In THE ROAD TO MECCA, set in the remote village of New Bethesda, Miss Helen, a senior South African widow, has been working on an overgrown sculpture garden, which is a dream trip to “Mecca.”  $$PLAIN_TEXT_PREVIEW$$

Celebrating the birth & legacy of

ATHOL FUGARD’S

THE ROAD TO MECCA

Celebrating his words through our voice
with a monologue performed by
Actors Co-op Theatre Company member, Anna Telfer
 Watch Anna Telfer perform THE ROAD TO MECCA 

More on THE ROAD TO MECCA

Athol Fugard is an award-winning South African director, actor, and writer of more than thirty plays.  His plays have garnered the Tony Award, Obie Award, New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award, Drama Desk Award among others.  He is best known for creating works confronting the racial segregation of apartheid, and today continues to pen insightful plays addressing modern inequality.

The Road to Mecca (1984) is set in 1974 in the remote village of New Bethesda, in the Karoo desert region.  Miss Helen, a senior South African widow, has been working on an overgrown sculpture garden, which is a dream trip to “Mecca.”  A local pastor urges Miss Helen to move to a senior home.  However, a young friend (Elsa) arrives, a fiercely opinionated Cape Town English teacher whose own fulfillment has been cramped by professional, cultural and romantic disillusionment.  Elsa has long admired the older Afrikaner woman as a resilient free spirit and encourages Miss Helen in her art and life.

As described by The New York Times, “The play considers the nature and possibilities of freedom. Even prisoners, it seems, can live in liberty, even — or perhaps especially — in the sort of solitary confinement in which Miss Helen, a gentle pariah, has existed for 15 years.”

The play premiered on Broadway in 2012 in a production featuring Rosemary Harris as Miss Helen, Jim Dale as Pastor Marius and Carla Gugino as Elsa.

Today, we continue to celebrate Athol Fugard’s birthday with a monologue from THE ROAD TO MECCA performed by Actors Co-op Theatre Company member, Anna Telfer.
 Watch Anna Telfer perform THE ROAD TO MECCA 
 Read More about Athol Fugard 
 Watch other ORIGINS Performances 

“With its central focus on the inevitable and necessary apartness of those who create art, “Mecca” might seem an atypical work for Mr. Fugard, who is best known for the fierce and overt political engagement of his plays, mostly set in his native South Africa in the days of apartheid. But “Mecca” throbs with a despairing awareness of the South Africa of the 1970s as a broken and corrupting nation, a spiritual prison for those who inhabit it.”

— The New York Times

Learn more about ATHOL FUGARD:

Read More
“Master Harold”. . . and the Boys

Read More

Athol Fugard: His Plays, People and Politics

Soon - A joyful, healing, and safe return to the theater!

An announcement on dates of our return will be coming soon!

 Read More 

Give a gift!

As we look to the future with hope,
we are so grateful to our community!
Your generosity helps us keep the lights on
while our stages are dark.
 Give a Gift! 
twitter facebook instagram

Actors Co-op Theatre Company, 1760 N. Gower Street, Los Angeles CA 90028 , USA

Unsubscribe