✕ ✕
Turning tips into memories
Login
Signup

You have reached the limit of free articles.


To enjoy unlimited access to Culture Whisper sign up for FREE.
Find out more about Culture Whisper

Please fix the following input errors:

  • dummy

Each week, we send newsletters and communication featuring articles, our latest tickets invitations, and exclusive offers.

Occasional information about discounts, special offers and promotions.


OR
LOG IN

OR
  • LOG IN WITH FACEBOOK

Thanks for signing up to Culture Whisper.
Please check your inbox for a confirmation email and click the link to verify your account.



EXPLORE CULTURE WHISPER
✕ ✕
Turning tips into memories
Login
Signup

Please fix the following input errors:

  • dummy
Forgot your username or password?
Don't have an account? Sign Up

OR
  • LOG IN WITH FACEBOOK

If you click «Log in with Facebook» and are not a Culture Whisper user, you agree to our Terms & Conditions and to our Privacy Policy, which includes our Cookie Use

Support Us Login
  • Home
  • Going Out
    • Things to do
    • Food & Drink
    • Theatre
    • Visual Arts
    • Cinema
    • Kids
    • Festival
    • Gigs
    • Dance
    • Classical Music
    • Opera
    • Immersive
    • Talks
  • Staying In
    • TV
    • Books
    • Cook
    • Podcast
    • Design
    • Netflix
  • Life & Style
    • Beauty
    • Fashion
    • Gifting
    • Wellbeing
    • Lifestyle
    • Shopping
    • Jewellery
  • Explore
  • Shopping
  • CW SHOPS
  • Support Us
  • Get Started
  • Tickets
  • CW SHOPS
Get the Best of London Life, Culture and Style
By entering my email I agree to the CultureWhisper Privacy Policy (we won`t share data & you can unsubscribe anytime).
Theatre

Kunene and the King, Ambassadors Theatre review ★★★★★

24 Jan 20 – 28 Mar 20, 7:00 PM – 8:36 PM

Kunene and the King transfers to Ambassadors Theatre after a five-star premiere in Stratford-upon-Avon

By Lucy Brooks on 13/1/2020

16 CW readers are interested
Kunene and the King starring John Kani (left) and Sir Antony Sher (right) by Ellie Kurttz
Kunene and the King starring John Kani (left) and Sir Antony Sher (right) by Ellie Kurttz
Kunene and the King, Ambassadors Theatre review 4 Kunene and the King, Ambassadors Theatre review Katie Meynell
Click here to book tickets for Kunene and the King at Ambassadors Theatre


To limit the spread of Covid-19, all UK theatres have been closed until further notice. Those due to attend an event will be contacted by the ticket provider.



John Kani's Kunene and the King marks 25 years since apartheid ended in 1994. The show opened to five-star reviews in at the RSC in Stratford-upon-Avon, then transferred to Cape Town's Fugard Theatre and now impresses on the West End.


The play does a lot with a little: two characters tackle the enormous complexity of South African racial segregation, reflecting on the changes of the last quarter-century. This political clout is offset by tenderness, as the 90 minute drama gives an immensely human portrait of pride, power, pain and kindness.


Writer John Kani (Black Panther, The Island, Sizwe Banzi is Dead), stars as Lunga Kunene, a live-in nurse caring for a terminally ill patient who is too stubborn to stay in hospital. Prolific stage actor and seasoned Shakespearan actor Antony Sher is perfectly cast as Jack Morris, a famous thespian who’s trying to ignore the agony of liver cancer by preparing to play King Lear.


Director Janice Honeyman infuses the production with atmosphere by punctuating scenes with music and song. And Birrie Le Roux’s intimate but detailed stage design builds an apartment on the outskirts of Johannesburg, where the two men negotiate medication, line-learning and their very different life experiences.



John Kani as Lunga Kunene (left) and Antony Sher as Jack Morris (right). Photo: Ellie Kurttz


The cultural rifts between Lunga and Jack are immediately obvious as racial discrimination, suspicion and arch references to ‘Your People’ shape the discourse. But an unlikely bond comes from a shared enthusiasm for Shakespeare. There’s a remarkable scene where Lunga recites the Xhosa language translation of Julius Caesar, followed by Jack performing the same lines in English.


