Today is the 23rd April. It is the death date of Shakespeare. It is also presumed to be the birthday of Shakespeare.
The Market Theatre was the 2014 host of the Brett Goldin Scholarships. Brett Goldin was a talented young thespian who, together with a friend, fashion designer Richard Bloom, was murdered just days before he was due to go to the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon, England to play the role of Guildenstern in the Baxter production of Hamlet, directed by Janet Suzman. A bursary has now been established to provide other young thespians with the opportunity his sudden and violent death denied him. The bursary is given every second year to two young actors who are able to travel together and keep one another company.
The finalists of the 2014 Brett Goldin Bursary
I was present on Friday 11 April 2014 when the announcement as to who had won these scholarships was announced. Each of the six finalists, Francis Chowler, Kate Liquorish, Tony Bongani Miyambo, Buhle Ngaba, Zondwa Njokweni and Daniel Richards, performed a monologue for the audience highlighting their talent and the wonderful work of the Bard. The winners were Kate Liquorish and Tony Bongani Miyambo.
The winners with Denise Goldin, mother of Brett Goldin and one of the adjudicators.
Previous winners have been Omphile Molusi (2007), Thami Mbongo and Nicholas Pauling (2008), Thato Moraka and Josette Eales (2010) and Nkosinathi Gaar and Timothy Redpath (2012). The busary has been endowed by the Royal Shakespeare Company, Actors Centre, Baxter Theatre, Sir Anthony Sher and Dame Janet Suzman. The bursary is for a short post-graduate course specifically focused on Shakespearean acting.
The judges were Dorothy Ann Gould, Denise Goldin, James Ngcobo and Nicolette Moses.
Photographs by Ruphin Coudyzer of The Market Theatre.
