Yaël Farber

Molora - Based on The Oresteia by AeschylusIn this reworking of Aeschylus’ Oresteia, Klytemnestra and Elektra face one another in a dramatic confrontation. Attempts to come to terms with their violent past echo testimonies delivered in Apartheid’s wake throughout South Africa during the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.RAM: The Abduction of Sita into Darkness - Based on The Ramayana by Valmiki Farber’s potent revisioning of this age-old text is a raw and probing contemporary work which places the loss of the Feminine Divine, and thus our lack of spiritual and moral equilibrium, at its visceral core. This is a Ramayana for a new world.Mies Julie - Based on Miss Julie by August StrindbergTransposed to a post-apartheid kitchen – a single night, both brutal and tender, unfolds between a black farm-labourer, the daughter of his master and the woman who has raised them both. The visceral struggles of contemporary South Africa are laid bare, as John and Mies Julie spiral in a deadly battle over power, sexuality, mothers and memory.

South African born internationally acclaimed director and playwright, Yaël Farber, sets her explosive new adaptation of Strindberg’s Miss Julie in the remote, bleak beauty of the Eastern Cape Karoo. Transposed to a post-apartheid kitchen – a single night, both brutal and tender, unfolds between a black farm-labourer, the daughter of his master and the woman who has raised them both. The visceral struggles of contemporary South Africa are laid bare, as John and Mies Julie spiral in a deadly battle over power, sexuality, mothers and memory. Haunting and violent, intimate and epic, the characters struggle to address issues of reprisal and the reality of what can and cannot ever be recovered. Mies Julie is the winner of a number of awards including, the Best Of Edinburgh Fringe Award, an Edinburgh Fringe First Award and an Edinburgh Herald Angel Award. In December 2012, Mies Julie was listed in the Guardian's top ten best theatre picks of 2012 and in the Top Ten Plays of 2012 by the New York Times.

A riveting new stage adaptation from award-winning writer and director Yael Farber. In this new publication, Farber (inspired by contemporary retellings) adapts the ancient tale of The Ramayana, attributed to the Hindu sage Valmiki. The original Ramayana forms a significant part of the Hindu canon, dating to approximately the 5th-4th century BC – with the oldest surviving manuscripts from the 11th century BC. Farber’s potent revisioning of this age-old text is a raw and probing contemporary work which places the loss of the Feminine Divine, and thus our lack of spiritual and moral equilibrium, at its visceral core. This is a Ramayana for a new world.

"Based on the Oresteia by Aeschylus In this reworking of Aeschylus' Oresteia, Klytemnestra and Elektra face one another in a dramatic confrontation. Attempts to come to terms with their violent past echo testimonies delivered in Apartheid's wake throughout South Africa during the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Aeschylus' chorus is replaced by Xhosa tribeswomen, who bring grace and humanity through their ancient art of split tone singing. Molora (the Sesotho word for 'ash') is an examination of vengeance, and the breaking of its cycles by the everyman."

These are three testimonial plays from South Africa by the hugely influential and highly acclaimed young playwright Yael Farber. Uniquely, this collection of testimonial plays is based on the lives of the original black South African performers. It includes: A Woman in Waiting, Amajuba: Like Doves We Rise, and He Left Quietly.