Lihle Ngubo in 'The Lesson'.
Lihle Ngubo in 'The Lesson'.
Image: Supplied

The Lesson, first staged in 1951, is a one-act play by Romanian-French playwright Eugène Ionesco. A new version of the darkly entertaining production by award-winning director Greg Homann will be presented at the Market Theatre, starring Graham Hopkins, Fiona Ramsay, and Lihle Ngubo.

Set in a small university town, an eager eighteen-year-old student arrives at the Professor’s home for a lesson. The action begins in a naturalistic way but shifts into a stylistic and visual feast as more surrealist and absurdist events take hold. What starts as a farcical interaction between the two becomes something more sinister.

“I’m interested in how the legacy of a colonial education system impacts students today," says Homann.

"The national cry to decolonise education, and especially the Rhodes Must Fall Movement, have sharply highlighted the complexity of teaching and learning in a South African university. The Lesson is a theatrical way to represent and explore that politics."

The production has been adapted to have a stronger connection with a South African audience, shifting the focus towards unpacking the contemporary complexity of post-colonial education.

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