The Bird-Watchers at The Fugard

World premier run of Athol Fugard's new play at the theatre that bears his name in Cape Town. Part autobiography, part meta-theatre, and not much bird-watching (thankfully). Excellent performances by the cast of three. Dorothy Ann Gould's Clytemnestra extract was great. The reviews I've read have been luke warm about the play, but I rather enjoyed in it. Two acts and thirty years between them. I wonder if Sean Taylor's Garth is to Fugard as Prospero to Shakespeare? But that might be fanciful. Worth the money. Do go.

Broken Glass at The Fugard

Anthony Sher as Philip Gellburg in this late Arthur Miller play, first performed in 1994 in New York and 1995 at the National Theatre in London, and staged in London again with Sher at the end of last year. Not a play I knew. Interesting plot with some small resonances for South Africa. Sher was masterly in switching Philip's short temper and intensity on and off. Excellent supporting cast for this anatomy of a man and a marriage. Good device of a cello player drawing the eye away from the stage between scenes, so the resetting of the stage was unobtrusive. Well designed efficient set with simple colour palette and minimal furniture. The Fugard is an interesting building: part church, part warehouse, so worth going for it alone. Luckily they throw in a great play.