Damon Galgut was awarded the prestigious Booker Prize for The Promise in 2021. PICTURE: Marthinus Basson
The stage production of Damon Galgut’s Booker Prize-winning novel, The Promise, will have its world premiere from Thursday September 14 to Friday October 6 at The Star Theatre at the Homecoming Centre in District Six.
Featuring a star-studded South African cast and creative team, the production is directed by internationally acclaimed, multiple award-winning director, Sylvaine Strike.
The story is set on a small farm outside Pretoria. The Swart family – “a typical bunch of white South Africans” – tries to hold itself together through the violent lurches of recent history. They have promised to give a small piece of land with a tiny house on it to Salome, the Sotho woman who has worked for them her whole life. A worthless property, but still, they will not give it up.
Are they cursed, or just unlucky? One by one, members of the family die, while everything around them changes and they try to stay the same. Only two siblings will eventually be left, facing each other over a great divide: Anton, the tormented older brother, and Amor, his strange younger sister.
The cast line-up includes Rob van Vuuren as Anton; Kate Normington as Ma and Maman; Frank Opperman as Pa/Rabbi/Moti; Chuma Sopotela as Salome; Cintaine Schutte as Tannie Marina/Desiree; Jenny Stead as Astrid; Albert Pretorius as Dominee Simms/ Ockie/ Dean/ Jake/ Father Batty; Sanda Shandu as Lukas/Bob/Politician and Jane de Wet as Amor.
Tickets cost from R200. Book through Webtickets.