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<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=80 BGCOLOR="#330066" TEXT="#F7F7FF" bgproperties="fixed" background="222467f1dkblkv.gif"> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" michele celeste/"><U><B>home</B></U></A><B>/  </B><A HREF="id36.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="HANGING THE PRESIDENT"><U><B>HANGING THE PRESIDENT</B></U></A><B>- </B></div> <div> <A HREF="id59.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="hanging LONDON"><U>hanging LONDON</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id58.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="hanging EDINBURGH"><U>hanging EDINBURGH</U></A>   |   hanging NEW YORK   |   <A HREF="id48.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="hanging ITALY"><U>hanging ITALY</U></A> |   </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=25% BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="102" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#BF0000" BORDERCOLORDARK="#BF0000" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 58 ><NOBR><div> <B>New York</B></div> <div> <B>REVIEWS</B></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></B></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id60_m.htm#daily_news" TARGET="TRLX_Middle" TITLE="hanging NEW YORK"><U><B>DAILY NEWS</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id60_m.htm#theatre_week" TARGET="TRLX_Middle" TITLE="hanging NEW YORK"><U><B>THEATRE WEEK</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <B>back to </B></div> <div> <B>main page</B></div> <div> <B> </B><A HREF="id36.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="HANGING THE PRESIDENT"><U><B>HANGING </B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id36.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="HANGING THE PRESIDENT"><U><B>THE</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id36.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="HANGING THE PRESIDENT"><U><B> </B></U></A><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#330066" FACE="Rockwell" ><A HREF="id36.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="HANGING THE PRESIDENT"><U><B>PRESIDENT</B></U></A></FONT></div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=400 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <bR> <bR> <div> <B> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="402" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#BF0000" BORDERCOLORDARK="#BF0000" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 393 ><NOBR><div> <B>USA Premiere</B></div> <div> <B>New York, 1990 </B></div> <div> <B>Soho Theatre Company</B></div> <div> <B>Alma Shapiro Center </B></div> <div> <B>for Theatre and Music</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>STOFFEL.......................Peter Crombie</B></div> <div> <B>NAK.........................Peter Drew Marshall</B></div> <div> <B>CHIEF WARDER.............Dan Moran</B></div> <div> <B>ZWANINI.........................Themba Ntinga</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Director............................Julian Webber</B></div> <div> <B>Set...................................Stephen Olson</B></div> <div> <B>Costumes..........................Patricia Samataro</B></div> <div> <B>Lighting.............................Donald Holder </B></div> <div> <B>Sound................................Eric Uljestrand</B></div> <div> <B>Stage combat.....................Jim Manley</B></div> <div> <B>Dialect consultant...............Nora Dunfee</B></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></B></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="459" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#BF0000" BORDERCOLORDARK="#BF0000" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#FFFFFF > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 77 WIDTH="447"><div> <B>"... HANGING THE PRESIDENT can be every bit as inspired and rousing as the blood-scorched 'V'  Zwanini writes on the wall..." </B></div> <div> <B>David Kaufman, DOWNTOWN, New York.</B></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></B></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="445" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#330066" BORDERCOLORDARK="#330066" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#FFFFFF > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 77 WIDTH="433"><div> <B>"... a compelling drama about the delusions that arise from attempts to defend the exercise of unrestrained power." </B></div> <div> <B>(DAILY NEWS, New York) </B></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></B></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="462" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#330066" BORDERCOLORDARK="#330066" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#FFFFFF > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 77 WIDTH="450"><div> <B>"This searing 90 minutes drama... thanks to the powerful work of the four actors involved and the ability of the playwright." </B></div> <div> <B>(THEATRE WEEK, New York)</B></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></B></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="497" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#BF0000" BORDERCOLORDARK="#BF0000" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 1063 WIDTH="485"><div> <B><IMG SRC="3b9a7610.jpg" border=0 width="423" height="353" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B> <A NAME="daily_news"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></B><B>DAILY NEWS</B></div> <div> <B>NEW YORK'S PICTURE NEWSPAPER® </B></div> <div> <B>Thursday, July 12, 1990</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>By