(Photo: Provided)
Miandra Hayward, a young South African and writer living in Hong Kong, honored the Afrikaans writer and poet Adam Small with a play.
Between flights is on Small’s play Can he go up there? modeled as part of the Adam Small 90 project. This project of the Foundation for Empowerment by Afrikaans (SBA) serves as a tribute to Small to honor his contribution to Afrikaans literature. Small would have turned 90 this year.
“That Adam Small Can he go up there? used as inspiration, because I can relate to the themes. Like Kanna, I also live in a foreign country, away from my family and community on whom I have always relied,” says Miandra.
“You grow in ways you never would at home, make new friends and live a different lifestyle. In this situation one cannot help but form a new identity. That is why my text also focuses on the duel between our origins and ‘the other me’, as Kanna calls it.”
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Miandra has been living in Hong Kong for the past two years where she is a teacher. Although she misses her family, friends and native country terribly, it remains an exciting adventure.
“I travel, eat interesting foods and can experience other cultures,” she says.
Mianda sê dat sy Between flights also from the perspective of other South Africans as she wrote.
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“The play is about the excitement and challenges that form part of the life experience of young South Africans living overseas,” says Miandra.
Miandra goes on to say that there are specific quotes from Can he go up there? is what she focused on to strengthen the play’s credibility. Some of the quotes, which belong to Small’s characters Kanna and Rosslyn, include: “It was the other me”, “and Kanna’s heart was good but not like this” and “I learned on Makiet’s… washing money… I… you don’t forget everything.”
(Photo: Provided)
Uncharted dreams by Chester Miggles, Falling out along the way by Miché van Wyk and Wherever you belong by Hein Poole was also written as part of the Adam Small 90 project. Young players from the Proscenium drama competition performed the plays at the Adam Small festival on Pniel, as well as the KKNK on Oudtshoorn. It will be performed again on May 1 and 2 at the Suidoosterfees.
“Adam Small is definitely a writer I look up to. In my matric year we have a drama exam left Can he go up there? wrote, and I realized how theater makes a difference and gives perspective by telling stories. Through his work, I learned that theater not only informs an audience, but lets them experience what it feels like to stand in a character’s shoes,” says Miandra.
(Photo: Provided)
“It is a great privilege for me to be part of the Adam Small 90 project. I am grateful that I was given the opportunity to write from a distance.”
- Look here for more information about the performance of the plays at the Suidoosterfees.