London Road

London Road is a play by South African writer Nicholas Spagnoletti.

The original text

After an act of violence in a block of flats in London Road, Seapoint, Cape Town, two women - a Jewish widow and a Nigerian immigrant - find themselves stranded together like the flotsam and jetsam washed up on the beach front. Brought together by circumstances, they find that many themes unite them – absent men, scattered families, broken relationships, a dark sense of humour and survival.

The text was published by Junkets Publisher in 2012 and won the Olive Schreiner Prize for Drama in 2012.

Performances

2006: Produced as a rehearsed play-reading at the Intimate Theatre, Cape Town. The script was runner up for Best Play and won the Audience Choice award at the NLDTF/PANSA Festival of Reading of New writing.

2008: A play-reading at the Sanlam Studio Theatre, Baxter Theatre in Cape Town, directed by Lara Bye, with Molly Seftel as Rosa and Faniswa Yisa as Stella.

2010: The first professional production, a collaboration by the author with the director and cast, by KBT Productions, was directed by Lara Bye at the Kalk Bay Theatre, with Robyn Scott and Ntomboxolo Makhutshi. Set, props and costume design by Craig Leo, lighting design by Faheem Bardien and original sound by Braam Du Toit. The production next played at the Fugard Theatre and then at the Grahamstown Festival (winning the Golden Ovation Award).

2011: The same production was staged at the Theatre on the Square, Johannesburg, and once more at the Grahamstown Festival.

2012: Played at the the Grahamstown Festival.

2013: Played at the the Grahamstown Festival and then at the Edinburgh Festival, where Robyn Scott won the Best Actress award.