Meet The Architect Of Apartheid And The Man Who Killed Him
It takes two to tango. Prime Minister and assassin. Corpse and culprit. Man and tapeworm. On 6 September 1966 in the
South African House of Assembly, Demetrios Tsafendas, a parliamentary messenger, walked up to Prime Minister Hendrik
Verwoerd, the Architect of Apartheid, and stabbed him to death with a kitchen knife. Was Tsafendas a heroic political
assassin or merely a mad man, driven insane by the tapeworm that lived in his belly?
The Bacchanals are proud present the New Zealand premiere of Antony Sher’s play I.D. a historical fable, a tragi-comic
portrait of the mad, bad old South Africa and of two individuals, the Prime Minister and his killer, both searching for
the same thing – identity.
Critically acclaimed, The Bacchanals are dedicated to exploring text-based theatre, redefining the classics and
presenting the very best new and international works. The Bacchanals firmly believe that there is no room left in the
world for plays with nothing to say. Theatre should not be stagnant and boring. Amongst their many successes are the
world premiere of Paul Rothwell’s Hate Crimes (“quite simply, brilliant” – The Package); a national tour of A Midsummer
Night’s Dream (“ honestly one of the funniest productions I’ve ever seen” – Capital Times) and the NZ premiere of Sarah
Kane’s Crave (“my god, it’s beautiful” – The Package).
Director David Lawrence leads a fantastic cast featuring Malcolm Murray as Tsafendas, Benjamin Fransham as Verwoerd and
Alex Grieg as a giant tapeworm with James Stewart, Erin Banks, Miria George, Tony Hopkins, Hadleigh Walker and Salesi
Le’ota.
I.D. is a reminder that in the current world political climate, history has a habit of repeating itself …
“A rich, intense, powerful play that scrutinises the former South African apartheid system and reveals the perverse
moral madness it represented” - London Theatre Guide
“Moving and uncomfortably comic” – Mail and Guardian
“A compelling portrait both of a complex character and a crazed nation” - The Guardian
Assassination. A word you can taste hey? As-sas-si-nation. A tasty word for a tasty deed. Ass-as-sin-ation. Hear the ass
in there and also the sin. Ass-a-sin-nation. Who is the ass, who does the sin and what about the nation?
The Bacchanals present:
I.D. by Antony Sher
Inspired by the book A Mouthful of Glass by Henk van Woerden
Directed by David Lawrence
Tuesday 4 – Saturday 15 October, 7pm
BATS Theatre
04 802 4175 / book@bats.co.nz