By Robert Simonson
12 Jan 2004

South African playwright-performer John Kani, Nobel Prize-winning writer Wole Soyinka and Afro-American scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr., will gather on the stage of Lincoln Center Theater's Mitzi E. Newhouse Theatre on Jan. 12 to discuss Kani's play Nothing But the Truth.

The symposium, titled "Nothing But the Truth: A Conversation About Truth, Reconciliation and Justice and What the World Can Learn from South Africa," will take place at 7 PM on the set of the show. The speakers "will explore issues ranging from contemporary African playwriting and its effect on African politics, to whether South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission has provided an example to other nations of a new way to reconcile past social grievances."

In Nothing But the Truth, Kani, a frequent performer in his native country as well as collaborator with fellow South African Athol Fugard, stars alongside Esmeralda Bihi and Warona Seane as an assistant librarian forced to reveals truths from his past when his brother dies in political exile in London.

The American Premiere of Nothing But the Truth is directed by Janice Honeyman, with settings and costumes by Sarah Roberts, and lighting by Mannie Manim.

Tickets to the evening, priced at $10, are available by cash purchase only at the Lincoln Center Theater box office. Seating is general admission.