Education and theatre

But actress Pauline Moran, explains how a play can often deliver much more
　　as she tells us about her role in a South African play called “Bones”. That's all
　　in today's Entertainment from bbclearningenglish.com!
　　I'm Yvonne Archer – hello.
　　“Bones”, a play that was written and directed by Kay Adshead, is set in post-
　　apartheid South Africa – a time when it became illegal to treat people unfairly
　　simply because of their colour. In the play, Pieter is a harmless and very ill old
　　white man, but when he worked as a senior policeman, many of the local black
　　people he questioned simply disappeared.
　　Pieter's wife, Jennifer, loves him very much and believes that he'll be cured by
　　magic if she reveals the gruesome secret of what happened to all those people.
　　But will she? Before we find out, let's hear from Pauline Moran, who plays
　　Jennifer. She explains why the audience begins to feel sorry for her…
　　Pauline Moran
　　Yes, yes – well you do realise that Jennifer is also a victim – at the end you do, because her
　　misplaced love has kept her in a loveless marriage for thirty-seven years and she's been loyal
　　and she's kept it a secret. She should never have done such a thing, you know, having
　　witnessed such an atrocity.
　　Yvonne:  During the play, the entire community watches as the bones of friends and
　　relatives are dug up from the couple's beautiful rose garden. But Jennifer
　　seems to be more upset about her roses and the noise than she is about all those
　　lost lives. Surprisingly, the audience does begin to feel sorry for her because as
　　Pauline says, she's 'a victim' – someone who's suffered and has been hurt - in
　　this case, by Pieter's cruel and shocking actions. But Jennifer's also suffered
　　because despite 37 years of marriage, Pieter hasn't returned her love. She's
　　suffered what Pauline calls 'a loveless marriage'. As we continue, try to catch
　　the noun Pauline uses to describe Pieter's cruel, shocking actions…
　　Pauline Moran
　　She's been loyal and she's kept it a secret. She should never have done such a thing, you
　　know, having witnessed such an atrocity. But in the end, she confesses and I think, in a sense,
　　is redeemed because she's laid bare all the true facts. But as to whether Pieter is forgiven,
　　that's another matter entirely and it's probably up to each audience member to take away and
　　form their own opinion.
　　Yvonne:  Did you manage to catch the noun Pauline used to describe Pieter's cruel and
　　shocking actions? Yes, she calls them 'an atrocity' – a noun that's often heard
　　during reports about war - so do listen out for it again after today's programme.
　　Jennifer's love and loyalty to her husband made her feel that she couldn't tell
　　anyone about the atrocities she'd 'witnessed' – what she'd seen. But as Pauline
　　put it, she is 'redeemed' - forgiven and has put right a serious wrong by telling
　　the entire truth about what happened… Jennifer has 'laid bare all the true facts'.
　　Pauline Moran
　　In the end, she confesses and I think, in a sense, is redeemed because she's laid bare all the
　　true facts.
　　Yvonne:  Of course, the same cannot be said for Pieter so the audience are left to decide
　　whether he will ever deserve the same consideration.
　　Yvonne:  A play like “Bones” can be important in 'raising awareness' about the
　　apartheid years - bringing what happened to the attention of more people and
　　helping them to understand more about that period of time. But who, in
　　particular, does Pauline think needs to be more aware of apartheid?
　　Pauline Moran
　　It's definitely raising awareness because it's surprising how little young people todaydo
　　know about the apartheid years. They haven't any idea – it's surprised us – even talking to
　　people after the play. They may have a very superficial knowledge of the things – that    atrocities that went on. But I don't think they teach it in schools as part of courses at all
　　there's a great deal of the pit of ignorance about it.
　　Yvonne:  Pauline Moran has been very surprised at the tiny amount of knowledge – the
　　'superficial knowledge' - that young people have about the apartheid years. As
　　she put it, 'there's a great deal of the pit of ignorance' about it - but fortunately,
　　the play is helping to change that.