Two men, unlikely friends, stagger through days of crippling prison work, breaking free in nights of playful escapism and ecstatic, dreamlike joy. With just scraps from their cell, they prepare for a performance of Antigone in front of the prisoners and guards – an act of defiance from people who have lost everything they have to lose.

With gut-wrenching emotion, soaring beauty and exquisite simplicity, this great drama of defiance and determination draws on the stories that linger from Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was held prisoner.

The Island will be performed in an intimate, in-the-round setting.

THE TIMES | PICK OF THE WEEK ★★★★
“It’ll leave you breathless”

BROADWAY WORLD ★★★★
“…powerful performances with depth and honesty…a devastating and compelling watch”

NORTHERN SOUL ★★★★
“…from the lightest of comedy moments…to the deepest of emotions…Springer and Dede make a magnetic team…”

DAILY INFO ★★★★
“…we were listening in rapture all the way through this gripping, subtle, intense, real and moving production.”

THE STAGE
“…impossible not to feel the emotional impact of Mark Springer as John and Edward Dede as Winston…”

BRITISH THEATRE GUIDE
“…excellent performances of restrained power”

LONDONTHEATRE1 ★★★★
“An equally powerful and poignant production”

EXEUNT
“A powerful performance of desperation and fragility”

BRITISH THEATRE GUIDE
“There are few things in theatre, especially when played in an intimate setting, as moving as this play’s opening”
“A potent memorial to those who were the victims and prisoners of apartheid… and a statement against any form of dictatorship”

LONDONGRIP.CO.UK
“John Terry’s astute direction emphasises the play’s deceptive simplicity and economy, while building up the layers of meaning and the resonance of the language.”

THEATRE CAT (4 mice)
“Pity, terror, triumph”
“A hard and dour and ultimately redemptive vision of endurance and imagination”
Kwisiqithi: a photography exhibition
Photographer Petré Smith spent childhood holidays on Robben Island, gaining a unique insight owing to his father’s employment in the prison service. This exhibition of original pictures of Robben Island in its current state was the result of a recent trip with his own son and will be in the café bar for the duration of the run.