The Road to Mecca

Miss Helen has transformed her home into a sanctuary of art. The day after her husband was buried, when she was 51, this shy quiet woman suddenly stopped attending church in her remote South African town and began creating and filling her yard with strange sculptures. Created from discarded materials, her sculptures reflect her search for personal meaning. But Miss Helen’s art is not widely appreciated, and troubles Marius, the local minister, is concerned for her well-being and pressures her to abandon her artistic pursuits and move to a retirement home.

Elsa, a teacher, visits the village and becomes a confidante and ally. Elsa sees Miss Helen’s art as an expression of individuality and spiritual resilience. Through Elsa's interactions with Miss Helen, the play deals with themes of artistic freedom, societal oppression, and the search for self-identity.

The Road to Mecca is based on the life of Helen Martins, a teacher who became a sculptor around the age of 50 and transformed her home in New Bethesda in the Karoo region of South Africa. Her home is now a museum known as the Owl House.

The Road to Mecca premiered at the Yale Repertory Theatre in New Haven, Conn., in 1984, and ran Off-Broadway at the Promenade Theater in 1988. It was produced on Broadway by the Roundabout Theater Company in 2011-2012.

Athol Fugard

Athol Fugard was born in Middelburg, South Africa in 1932. He began writing in the mid-1950s while working on a ship in East Asia. He became an outspoken opponent of apartheid, which brought him into conflict with the South African government.

His more than 30 plays include Sizwe Banzi is Dead, "Master Harold" ... and the Boys, and Boesman and Lena. In 1985 Time magazine called him "the greatest active playwright in the English-speaking world," and he won a Tony Award in 2010 for lifetime achievement in the theatre.

Fugard also received the 2005 Order of Ikhamanga in Silver from the government of South Africa, and the Fugard Theatre in Cape Town was named for him in 2010.

Also an actor and director, Fugard has directed and performed in some of his own plays and had several cameo film roles. He lives in the Winelands region of South Africa.

We would like to acknowledge that this production takes place on the traditional lands of the Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabe peoples. We honour and give thanks to the land, its inhabitants and their enduring cultures.

Admission $20 (plus Grand Theatre surcharge). Tickets available through Kingston Grand Box Office, 613-530-2050 and online, until 2 p.m. on day of performance, and at the door (cash, debit, Visa, MasterCard, Apple Pay or Android Pay) on performance nights when available. Seniors and members $16 at the door on Thursdays only. Children and students $10.

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