''The Dead Wait'' is a play by Paul Herzberg which tells the tale of a young

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

n athlete,

conscripted Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day und ...

as a soldier in the

Angolan Civil War The Angolan Civil War ( pt, Guerra Civil Angolana) was a civil war in Angola, beginning in 1975 and continuing, with interludes, until 2002. The war immediately began after Angola became independent from Portugal in November 1975. The war was ...

, who tries to own up to a crime on arriving back home. Partly autobiographical, it draws on Herzberg's similar experiences prior to his leaving South Africa. It was aired for a spell on

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering ...

. Although the play stems from and has its roots in the context of the

Truth and Reconciliation Commission A truth commission, also known as a truth and reconciliation commission or truth and justice commission, is an official body tasked with discovering and revealing past wrongdoing by a government (or, depending on the circumstances, non-state act ...

, it does not, unlike its coevals ''

Ubu and the Truth Commission ''Ubu and the Truth Commission'' is a South African play by Jane Taylor. It was first produced on 26 May 1997, directed by William Kentridge at The Laboratory in Johannesburg's Market Theatre. Produced by the Handspring Puppet Company, and empl ...

'' and '' The Story I Am About To Tell'' (with which it was shown at The Laboratory in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Dem ...

's Market Theatre), embrace it directly. It is also, unlike the other two, built along traditional theatrical lines. Audiences were generally and genuinely touched by the play. "A friend was deeply moved by the ''Dead Wait''," recalled

William Kentridge William Kentridge (born 28 April 1955) is a South African artist best known for his prints, drawings, and animated films, especially noted for a sequence of hand-drawn animated films he produced during the 1990s. The latter are constructed by ...

, "the play about the war in

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

. He had served as a soldier in that war." The play was staged during Autumn of 2002 under the direction of Jacob Murray, at the Royal Exchange Theatre. The Dead Wait was nominated for Best New Play and production by the Manchester Evening News awards, and in 2002 it won Best Supporting Actor.

Notes

References

* Kentridge, William. "Director's Note." In ''

'', by Jane Taylor, viii-xv.

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

: University of Cape Town Press, 2007.

External links

"The Dead Wait: This post-Apartheid drama, rooted in South Africa's involvement in the Angolan civil war, is a smart and compelling piece of theatre"
review in ''

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are popular names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaide, South Australia, publ ...

'' South African plays 2002 plays Plays set in South Africa Plays set in the 1970s Plays set in the 1980s Plays set in the 1990s Plays set in the 21st century Autobiographical plays {{1990s-play-stub