The Road to Mecca
Inspired by Helen Martins, who lived in Nieu-Bethesda and created the now-famous The Owl House – which is designated a provincial heritage site – The Road to Mecca is the story of a woman’s desire for personal and artistic freedom within the narrow confines of a conservative and highly religious community in the Karoo in early seventies apartheid South Africa.
Athol Fugard wrote this play in 1984, creating the lead role of Miss Helen for the late South African theatre star Yvonne Bryceland.
Legendary theatre critic Frank Rich writing in The New York Times about The Road to Mecca, commented “Road to Mecca examines the core of artistry… Artists are driven to forge their version of the truth even when they have no hope of an audience, even when they must work with the most humble of materials in the middle of nowhere. Artists are dangerous because they won’t deviate from that truth, no matter what pressure to conform is applied by the society around them, reminding us that the artistic conscience is inseparable from the moral conscience.”
Cast
Sandra Prinsloo – Miss Helen
Marius Weyers – Reverend Marius
Emily Child – Elsa Barlow
Creative team
Writer – Athol Fugard
Director – Greg Karvellas
Set Design – Saul Radomsky
Lighting Design – Mannie Manim
Costume Design – Birrie Le Roux
Sound Design, Original Composition – Charl-Johan Lingenfelder
Sound Systems Design – David Classen
Associate Set Design – Chris Pienaar
Wardrobe Supervisor – Widaad Albertus
