Author Alexander McCall-Smit was in town last week for a few days after a brief visit to Botswana.
For three nights, audiences at the Rosebank Theatre were treated to hilarious conversation between him and Nicholas Ellenbogen, who are old mates. In the 1960s they rode to school together on their bikes every day in Bulawayo.
Mr McCall-Smit is known for The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series which features Precious Ramotswe – Botswana’s leading, and only, female private detective.
He is a prolific writer, writing four to five books a year. Other series in are the Isabel Dalhousie Series, the Portuguese Irregular Verbs series, and the 44 Scotland Street street. In Mr Ellenbogen’s lustrous and lengthy career he and his theatre partner wife Liz have done it all, creating small indigenous theatre companies all across southern Africa.
Their more than 150 unique productions include an exposé of the illegal ivory trade, and a riot of a long-playing series, Raiders of the Lost Aardvark, which was the top show in Grahamstown for two decades. They’ve even put on a play for Queen Elizabeth.
For more information about Rosebank Theatre, email
theatreforafrica@gmail.com, call 072 3166 133 or visit www.
rosebanktheatre.com