1980's SA relived in Barney Simons' Born in the RSA

Reminding us why at the time, under blanket press suppression and before the advent of armchair activism and twitter, one of the few places where dissent against SA's Apartheid Government and the mounting opposition taking place in South Africa's townships could be voiced, was within the relatively safe bounds of the Theatre.

Those of us who lived through those times or spoke to people directly and heard their stories formed a version of reality, for the rest was hearsay or heresy.

Born in the RSA was devised and improvised by Simon and the original cast from human stories to create what was described as a living newspaper or docu-drama, conveying the reality of everyday life for South Africa and its citizens during the state of emergency at the height of apartheid.

At the original sold-out Market Theatre premier in 1985, the cast was made up of South African theatre blue-bloods such as Fiona Ramsay, Terry Norton, Vanessa Cooke, Neil McCarthy, Timmy Kwebulana and Gcina Mlhope, some of whom were in the audience for the recent Baxter premier. Thoko Ntshinga who played the role of Thenjiwe in the original version has successfully taken on the role of directing the current cast in conveying the extreme emotional experience of the times.

When it first toured globally, the play received great acclaim in the UK and the USA, but it is patently our story and therefore a must-see for anyone too old, too young, too exiled or too cloistered to remember what was really happening in South Africa during the 1980's and its impact on our national psyche.

There is a small tribute exhibition to Barney Simon in the downstairs foyer and also baskets for the Baxter winter blanket drive.

We owe it to each other to see Born in the RSA, now on at the Baxter till 8 Aug.