The Provok'd Wife November 27 - December 26 *at Zero Arrow Theatre all other performances at Loeb Drama Center season subject to change SOUTH AFRICAN FESTIVAL • The Syringa Tree December 30 - January 16 • Foreign Aids* January 5-26 • Nothing But the Truth January 21-30 the far side of the moon February 4-27 Dido, Queen of Carthage March 5-26 Olly's Prison* April 1-24 Desire Under the Elms May 14 - June 12 Amerika June 18 - July 10 Frogz* June 21 - July 31 The Syringa Tree returning July 15 - August 7

Ten years after the fall of apartheid, South Africa has reached a pivotal moment. After a period of almost unprecedented reconciliation, the country is now facing major challenges, as it forges a new society and discovers its artistic voice. We are celebrating the vigor and diversity of South African-inspired theatre with a festival centered around three theatrical productions - a gripping drama written and performed by the nation's most celebrated actor, a deeply personal memory play of a childhood under apartheid, and a dazzling cabaret by a provocative and hilarious popular icon. The Festival also includes a program of films at the Harvard Film Archive and free lectures, panels & readings. THE SYRINGA TREE written and performed by Pamela Gien - directed by Larry Moss December 30, 2004 - January 16, 2005 and July 15 - August 7, 2005 a deeply personal memory play of a childhood under apartheid "Instantly engaging ... a thoroughly persuasive transport to an exotic place and time" - New York Times The Syringa Tree is a deeply personal story of an abiding love between two families - one white, one black -and the two children that are born into their shared South African household in the early 1960s. Spanning four generations, the story is told first by six-year-old Elizabeth Grace, as she tries to make sense of the chaos, magic, and darkness of Africa. In a performance that the New York Times proclaimed "a real tour de force," Playwright and former A.R.T. Company member Pamela Gien inhabits twenty-eight characters. By transforming from black to white, from old to young, from Xhosa to Afrikaans to Zulu to Jewish, she reveals the complexities of her characters' dreams, struggles, losses, and laughter. Winner: OBIE Award for Best Play, Drama Desk Award, Drama League Award, Outer Critics' Circle Award Loeb Drama Center FOREIGN AIDS by Pieter-Dirk Uys in association with The Market Theater of Cambridge January 5-26, 2005 "There is no better weapon against arrogant politicians than humour." - London Theatre Guide "The higher politicians climb the pole of ambition the more of their asses we can see." - Pieter-Dirk Uys A fabulously funny performer/satirist, Pieter-Dirk Uys's many incarnations include Nelson Mandela, P.W. Botha, and his most outrageous creation - the glamorous Evita Bezuidenhout, "the most famous white woman in South Africa." His new performance piece, Foreign Aids, shatters the deadly official silence that still hangs over the South African AIDS crisis and will take on American politics on the eve of the upcoming inauguration. Recently profiled in the New Yorker, Uys creates a chorus line of monsters, masters and madams, using humor to puncture state hypocrisy and speak truth to power. Zero Arrow Theatre NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH written by and featuring John Kani - directed by Janice Honeyman January 21-30, 2005 a story about the little people who paid for their freedom in a country haunted by lost dreams "A deeply felt portrait that delicately weaves the extraordinary and the ordinary in its characters' lives." - New York Times Nothing But The Truth is a gripping investigation into the complex dynamic between those blacks who remained in South Africa and risked their lives to lead the struggle against apartheid and those who returned victoriously after living in exile. In New Brighton, South Africa, 63-year-old librarian Sipho Makhaya prepares for the return of the ashes of his brother Themba, recently deceased while in exile in London after gaining a reputation as a hero of the anti-apartheid movement. John Kani, the author and lead actor of Nothing But The Truth, is also the winner of a Tony Award for Best Actor. Loeb Drama Center

the far side of the moon written and directed by Robert Lepage - music by Laurie Anderson February 4-27, 2005 "This is Lepage at his very best." - The Guardian (London) "Staged with such beauty that the result - sensual, emotional and intellectual - is breathtaking!" - the Australian The far side of the moon is a fantastical voyage into space - outer space, and the space within ourselves. Canadian director Robert Lepage's glorious investigation of the limits of human perception uses dazzling technical wizardry to tell two stories - the public history of the space race, and the private story of two brothers coming to terms with a personal loss. The far side of the moon has captivated audiences across the world, and we are proud to be presenting it to New England audiences for the first time. Loeb Drama Center

DIDO, QUEEN OF CARTHAGE by Christopher Marlowe - directed by Neil Bartlett March 5-26, 2005 a world whose only rule is beauty, whose only law is desire "Make me immortal with a kiss!" - Dido Dido, Queen of Carthage is a work of astonishing invention, and perhaps the first masterpiece of the English stage. Marlowe's play tells of the tragic infatuation of Queen Dido for Aeneas, heroic survivor of the Trojan War and future founder of Rome. As the heartless gods of Mount Olympus look on unmoved, Cupid wreaks havoc in the hearts and minds of his all-too-human victims. Marlowe wrote Dido, Queen of Carthage in 1585, at the beginning of his meteoric rise through the underworld of Elizabethan London. Writing with all the fierce recklessness of a twenty-one year old, Marlowe proposes a theatre whose only rule is beauty, a world whose only law is desire. Directed by the Artistic Director of the Lyric Hammersmith in London, Neil Bartlett, and designed by his close collaborator Rae Smith, Dido, Queen of Carthage will feature live baroque music. Loeb Drama Center

OLLY'S PRISON by Edward Bond - directed by Robert Woodruff American Premiere - April 1-24, 2005 an unspeakable act - and a quest for freedom "We're all in it 'til we understand." - Olly "Edward Bond is a great playwright - many would say the greatest living English playwright."  - the Independent In an ordinary London flat, a desperate man is driven to commit an unspeakable act. Can he ever be free from the retribution of society, or will the legacy of the deed haunt him for all his life? Bond's magnificent play, originally written for television, is a scorching investigation of the forces of repression, and the quest for freedom, which bind our lives. Edward Bond is one of Britain's most lauded and controversial playwrights. His modern tragedies are landmarks in contemporary political drama. His writing is stark and bold, but shot through with gleams of redemption and hope, which transform his gritty urban landscapes into theatrical poetry. Artistic Director Robert Woodruff's recent productions at the A.R.T. have included Oedipus, The Sound of a Voice, and Highway Ulysses, which demonstrated his ability to bring heart and humanity to some of the provocative questions of our existence. Olly's Prison contains scenes of violence and is not suitable for children. Zero Arrow Theatre

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