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MY CHILDREN! MY AFRICA!

BY: ATHOL FUGARD

DIRECTED BY: MELANIE DRYER

DRAMATURG: CAITLIN KANE 

CIVIC ENSEMBLE

JULY 2016 & FEBRUARY 2017

In the summer of 2016, I served as the dramaturg for Civic Ensemble's production of My Children! My Africa!, Athol Fugard’s gripping, eloquent drama about teaching and learning within segregated South Africa. Beloved teacher Mr. M prepares Thami Mbikwana, a black boy, and Isabel Dyson, a white girl, to compete together in an academic competition. But right outside the window, the anti-apartheid movement starts to transform their country. These three soon find that their classroom is not immune from the conflict which accompanies overturning the old order. Thami and Isabel’s educations are inexorably intertwined with the nation’s politics. Mr. M attempts to persuade his students that education, not violence, is the answer to South Africa's problems. As the competition draws nearer, it becomes clear that the nation’s future depends entirely on how the younger generation chooses to act. The production was remounted at Kitchen Theatre in February 2017. 

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