My Children! My Africa!

Dec. 6-Jan. 7, $35-$50, The Wilma Theater, Broad and Spruce sts.

by Lewis Whittington

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Published: Dec 6, 2006

THEATER

Athol Fugard wrote My Children! My Africa! before the end of apartheid, and even after liberation his fiery play continues to be revelatory. The Wilma production, directed by Blanka Zizka, stars veteran theater actor Glynn Turman as Mr. M., a black teacher in a segregated town who wants his most gifted student to compete with a white English girl in a literary competition. Turman, recipient of the NAACP lifetime achievement award for theater, started his career at 12 on Broadway in Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun. "[Fugard] helped shape the landscape of our theater experience with a unique way to address the hard issues that aren't affected by time," says Turman. "This character is so complex and is so well-drawn that I hope I do him justice." The actor says he was impressed to find that his two young co-stars, Meghan Heimbecker and Yaegel Welch, take their craft so seriously. "This is like well-orchestrated jazz, a trio jamming with some of the best Monk lines you'd want to hear."

Dec. 6-Jan. 7, $35-$50, The Wilma Theater, Broad and Spruce sts., 215-893-9456, www.wilmatheater.org.

 

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