Dream of the Dog

Details

KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, 2009. Richard and Patricia Wiley, an elderly white couple, have sold their farm to developers. It is the evening before they are due to leave. Unexpectedly, one of their former black workers, 'Look Smart', turns up after a fifteen-year absence. Why did he leave all those years ago? What has brought him back? And why has he come now? Full of repressed violence, Look Smart no longer resembles the eager-to-please farm boy Patricia thinks she remembers so fondly. Now he has an agenda: to confront the events leading to his sudden departure from the farm, but, above all, to force Patricia to confront her true self. It soon becomes clear that he and Patricia have very different memories of the past and an equally subjective view of the present. Dream of the Dog is - in microcosm - a story of South Africa's emerging democracy, challenging notions of truth and reconciliation, justice and revenge, memory and history. An unflinching look at the twin mantras of the post-Mandela age - reconciliation and forgiveness - asking whether they are indeed ever actually possible between black and white... Running time 90mins with no interval

Cast/Performers

Janet Suzman, Ariyon Bakare, Gracy Goldman, Bernard Kay

Creatives/Company

Author: Craig Higginson
Company: Meeting Point Productions Ltd (in association with Neil McPherson for the Finborough Theatre)
Director: Katie McAleese
Design: Alex Marker
Lighting: Michael Nabarro
Sound: Andrew Pontzen
Costume: Pen O'Gara