A Voice I Cannot Silence

A Voice I Cannot Silence is a play compiled and dramatized by Greg Homann and Ralph Lawson.

The original text

Producer Sue Clarence and Ralph Lawson approached Greg Homann to work on the project in 2013, and it was eventually presented on the main programme at the National Arts Festival in 2015.

The play offers an examination of life as portrayed in Alan Paton's stories, poems, and autobiographies. It explores weighty and often controversial issues including his role within the Liberal Party, his years as Principal of the Diepkloof Reformatory, his belief in and struggle for human rights, and the complexities of his personal relationships.

The original production won three Naledi Theatre Awards in 2015 (Best Lead Performance in a Play - Male; Best Newcomer and Best New SA Script).

Translations and adaptations

Performance history in South Africa

2015: Funded by the National Arts Festival and the South African State Theatre, and produced by The Arts Trust of South Africa, the play opened at the National Arts Festival in July, and then played at the South African State Theatre in October and the Hilton Arts Festival. Directed by Greg Homann with Ralph Lawson as Paton; Clare Mortimer as his secretary Anne Hopkins and Menzi Mkhwane as the young man Sponono. Produced and managed by Sue Clarence, with set design by Nadya Cohen, lighting design by Michael Broderick, a soundscape by Evan Roberts and photography by Anthony Stonier.

National Arts Festival where it was first performed in July 2015 and the South African State Theatre where it performed in October 2015. It was the Independent Newspaper Flagship Production at the Hilton Arts Festival in 2015.

2016: Performed at the Theatre on the Square in Sandton in April, The Loft Theatre at The Playhouse in Durban in May and The Fugard Studio Theatre in June by the original cast.