AMONG the many theatrical delights heading to this year’s Hilton Arts Festival, at Hilton College from September 17 to 19, is A Voice I Cannot Silence, a play based on the life and work of Alan Paton. I spoke to director, Greg Homann about the show.

A Voice I Cannot Silence premiered at the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown to critical acclaim. It was inspired, says Homann, by Durban-based actor-director Ralph Lawson’s keen interest in Paton’s work, especially his poetry.

“It was a play that stemmed from an idea that Ralph had which was to create a work that honoured the contribution Paton has made to South African society and literature,” he added.

To bring the play to life, Homann did a lot of reading, especially of Paton’s biography Journey to the Mountain and A Journey Continued, and of Anne Paton’s biography, Some Sort of a Job.

“I also read through many of his personal letters, but it is was really the extensive research that Ralph brought to the project that has found its way into the final script,” he added. “I also made one trip to the Alan Paton Centre in Pietermaritzburg, which was an exciting chance to see the actual objects and letters that surrounded his life.”

Asked if seeing Paton’s office at the Centre on the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s campus had influenced the play and its preparations, Homann said: “An object that has become very important in the staging of the play is Paton’s anglepoise desk lamp which is a close replica of what he used in his actual office.

“His office has been accurately replicated at the Alan Paton Centre. I was also struck by how humble and basic all the items in his office were. This has informed the design choices we made to create a theatrical setting for the play.”

A Voice I Cannot Silence weaves three time frames together. The earliest is set around 1945 when Paton was working as the principal of Diepkloof Reformatory.
“Here we have used a fictional character called Sponono as a representation of the kinds of boys Paton was trying to reform, but also as a device to explore his conscience,” says Homann.

“The second is a period where Paton employs a secretary, Anne Hopkins, soon after the death of his wife, Dorrie, in 1967. This allows us to explore his politics and his private life.

“The third time frame serves as a way in to the story, where Anne is packing up his study, approximately ten years after his death, so around 1997. In fact, the whole play is accessed through the memories Anne has of her time with Paton.”

Lawson plays Paton in the show and did a lot of character work before the cast, which includes Durban actors, Clare Mortimer and Menzi Mkhwane, began rehearsing.

“This was one of the benefits of him having done so much research as a co-writer of the play,” Homann said. “He brought some very strong choices to the role in terms of making vocal and physical choices. He also understood the emotional journey of the character because this had evolved through the writing process.”

Asked if creating the work gave those involved a deeper understanding of Paton, his passions and his work, Homann said: “Absolutely, without exception we have all been enriched by trying to understand Paton’s politics, work, and his very clear personal manifesto on liberalism.

“Paton’s politics might be specific to a very difficult time in our country’s history, but much of what he stood for and against is inspiration for how we deal with our current challenges as a nation.”

Homann believes A Voice I Cannot Silence will enthrall both those who remember Paton well and those who don’t.  “I think it is also a play for a young generation who may be unaware of what the challenges of apartheid brought and of the kinds of people who helped, even in a small way, shape the democracy we live in today,” he added.

After the Hilton Arts Festival, the play will tour to The State Theatre in Pretoria for a four week season with performances planned for the Theatre on the Square in Johannesburg, The Baxter Theatre in Cape Town and The Playhouse in Durban next year, subject to dates being confirmed.

NEED TO KNOW
A Voice I cannot Silence, written by Greg Homann and Ralph Lawson, combines Paton’s internationally recognised gifts for lyric verse, evocative prose, and vibrant storytelling to create a richly dramatic portrait of the author of Cry, The Beloved Country during the dark decades leading up to South Africa’s constitutional democracy.

The play is directed by Greg Homann with set design by Nadya Cohen and lighting by Michael Broderick.

The play is being staged in the Grindrod Bank Theatre on the Hilton College campus on September 19 at 2.45 pm and on September 20 at 4 pm.

Tickets are R195. No under 16s. To book go to http://www.hiltonfestival.co.za

DID YOU KNOW?
• Greg Homann is the 2014 Standard Bank Young Artists for Theatre.
• His plays include Oedipus @ Koö-Nú!, Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks, starring Judy Ditchfield, a five-man version of Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance to Hilton — all of which have been staged at the Hilton Arts Festival.
• He also directed Mike van Graan’s Brothers in Blood and Ariel Dorfman’s play Delirium.