CN&CO #SharingTheLove – The Shakespeare Society of Southern Africa

Apart from the work we do with our awesome clients and partners, CN&CO is also involved in a number of projects and organisations that make a big difference in the lives of many people.

Over the next few weeks we will share some of these with you and invite you to join us in uplifting the individuals and communities involved in these projects… 

Our support for the Shakespeare Society of Southern Africa (SSOSA) can largely be attributed to Carel’s love for the Bard and connection with the president of the society, Chris Thurman.

SSOSA seeks to demystify Shakespeare and his works and make them more accessible to a broader South African audience.

“CN&CO has been providing professional and financial assistance to the society since August 2018 – and it’s already been hugely beneficial to us,” says Chris. “Having a basic monthly income means that when small costs arise – either recurring costs such as the small salaries paid to editors/content managers of Shakespeare ZA, or once-off costs such as a contribution towards staging and filming scenes from Julius Kesara (isiXhosa) by director Sia Sikawuti – we don’t have to go cap-in-hand to the Grahamstown Foundation to borrow money. It provides the security of being able to commit to future projects, e.g. when director Greg Homann wants to rehearse and record a few scenes from the production of Twelfth Night that we are hoping to propose for the Gdansk Shakespeare Festival in Poland, I know that there is money available to pay for venue hire, technical costs, small honoraria for the cast, etc.

“Having CN&CO’s support for the society immediately makes Shakespeare in SA a sexier brand – not just glossy, but ideologically/politically/socially interesting and challenging and complicated in the way that we want Shakespeare to be seen in our context. It is also very confidence-boosting and encouraging for those of us who are pursuing the exciting but also occasionally dispiriting work of trying to change perceptions about Shakespeare in SA, and trying to emphasise how Shakespeare’s work can mean and be different to what is generally assumed – whether on stages or in classrooms or in boardrooms.”

Richard III opened today, 7 February 2019, at Maynardville in Cape Town. Read more about it here.