Actor takes director's chair

`The Road to Mecca' is joint project landing at UNLV

Las Vegas resident Zakes Mokae began his career as an actor working beside South African playwright Athol Fugard. The actor's latest career move has taken him to the director's chair for a production of Fugard's "The Road to Mecca," opening at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas Thursday.

This first-ever professional Fugard staging to hit Nevada is a joint project of the UNLV-based Nevada Conservatory Theater and the Reno-based Nevada Shakespeare Company.

Las Vegas actors Charlene Sher and Ray Favero play the roles of Helen Martins and Pastor Marius Byleveld, respectively, while Nevada Shakespeare Company actress Jeanmarie Simpson plays Elsa Barlow.

All three players are thrilled to be directed by Mokae, a Tony Award-winner for his role in Fugard's "Master Harold and the Boys."

"Doing a Fugard play with Zakes Mokae ... it's Nirvana," Simpson said. "Other people can talk academically about Fugard's work, but Zakes created Fugard's work with Fugard."

The collaborative friendship between Mokae and Fugard, a white Afrikaner writer, was rare.

"We met in a place where musicians hung out. I was very young then, about 19," Mokae said. "Every Saturday we would meet, have some wine and talk about the theater. Then we decided to do something about it."

The duo's work soon found international recognition in Fugard's "Blood Knot."

Sher and Simpson also have a rare friendship. The women first discussed performing together in "The Road to Mecca" in 1987. Two years ago, Sher finally convinced her friend the project could work. Through the Nevada Shakespeare Company, they secured funding and began planning the show.

"But after 9/11 everything stalled," Simpson said. "Our company in Reno had a production of 'Romeo and Juliet' that opened Sept. 13, so of course it lost $52,000 immediately in two days, so we just weren't in any shape to do it last year."

When the production was brought back on track, Simpson went after Mokae.

"It was a no-brainer," she said. "If Zakes Mokae lives here and he's willing to direct the play, we would have to be idiots to not at least ask him. So we did. And somehow it worked out and it's actually happening."

Mokae was quick to accept the invitation, even opening up his guest house for rehearsals.

"The Road to Mecca" explores the life of Helen Martins, a 60-year-old who created her own environment.

"She created these sculptures. You have to see them to believe them," Sher said. "They are unimaginable. She did this at her age, mixing sand into cement, grinding down beer bottles and putting them on walls to add glitter and light into her house."

"Her Mecca was not some place she could find on a map. It was in her mind, her fantasy," Favero said.

Sher said she has longed to tackle the role of Helen for years. She worked with Yvonne Bryceland, the actress who originated the role in Fugard's first production of "The Road to Mecca."

"I feel privileged to have the opportunity to do this," Sher said. "As I say in the program, I dedicate this performance to her (Bryceland). I wish she were here. She was kind of a mentor to me in South Africa."

Sher and Mokae aren't the only South Africans contributing to the production. Both set designer Pieter Grové and lighting designer Tom Swan are from South Africa as well.

Performances are set to take place in the UNLV Black Box Theater Thursday, Friday and Saturday and March 19, 20, 21 and 22 at 8 p.m. with 2 p.m. matinees Sunday and March 23. General admission tickets are $15 and can be purchased at the Performing Art Center Box Office. For more information, call 895-2787.


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