Above is a pic from the tempest opening, Wednesday evening at the Wits Theatre. It was the last in a 5 year run of First National Bank’s funding for Shakespeare plays, and also Malcolm Purkey’s last (at least for now) production at Wits. As Director, and Head of the Drama Department, Malcolm has been a great asset to the school of arts for many years – well before it was even called that – and he will be sorely missed. The Market Theatre, in the Newtown Cultural Precinct, downtown, is lucky to have him for this next adventure of his life.
And not to be overlooked, is Gerhard Marx’s designing for the play – the first act of his new full-time teaching position in the Drama Department. What an amazingly designed show! As a trained fine artist, I think he exhibits to our students how objects+bodies can transform a theatre work to near brilliance. (Or something to that effect; I stole that line from my wife, but she said it better, and I think you can get the idea.)
He’s also super sweet.
