Award-winning DEAD YELLOW SANDS for the Baxter Theatre

Following its critical acclaim and sold out performances on the main programme of the Grahamstown National Arts Festival earlier this year, Graham Weir's double Fleur du Cap Theatre Award-winning DEAD YELLOW SANDS comes to the Baxter Golden Arrow Studio stage for a limited season.

Winner of the Fleur du Cap Theatre Award for Best Performance In A Revue, Cabaret Or One-Person Show and Best Lighting Design awards, the autobiographical one-hander is written and performed by Weir, with direction by Bo Petersen and lighting design by Darron Araujo from a lighting concept by Guy de Lancey.

This is not the first time that Petersen and Weir are working together. They have teamed up before in Weir's self-penned works TALES FROM A DARK CORNER, LETTERS FROM PATIENT ESSOP and when Petersen directed Weir's legendary acapella group Not The Midnight Mass.

DEAD YELLOW SANDS is a return to minimalism: an actor lit with sophisticatedly simple lighting telling the stories he has lived. The production's success is a testament to the haunting original South African script and the consummate skills of the veteran production team. Weir says:

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.

The sketches for the play were written over the last few months of 2014. "Weir continues:

When I completed them I wasn't sure if they were even pieces that would work on the stage or not. I thought that they might be something one would sit and read. I contacted Bo Petersen and after reading them, her response was positive and encouraging. She was excited about the theatrical potential of the work.

Weir is a world-class performer with extensive experience in the industry, having appeared on stage, in films and on television. Most recently he appeared in the American television drama, OF KINGS AND PROPHETS. He also plays a lead in the 13-part television series, HOTEL, which is currently on kykNET, and he appears in BBC television's JAMILLAH AND ALADDIN. Other theatre and film credits include BURNT OUT, BLACK SAILS, SPUD, THE BLUE IRIS, WAITING FOR GODOT and LOST IN THE STARS.

Weir has a number of accolades under his belt including two Fleur du Cap Theatre Awards, having also received the Fleur du Cap Theatre Award for Best Performance In A Revue, Cabaret Or One-Person Show for NOT THE MIDNIGHT MASS. In 1994, he walked away with two Vita Regional Awards for Best Original Script and Best Production for BRIEF DESCRIPTIONS 2, which also garnered him two Vita National Awards for Production of the Year of a new South African Play and South African Playwright of the Year.

DEAD YELLOW SANDS previews on 31 October 20:15, opens on 1 November and runs until 26 November, with matinees on Saturdays at 16:00. There is an age restriction of 12 years, and parental guidance is advised. Tickets cost R110 and bookings can be made online through Computicket, by phone on 0861 915 8000, or in person at any Shoprite/Checkers outlet. For discounted corporate, schools or block-bookings, charities or fundraisers, contact Sharon Ward on 021 680 3962 or Carmen Kearns on 021 680 3993.

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