Verwoerd’s Assassin comes to life in October
IN A one-man play, audiences will be invited into the mind of the man who killed apartheid's mastermind, Hendrik Verwoerd.
Wits Theatre, at the University of the Witswatersrand in Braamfontein, will be presenting the play Verwoerd’s Assassin, during their So Solo festival from 15 to 19 October.
Midrand resident, Renos Nicos Spanoudes has been tasked with portraying the controversial character. The play is an account of Dimitri Tsafendas’ life in his prison cell after he assassinated then-South African prime minister, Verwoerd. It traces his life growing up in Mozambique, his stint with the Communist Party, his travels all over the world and his subsequent fascination with languages.
Spanoudes was a six-year-old pupil when Tsafendas assassinated Verwoerd and he bore some of the subsequent brunt. He remembers the day as one of chaos, and because of a backlash towards Greeks, his late parents had to close their corner café for two days.
“It was a strange occurrence, considering that we only ever closed one day a year, and that was Christmas Day,” he said.
As a Greek, he was seen at school as being part of the culture that murdered people. He recalls classmates saying the Greeks must go back home because they had killed the lamb of the nation.
Nonetheless, Spanoudes feels it is important to tell the story of Tsafendas, even if it is provocative, as it is part of South African history. The play has been met with scepticism from some people, he said. He claims they are afraid that Tsafendas will be seen as being instrumental in bringing down the apartheid regime.
But on a lighter note, Spanoudes laughed, “It is uncanny, but I closely resemble Tsafendas. In some photographs the resemblance is frightening. However, I do not have a knife… or the intention to assassinate.”
Details: www.webtickets.co.za
