The excitement of our blog post last month was followed by disappointment, as Covid put the kibosh on yet another South African Shakespeare production. With the onset of a third wave of Coronavirus infections, the country had to reimpose previously lifted restrictions; this meant that Kickstart’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Durban Botanic Gardens had to be deferred.
Of course, this sadness was nothing compared to the sorrow, fear and deprivation experienced by so many people in KwaZulu-Natal following the violence, looting and destruction that ravaged the province earlier this month. It has been a grim time for our country.
There are, however, chinks of light and signs of hope. Community solidarity and a citizen-driven cleanup operation in KZN. The expansion of the vaccine delivery programme. Perhaps South Africa is slowly - very slowly - emerging from this winter of discontent.
