Girls in the Sunday Dresses at Artword Theatre

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Girls in Sunday Dresses

The AfriCan Theatre Ensemble presents

And the Girls
in their
Sunday Dresses

Written by: Zakes Mda
Directed by: Rhoma Spencer
Produced by: Modupe Olaogun and The AfriCan Theatre Ensemble
Starring Kim Roberts and Kathy Imrie

Preview: Wed, October 3, 2001 at 8 p.m.
Opens: Thurs, October 4 and runs to Sun. Oct 21.
Show Times: Wed to Sat 8 p.m., Sun Mat. 4 p.m.

Gala Performance with Zakes Mda: Fri, Oct 12 (reception from 7 p.m. with African theme refreshments)

Ticket prices: $22 adults; $15 seniors/students. Preview, Oct 3: $10. Gala, Oct 12 with Zakes Mda: $35

Box Office: Advance tickets available through the St. Lawrence Centre Box Office, 416-366-7723
In person (day of performance) at Artword Theatre, from 6 p.m. Tues-Sat and from 2 p.m. on Sun

PLEASE NOTE: Author Zakes Mda lectures at the Winters Senior Common Room, Winters College, York University, Mon, Oct 15 at 7 p.m. Free admission. Reception follows. Info: 416-736-2100, ext. 33032

For more information on The African Theatre Ensemble, visit their website

Award winning playwright Zakes Mda visits Toronto for Canadian premiere

From October 3 to 21 the AfriCan Theatre Ensemble presents And the Girls in Their Sunday Dresses by South African author, artist and educator Zakes Mda. With keen humour and a sense of the absurd, the 1988 play, which premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, both foresees the end of apartheid and warns of other dangers that face the new South Africa.
Winner of the 2001 Commonwealth Literature Prize, Zakes Mda is a beacon of contemporary South African drama. He shot to national fame with the play We Shall Sing for the Fatherland and continues to highlight the plight of common folk in his drama. During his visit to Toronto for the Canadian premiere of his play, Mda will deliver a public lecture at York University (details below).
In And the Girls in Their Sunday Dresses, two women wait in line for their subsidized allotments of rice. Over the course of four days the retiring prostitute ("Lady", played by Kim Roberts) and the working class "Woman" (Kathy Imrie) review their triumphs and disappointments, struggle and survival, as they bond over the use of a single chair. Though they come from two distinct classes, they recognize that they have one thing in common: their men have deserted them.
Trinidadian born director/performer Rhoma Spencer holds a Master's degree from York University, where she directed Blood Wedding (2001). Her previous directorial credits include Shango: Tales of the Orishas at the University of the West Indies Creative Arts Centre in St Augustine and Joanne Kilgour Dowdy's Between Me and the Lord (Atlanta & Trinidad). She recently appeared at Artword Theatre in Jean and Dinah, a show she helped create with Tony Hall in Trinidad in 1994. Robert Cushman (The National Post) called her performance "spectacular, intimately intense, audaciously exuberant". Spencer will be assisted by writer and film director Debe Morris. Visual artist and architect Shungu Sabeta provides set, costume and graphic design for the production.
The AfriCan Theatre Ensemble is dedicated to bringing African theatre to Canadian stages. Founded in 1997 by York University literature professor Modupe Olaogun and Dora Award-winning playwright and performer George Seremba, the company has already produced two plays by contemporary Nigerian playwright Ola Rotimi: The Gods Are Not To Blame (1999) and Our Husband Has Gone Mad Again (2000). The AfriCan Theatre Ensemble gratefully acknowledges the support of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Toronto Arts Council, and the generous sponsorship of South African Airways.

			The AfriCan Theatre Ensemble presents And the Girls in their Sunday Dresses
	Written by: Zakes Mda Directed by: Rhoma Spencer Produced by: Modupe Olaogun and The AfriCan Theatre Ensemble Starring Kim Roberts and Kathy Imrie
	Preview: Wed, October 3, 2001 at 8 p.m. Opens: Thurs, October 4 and runs to Sun. Oct 21. Show Times: Wed to Sat 8 p.m., Sun Mat. 4 p.m. Gala Performance with Zakes Mda: Fri, Oct 12 (reception from 7 p.m. with African theme refreshments) Ticket prices: $22 adults; $15 seniors/students. Preview, Oct 3: $10. Gala, Oct 12 with Zakes Mda: $35 Box Office: Advance tickets available through the St. Lawrence Centre Box Office, 416-366-7723 In person (day of performance) at Artword Theatre, from 6 p.m. Tues-Sat and from 2 p.m. on Sun PLEASE NOTE: Author Zakes Mda lectures at the Winters Senior Common Room, Winters College, York University, Mon, Oct 15 at 7 p.m. Free admission. Reception follows. Info: 416-736-2100, ext. 33032 For more information on The African Theatre Ensemble, visit their website

	Award winning playwright Zakes Mda visits Toronto for Canadian premiere From October 3 to 21 the AfriCan Theatre Ensemble presents *And the Girls in Their Sunday Dresses* by South African author, artist and educator Zakes Mda. With keen humour and a sense of the absurd, the 1988 play, which premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, both foresees the end of apartheid and warns of other dangers that face the new South Africa. Winner of the 2001 Commonwealth Literature Prize, Zakes Mda is a beacon of contemporary South African drama. He shot to national fame with the play We Shall Sing for the Fatherland and continues to highlight the plight of common folk in his drama. During his visit to Toronto for the Canadian premiere of his play, Mda will deliver a public lecture at York University (details below). In And the Girls in Their Sunday Dresses, two women wait in line for their subsidized allotments of rice. Over the course of four days the retiring prostitute ("Lady", played by Kim Roberts) and the working class "Woman" (Kathy Imrie) review their triumphs and disappointments, struggle and survival, as they bond over the use of a single chair. Though they come from two distinct classes, they recognize that they have one thing in common: their men have deserted them. Trinidadian born director/performer Rhoma Spencer holds a Master's degree from York University, where she directed Blood Wedding (2001). Her previous directorial credits include Shango: Tales of the Orishas at the University of the West Indies Creative Arts Centre in St Augustine and Joanne Kilgour Dowdy's Between Me and the Lord (Atlanta & Trinidad). She recently appeared at Artword Theatre in Jean and Dinah, a show she helped create with Tony Hall in Trinidad in 1994. Robert Cushman (The National Post) called her performance "spectacular, intimately intense, audaciously exuberant". Spencer will be assisted by writer and film director Debe Morris. Visual artist and architect Shungu Sabeta provides set, costume and graphic design for the production. The AfriCan Theatre Ensemble is dedicated to bringing African theatre to Canadian stages. Founded in 1997 by York University literature professor Modupe Olaogun and Dora Award-winning playwright and performer George Seremba, the company has already produced two plays by contemporary Nigerian playwright Ola Rotimi: The Gods Are Not To Blame (1999) and Our Husband Has Gone Mad Again (2000). The AfriCan Theatre Ensemble gratefully acknowledges the support of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Toronto Arts Council, and the generous sponsorship of South African Airways.