Dead Yellow Sands

Dead Yellow Sands is a one person play written by Graham Weir (1959-2020).

The original text

Completed as a series of sketches at the end of 2014, the one-person play has an actor tell the stories he has lived. According to Weir: "With this work, I really wanted to examine the essence of theatre. I wanted one of the characters to be lit so that he was like a floating head, another character (a blind man) to be lit so that the audience experienced the blindness he talked about, and so on."[1]

Translations and adaptations

Performance history in South Africa

2015: Performed by Weir, with direction by Bo Petersen and lighting design by Darron Araujo (from a lighting concept by Guy de Lancey), the play premiered in 2015 at the Alexander Bar Theatre, Cape Town, followed by a short successful season at the 969 festivals in Johannesburg and another run at the Alexander Bar Theatre.

2016: Played at the Hilton Festival, Kwazulu Natal, then opened at the Grahamstown National Arts Festival in July, thereafter going on to the Baxter Golden Arrow Studio stage for a limited season from 31 October to 26 November.

The play won the year's Fleur du Cap Awards for Best Performance in a One-Person Show (Weir) and Best Lighting Design (De Lancey).