Trafalgar Studios 2 will host two powerful dramas this summer as Steven Webb stars in William M Hoffman’s poignant drama As Is at the Trafalgar Studios 2 and Tristan Bates Theatre’s acclaimed production of My Children! My Africa! transfers.
The Tristan Bates hit will see original cast members Anthony Ofoegbu, Nathan Ives-Moiba and Rose Reynolds reprise their roles in the Athol Fugard drama from 4 to 29 August.
Directed by Roger Mortimer and Deborah Edgington, the first London revival of the seminal piece in more than 20 years opened at the Off West End venue in April, collecting a host of rave reviews and four Off West End Award nominations.
Questioning whether words can ever be as affecting as violence, the play tells the story of Thami, a young and brilliant black man struggling against two opposing forces. While his teacher insists that education, even the inferior “Bantu” education he is forced to teach, is the way to liberation, Thami has begun to listen to angrier voices…
Hoffman’s two-hander As Is will follow from 1 July to 1 August, marking 30 years since premiering in New York when it was hailed as a seminal piece for its heartbreaking and unsparing examination of one relationship shattered by the AIDS virus.
Set in 1985, As Is tells the story of Rich, a young writer who ends his relationship with long-time lover Saul only to discover he has contracted the terrifying new disease AIDS. Returning to Saul for sanctuary, the play captures the pathos of Rich’s relationship with friends and family, the cold impersonality of the doctors and nurses who care for him and the widely diverse aspects of New York’s gay community as he awaits the destructive disease’s inevitable progress.
This anniversary production will reunite two of the National Theatre’s The History Boys stars, with Lyric Hammersmith regular Webb (Secret Theatre, Jack And The Beanstalk, Cinderella) joined by David Poynor (The Tempest, Theatre Royal Haymarket), who returns to the role as Saul following the production’s 2013 run at the Finborough Theatre.
The pair of revivals will follow the venue’s current farce Stop!… The Play, which will come to the end of its – deliberately – ramshackle run on 27 June.