A cast of seven performers entirely new to the Royal Court Theatre will perform I See You in the theatre’s Upstairs space when acclaimed actor Noma Dumezweni makes her directorial debut next month.
The cast of seven Sloane Square newcomers – Jorden Baker, Desmond Dube, Bayo Gbadamosi, Austin Hardiman, Sibusiso Mamba, Amaka Okafor and Lunga Radebe – will tell the story, set in post-Apartheid South Africa, by writer Mongiwekhaya.
Based on a real encounter, I See You is the tale of South Africa’s younger generation encountering their country’s traumatised past. When a party is interrupted by the police, student Ben is accused of a crime he didn’t commit. Officer Buthelezi, a former freedom fighter, can’t let it go.
I See You is the debut Royal Court play by writer, director and performer Mongiwekhaya, and was developed during the Royal Court’s new writing project in South Africa.
While I See You marks Dumezweni’s first directorial project for the stage, she is already an acclaimed and Olivier Award-winning performer. Most recently she stepped into the breach at short notice when Kim Cattrall withdrew from the Royal Court production of Linda just days before press night, while later this year she will play Hermione in the much-anticipated Harry Potter And The Cursed Child Parts I & II.