DON NELSEN Daily News Staff Writer</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>HANGING THE PRESIDENT. </B></div> <div> <B>Drama by Michele Celeste. </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>"HANGING THE PRESIDENT" is a compelling drama about the delusions that arise from attempts to defend the exercise of unrestrained power. Written by an Italian living in England, Michele Celeste, it is set in a South African jail cell where two white Afrikaaners await execution for murdering black men. The men are to be an example - a show, if you will - to the world that the South African government is indeed color blind when it comes to meting out equal justice. Late in the 90-minute drama, a black man whose only crime is membership in the African National Congress is introduced. Appropriately, he is played by Themba Ntinga, himself an ANC delegate to the UN.</B></div> <div> <B>"President" is strong medicine. It depicts life in its most primeval struggle: the desperation to survive and rule. All the accoutrements of what we call civlization are subjected to those two goals. Raw, brutal force reigns. The play portrays masturbation, male rape, oral sex, defecation. It also portrays pride, fierce determination and hope, the last refuge of the doomed.</B></div> <div> <B>Peter Crombie is Stoffel, the dominant figure in the cell. His portrait of a self-justifying, deluded sadist is completely persuasive, just edging out Peter Drew Marshall's as the subservient cell-mate. Dan Moran makes a fine warder. Because Ntinga's role is largely silent, it's difficult to assess his acting skills. "President" paints Ntinga's character rather overheroically, so his presence as a counterweight to the brutish condemned men seems a trifle contrived. Otherwise, this Julian Webber-directed drama is impressive, indeed.</B></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></B></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B><IMG SRC="3baec3e0.jpg" border=0 width="236" height="318" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>FREEDOM FIGHTER: Themba Ntinga as Zwanini </B></div> <div> <B>(New York Post)</B></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="498" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#BF0000" BORDERCOLORDARK="#BF0000" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 820 WIDTH="486"><div> <B> <A NAME="theatre_week"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></B><B>THEATRE WEEK</B><B>, 29 august, 1990</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Hanging The President</B></div> <div> <B> </B></div> <div> <B>One of the many telling notes in the jail cell drama Hanging The President is that an Afrikaaner jailmate, Stoffel, (Peter Crombie) is outraged at the introduction of a third prisoner, Zwanini (Themba Ntinga), into the 10' x 20' cell he shares with Nak (Peter Drew Marshall). Why? Because Zwanini is a Kaffir Stoffel rages, "The Constitution says I musn't share a cell with a Kaffir, alive or dead." Since within 24 hours, he must hang on a rope next to this Kaffir, Stoffel is furious. How can his country violate his humanity so. It,seems that Nelson Mandela is up against more than problems in sharing white hospitals, toilets, parks, and busses.</B></div> <div> <B>A white man's outrage at having to "share" death with a black man brings back memories of civil rights struggles here in the sixties. The names Medgar Evers, Andrew Goodman, and Addie Mae Collins spring to mind-an odd and perhaps unintended connection to Hanging The President, an impressive South African Death Row saga written by an Italian, Michele Celeste, and presented by Soho Rep at the Alma Schapiro Theater on 115th St.</B></div> <div> <B>This searing 90-minute drama takes place in the pre-de Klerk day when P.W Botha was State President. Stephan Olson's tightly enclosed set makes it clear right away that we are not in for a pleasant evening of theater-we are in a jail. The remarkably accurate performances of the `married' jail pair Peter Crombie and Peter Drew Marshall are devastating. Their graphic rendition of the men's fixations on eating, shitting, smoking, and fucking are completely in keeping with the tenor of the play. The fact that Stoffel gives the Warden a blow job at end of Act II, while Nak pleads with Zwanini for mercy is effectively presented and oddly "unsensational." It is simply a reality of the life onstage:</B></div> <div> <B>A small matinee crowd remained highly attentive throughout this depiction of what lies beneath the South African news items, largely thanks to the powerful work of the four actors involved and the ability of the playwright. Ironically Themba Ntinga, who mostly keeps silent as the Kaffir; is in fact, the African National Congress Representative to the United Nations: Art and Life do connect.  Joan Ungaro</B></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></B></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="239" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#BF0000" BORDERCOLORDARK="#BF0000" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 130 ><NOBR><div> <B><IMG SRC="3ef58820.jpg" border=0 width="88" height="130" ALIGN="LEFT" HSPACE="30" VSPACE="0">in</B></div> <div> <A HREF="id58.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="hanging EDINBURGH"><U><B>EDINBURGH</B></U></A><B>     </B></div> <div> <A HREF="id59.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="hanging LONDON"><U><B>LONDON</B></U></A><B>      </B></div> <div> <A HREF="id48.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="hanging ITALY"><U><B>ITALY</B></U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></B></div> <div> <B>===</B></div> </td> </tr></table></body>