Set in his prison cell, the play traces his life growing up in Mozambique, his stint with the Communist Party, his many travels all over the world and his subsequent fascination with languages. Apart from shedding light on his motivation for killing Verwoerd, the play explores questions of identity, racial classification so beloved of the Nationalists and the questions of belonging.

As a counter point to the brutality of a prison guard whose abuses punctuates Tsafendas’ narrative, is the love story of Dimitri and the coloured girl, Helen Daniels. Racial classification and its traumatic effects on his life were some of the stepping stones to the ultimate act of walking into the Houses of Parliament and stabbing Verwoerd to death. A haunting musical soundscape, including prayers of forgiveness by Tibetan Monks from Dharamsala, complete the theatrical experience.

It is written by Anton Robert Krueger, based on the direction of José Domingos and Lynne Maree and performed by Renos Nicos Spanoudes.

Renos Nicos Spanoudes teaches Dramatic Arts, English and Mathematics and is an award-winning actor, writer, director, theatre practitioner, radio announcer, TV presenter and voice-over artist.

Lynne Maree has worn many different hats: actress, director, producer and one of the projects she initiated at Wits in the late 90s was The Kultcha Klub (where Verwoerd's Assassin began its life as Tsafendas), a theatre ‘incubator’ which provided a nurturing platform for new South African plays.

José Domingos is best known to South African audiences for his roles as Vleis in Isidingo and Joao in Izoso Connexion. Domingos recently returned to the theatre after a few years of mainly film work.

Verwoerd’s Assassin fits the bill in terms of one of the So Solo Festival’s goals and in the word of Wits Theatre director, Gita Pather, “It is meant to feed into a discourse about our lives, become reflective of the various realities of being South African within a rapidly changing socio-economic and political landscape especially as we reflect on 20 years of democracy.”

Production: Verwoerd’s Assassin
Venue: Wits Amphitheatre
Dates: Wednesday, 15 to Sunday, 19 October

There is an age restriction of PG13. It will be performed on Wednesday, 15 October at 20:30; on Thursday, 16 October at 13:15; on Friday, 17 October at 16:30; and on Saturday, 19 October at 17:00. The running time is 75 minutes.

To book tickets, visit www.webtickets.co.za.