The world première of Alexander Matthews’ My One True Friend is today announced with full cast. Antony Law directs Theo Bamber (Gordon), Mensah Bediako (Kapenie), Suzanna Hamilton (Lady L), Lucy Lowe (Oonagh), and Joseph Rowe (George). The production opens on 27 August at Tristan Bates Theatre, with previews from 21 August, and runs until 14 September.
Two families, two different lives in 1970 Rhodesia.
Preparations are in hand for the irascible Lady L’s birthday party but her children are there not for family loyalty or celebration but to claim what they feel is rightly theirs. On another part of the estate Kapenie and his grandson argue about loyalty. Kapenie is loyal to a family but not his own and the generational divide is splitting even wider.
Set against a backdrop of prejudice and inequality, My One True Friend has a profound and life-altering friendship at its heart.
Alexander Matthews today said, “Unfortunately racism is still with us. It refuses to go away. I believe that humanity will not survive without tolerance – and racial tolerance is part of that necessity. Through writing this play I hope to enliven the conversation surrounding the prejudices that we see and, in some cases, tolerate in our own lives. I’m also very pleased to, once again, bring my work to the Tristan Bates Theatre this summer.”
