The play starred Graham Hopkins and Vanessa Cooke, who embarked on a dark comedy about a man who visits his aunt, in what he thinks are her last dying days.
Hopkins plays Kemp, a self-proclaimed neurotic and a self-centred, shallow person who finds himself, through his own errors and inattentiveness, in a life-and-death situation – with profound and far-reaching consequences.
Cooke plays Grace, the aging aunt who Kemp has travelled cross-country to be with on her death bed.
Kemp’s bedside manner, however, leaves a lot to be desired.
The play is directed by Fleur du Cap Lifetime Achievement Award winner, Christopher Weare, and the costumes and set were designed by Julia Anastasopolous. This work, by Morris Panych, has been translated into 19 languages. It has also been performed in theatres to sold-out audiences in London’s West End, Tokyo, Paris and New York.
Responding to the question of why Panych thought Vigil has had such a long and international life, he commented, “The play addresses key issues many people face on a daily basis… People everywhere deal with issues around the extended family, and taking care of the elderly. There isn’t a single person sitting in this theatre who won’t fundamentally understand the situation.”
Details: 011 883 8606; www.theatreonthesquare.co.za
