it. When you do Wilson’s show there is a clause that they have to approve the director. I contacted Wood and he was not available.

“I spoke to Ricardo Khan (director) who agreed and was approved by Wilson’s team. We had to bring him to SA. With the director, we auditioned actors but struggled to find a stronger person who will play Rose.

“After making calls to different casting agencies, we found a woman who can play Rose in Khutjo Green. I arranged a meeting with her and texted Ricardo saying, we have found Rose.”

Green then interjects: “I felt honoured to get the role and to work with Dr Kani. It is the first time working with him. When I met him for a meeting I had prepared an entire monologue in case he auditioned me. He simply said to me, ‘I want to see if you will pass as Atandwa’s mother... he is your son in the play’. The rest was history.”

As the two actors who are playing wife and husband in the show, they take their rehearsing seriously and even add extra hours because their story is thick. Green is an established director and actor. She recently finished shooting Showmax's Justice Served alongside Dandala and Pallance Dladla.

“Since the rehearsals started I have been fascinated by people’s work ethic. I like the way they have been approaching their characters and understanding, especially working in an ensemble environment. With Dr Kani, since we are booked in the same hotel, we continue rehearsing there.”

Kani explains that he agreed to do the show because Wilson is one of those writers who are on par with William Shakespeare in terms of stature, poetry and celebration of language. He says there are certain writers that as an actor you just want to do their work, people like Zakes Mda and Wole Soyinka, to name a few.

“I have done a lot of work in my life and I am now at a point where I am looking at what can challenge me. This show is about the family that got a son who wanted to play football but his father remembered how baseball hurt him when he was younger. He was sidelined and everything was against him. So, he tries to prevent his son from going through the same challenges.”

In explaining the role of Rose, Green says: “We have to take into account the age gap between Rose and Troy. But obviously I can relate easily to Rose’s character. It is about you giving your all and a lot of women do that. August Wilson tries to teach us about making sacrifices in relationships. That is what we are going to discover in the show.

“The character was not difficult to understand. Rose is a woman who wants to build and keep her family together. But everyone around her feels suffocated. She is very protective and nurturing and that is what we are going to see unfolding in the show.”

Green believes that the show appeals to SA because Wilson is dealing with a universal topic.

“Wilson looks at the dynamics of what family is about and how we don’t communicate as a family, and the complexities of how we resolve issues. This encourages a culture of talking and opening up. It is important to engage with ourselves through this piece and see how we relate to others.”

While SA celebrates Black History Month in February, Kani is calling for a month where all African writers can be celebrated in their own continent so that people can learn about their work.

“There should be a month dedicated to African excellence. We need to have all theatres across the continent staging works by African writers. This will promote their work and those who have published their plays will get support,” says Kani.