This Cartoon appeared in The False Bay Echo over ten years ago.
We are still trying to find the cartoonist, we adapted the original a bit for our poster.
He is still standing there…
About the writer
*Directors note on the writer Stewart Clark:
I worked with and directed Stewart Clark mid 90’s in a show “Houdini” with Stewart playing Houdini, he was a ballet dancer, magician, actor. He was also a very good hair dresser and had his own salon in Fish Hoek.
When he told me he was on the street, I told him to write it down… write it all down, he did.
We worked for months on end editing and adding newly written material and rehearsing weekly in a room next to the church hall.
We finally, a few years later, got the show ready and performed it at the SA Navy mess in Simons Town.
We then managed to perform two fundraisers at The Rosebank Theatre kindly organised and filled up by the Elenbogen’s. Thank you Nick And Liz.
Enough money was raised for Stewart’s cataract operation that he desperately needed.
Unfortunately we could not take the show further as Stewart started suffering from Epilepsy.
He is looking forward to seeing Sean as The Beggar.
Of Robots* and things…
*Robot – Traffic light
An audience with a white beggar
at his Robot (True story)
This is a white beggars story, humorously performed, about how he ended up on the road and got to living in a Township.
A day to day account of a second rate citizen’s fight for survival and recognition in a hostile world, where you would die if you lost your sense of humor.
a Former hairdresser fallen on hard times and now living in a township and begging for a living at the robot by the new mall.
We share his fears, his hopes, his prejudices, and above all a healthy sense of humour that draws us into his reality where a red light is good.
Autobiography?
The play is based on Stewart’s life and is mostly factual, with some names and details changed so as not to ’embarrass ‘ anyone. The final script was created over 4 years through a combination of using the writer’s journal entries and a bi-weekly workshop process. When I heard he was on the street, I told him to write it down, write it all down. He did, we edited, and this is the product. He, unfortunately, is still standing at his Robot…
First performances
Beggared In SA was first performed at SA Navy mess in Simons Town.
Then The Rosebank Theatre. The performances at The Rosebank Theatre were fundraisers for a cataract operation that Stewart desperately needed, and thanks to Nicholas and Liz Ellenbogen who selflessly gave a venue, time, and filled the venue, the 2 performances raised enough funds for Stewart’s cataract operation. (He was on a 2 year waiting list with the health dept.)
Beggared in SA was going to the National Festival of the Arts Makhanda (Grahamstown) 2020 but due to Covid everything was cancelled, so its kind of like finally giving the play the run it deserves