Perhaps one of South Africa’s most memorable stories and a longstanding set workbook for English high school learners, Dalene Matthee’s Fiela se Kind, is being retold with a fresh twist on stage at Carnival City.
The heartwarming story, adapted for the stage by Suzanne van Wijk and directed by Frans Swart, plays out at the Mardi Gras Theatre until February 18.
In this refreshed production of Fiela se Kind, Swart pays homage to Matthee, one of South Africa’s most talented authors.
Swart has produced the production twice (in 1997 and 2007), and he and Matthee became great friends before she died.
“It is once again time for us to experience the wonderful story of Fiela se Kind on stage,” Swart said.
“From the outset, my team and I said that we did not want to copy any of the former productions and so this production is fresh and new.
“I am very excited about what happened during the creative processes.
“Theatregoers will definitely experience a wonderful new production and, after 30 years, there is, of course, a whole new generation that has never seen Fiela se Kind on stage.”
Young Benjamin is played by Eloff Snyman from Cape Town and Nina is played by Jaime du Toit from Vereeniging.
They are two extremely talented young actors who Swart said will do justice to the very important roles of the young Nina and Benjamin.
Zenobia Kloppers does the honours as Fiela in the run of the production at Carnival City.
Then there are two wonderful young actors, Marissa Claasen and Phillru van Achterbergh, who will play the roles of the older Nina and Lukas, respectively.
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Fiela se Kind tells the story of the coloured woman, Fiela Komoetie, who raised her white foundling, Benjamin, with love and pride, until the day, nine years later, when the census takers take him away.
On the other side of the mountain, in the Forest, lived the woodcutter Elias van Rooyen and his wife Barta who had lost their three-year-old son, Lukas.
Could Benjamin and Lukas be the same child?
Years later, Benjamin/Lukas struggles with the question: “Who am I?”
He had to find out; otherwise, the woman he loved could never be his.
He knew that there was an answer, somewhere within himself, hidden deep within the past.
“Whether you have read the book or watched the play before, this production of Fiela se Kind is a must see,” said Michelle Smith, marketing manager for Carnival City.
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