Nothing but the Truth

There are two stage plays and one film by this name with links to South Africa.

A comedy by James Montgomery (1916)

Comedy in three acts (1916) by James Montgomery (1882-1966). A slow moving, subtle piece with a small cast and simple sets. Cautionery tale about insider trading. Based on a novel by Fred Isham, produced by the H. H. Frazee at the Longacre Theatre in 1916. It served as the source for later musicals, including Yes, Yes, Yvette (1927) and Tell Her the Truth (1932).

Performance history in South Africa

Translated into Afrikaans as Wie Loer Kry Niks, performed by Johan Fourie Geselskap in Cape Town and on tour in 1943.

Sources

http://www.answers.com/topic/nothing-but-the-truth#ixzz32dn1XHk5

https://archive.org/details/nothingbuttruthc00mont

Trek 8(11):15, 1943.

Go to ESAT Bibliography

A play by John Kani (2002)

A semi-autobiographical play by John Kani (2002), his first play as sole playwright, led to a film and a novel, became hugely popular and won a number of awards. Published by Wits University Press in 2002.

Subject

Set in post-apartheid South Africa, it tells the story of an elderly man wrestling with society, his family and most of all himself, to leave the past behind, but not to forget it.

See: [Van Heerden (2008)][1]. p 166.

Performance history in South Africa

Premièred at the Grahamstown Festival in June 2002, directed by Janice Honeyman with John Kani, Pamela Nomvete and Dambisa Kente. The same production was staged at the Baxter Theatre in July 2002. It went to the Market Theatre in September 2002 with Kani, Nomvete and Nthati Moshesh in the cast - Moshesh took over from Dambisa Kente when Kente (44) collapsed a day after performing for Nelson Mandela in a dress rehearsal and died shortly thereafter. The same production was staged at the Opera House in Port Elizabeth In December 2002 and returned to the Market Theatre in January 2003. In September 2003 it was staged at the Market Theatre and in November 2003 at the Baxter Theatre with John Kani, Warona Seane and Esmeralda Bihl, again directed by Janice Honeyman. A successful tour of this production of the USA and Australia followed in 2003/4, starting in December 2003 in the Mitzi Newhouse Theatre at the Lincoln Centre in New York.

Winner of inter alia Fleur du Cap Best Actor Award and Fleur du Cap Award for Best New Indigenous Script in 2002 and five Naledi Awards (including Best New SA Play and Best Production) for the period August 2002 to December 2003.

Sources

Van Heerden (2008)[2]: p 166.

Go to ESAT Bibliography

Nothing but the Truth (Film, 2008)

A South African film based on the 2002 stage play by John Kani .

(NOTE: Not be confused with an American film by the same name, but a different topic, was released in the same year, written and directed by Rod Lurie.

See Wikipedia entry on this film)[3]

Production

Produced by Jazz Spirit Production and Odélion Films. The screenplay and direction by John Kani, with John Kani, Rosie Motene, Motshabi Tyelele, Warona Seane and Esmeralda Bihl in the cast. Music by Neil Solomon, Cinematography by Jimmy Rob, Marius Van Graan, editing by Megan Gil, Jackie Le Cordeur. Running time: 81 minutes.

Awards

The film won several African film awards, including:

Écrans Noirs (Yaundé) 2009 - Best Film

Fespaco (Uagadugú) 2009

Festival de Cine de Harare 2009 - Best Film

Milan African Film Festival 2009 - Best African Film; Catholic Peace Prize

Sources

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nothing_but_the_Truth_(2008_South_African_film)

http://www.africanfilm.com/NothingButTheTruth.html

Go to ESAT Bibliography

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