A review by marystevens
Statements by John Kani, Athol Fugard, Winston Ntshona

5.0

Sizwe Banzi Is Dead is playing at McCarter and it is amazing. It is directed by John Kani who was one of the original actors when it premiered in Capetown, South Africa in 1972. The play subsequently won the London Drama Critics Award and 3 Tonys. The play is about Apartheid but also about identitity. The opening and closing scenes take place in Styles' Photography Studio where Robert Zwelinzima, nee Sizwe Banzi, is getting a photograph to send to his wife back in his home town. He tells the story of his change in identity as he writes a letter to his wife on the back of the photograph. The intervening scenes in this one act play re-enact that story. My favorite quote: "We own nothing except ourselves". This world and its laws allows us nothing except ourselves There is nothing we can leave behind when we die except the memory of ourselves."