Shakespeare offers insight into both the political and the personal cores of the play, from the political skew of the literature curriculum during the apartheid to the study of privelege and suffering that plays out as the men go through King Lear.


Kani’s writing is thoughtful but still forceful, as gentle comedy and compassionate comradeship are offset with bitter flashes of prejudice and desperation. Combined with powerful performances from two actors at the top of their game, the story makes for a striking and memorable piece of theatre.



Click here to book tickets for Kunene and the King at Ambassadors Theatre


What Kunene and the King, Ambassadors Theatre review
Where Ambassadors Theatre, West Street, London, WC2H 9ND | MAP
Nearest tube Leicester Square (underground)
When 24 Jan 20 – 28 Mar 20, 7:00 PM – 8:36 PM
Price £5 - £80
Website Click here for more information and tickets



Free for Members
Kunene and the King starring John Kani (left) and Sir Antony Sher (right) by Ellie Kurttz
Booking closed
24 Jan 20 - 28 Jan 20

Kunene and the King

See all tickets

Most popular

Things to do in London this weekend: 27–29 January
Things to do in London this weekend: 27–29 January
Helena Bonham Carter in Nolly, ITVX (Photo: ITV)
What to watch on TV this week
London Theatre Guide: best plays on now in London (Photograph: Peter Lewicki)
London Theatre Guide: best plays on now in London, 2023

Editor's Picks

Best winter jumpers, Marks & Spencer
Best winter jumpers 2019
 Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art Installation view Barbican Art Gallery 4 October 2019 – 19 January 2020 ©Tristan Fewings / Getty Images
Into the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art, Barbican Centre review
Margate NOW arts festival
Margate NOW arts festival
The Farewell: Awkwafina stars in family tear-jerker
The Farewell review
The Gladwin brothers launch a fourth restaurant, Sussex, in Soho
Sussex restaurant, Soho
Silo restaurant, Hackney Wick
Silo restaurant, Hackney Wick
Sign up to CW’s newsletter
By entering my email I agree to the CultureWhisper Privacy Policy (we won`t share data & you can unsubscribe anytime).

We recommend nearby

  • Coco Ichibanya

    The first European branch of Japan's biggest curry house chain dishes out Japanese curries with adventurous toppings and plenty of options to customise your meal.

    Read more...
    Book Map
  • The Barbary

    The team behind Soho's Palomar bring exquisite modern Jerusalem feasting and ample atmosphere to Covent Garden . Voted as Time Out's top London restaurant in September 2017, The Barbary is inspired by the food and flavours that span the Atlantic Coast.

    Read more...
    Book Map
  • The Alchemist, Covent Garden

    Renowned for its molecular mixology, placing theatre and immersive experiences at its core, The Alchemist opens its second London branch in Covent Garden

    Read more...
    Map
16

Theatre

London theatre

West End

Kunene and the King

Ambassadors Theatre

Cancelled

You might like

  • Claire Skinner and Toby Stephens in A Day in the Death of Joe Egg

    A Day in the Death of Joe Egg, Trafalgar Studios review ★★★★★

  • The Seven Streams of the River Ota, National Theatre

    The Seven Streams of the River Ota, National Theatre

  • Hammed Animashaun and Lucian Msamati in Master Harold...and the boys. Photo by Helen Murray

    Master Harold and the boys, National Theatre review ★★★★★

  • As You Like It at the RSC. Photo by Topher McGrillis

    RSC Barbican Season 2019

  • Jodie Prenger as Helen, by Marc Brenner

    A Taste of Honey, Trafalgar Studios review ★★★★★

  • Glass: Rebekah Murrell. Photo by Johan Persson

    Glass. Kill. Bluebeard. Imp, Royal Court Theatre review ★★★★★



  • The Culture Whisper team
  • Support Us
  • Tickets
  • Contact us
  • Press
  • FAQ
  • Privacy
  • Terms and conditions
  • Cookies
  • Discover
  • Venues
  • Restaurants
  • Stations
  • Boroughs
Sign up to CW’s newsletter
By entering my email I agree to the CultureWhisper Privacy Policy (we won`t share data & you can unsubscribe anytime).
×