NET Playhouse; Sponono
- Series
- NET Playhouse
- Episode Number
- 83
- Episode Number
- 28
- Episode
- Sponono
- Producing Organization
- Subscription Television, Inc.
- AAPB ID
- cpb-aacip/516-mw28912t9c
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- Description
- Episode Description
- 2 hour piece produced by Subscription Television and distributed by NET in 1967. It was later rebroadcast in 1968. It was shot on videotape.
- Episode Description
- Sponono, an unusual drama in which the narrative is blended with African songs and dances, was written by South African author Alan Paton (famous for his novel Cry The Beloved Country) and is based on three stories from his collection Tales from a Troubled Land. Paton collaborated with Krishna Shah on the writing, and Krishna Shah directed the work for the stage. Brought to Broadway from South Africa, Sponono was taped directly from the stage of the Cort Theater during its New York run, and features the original South African cast, a company called Union Artists. The play is set in a boys reformatory in Johannesburg (Paton himself was head of such an institution) where the principal engages in a battle for supremacy with one of his African charges, Sponono. Recognizing the potential of this boy who came out of a suburban ghetto, the principal is frustrated by his inability to release him from the bonds of the past. The first two acts are starkly realistic and the third act is symbolic. In a trial scene, set against a background of the reformatory boys in native costume, and punctuated by African chants, the boy Sponono mercilessly tries the principal for desertion of his job, but finds himself on trial as well. Sponono is a National Educational Television presentation. Produced for television by Subscription Television. Stage direction by Krishna Shah. Stage Producer: Mary K. Frank. Traditional chants arranged by Gideon Nxumalo, with additional chants composed by Fela Sowande, John Knox Bokwe, Gideon Nxumalo, and J.P. Mohapeloa. This aired as NET Playhouse episode 28 on April 14, 1967 and as NET Playhouse episode 83 on May 3, 1968. (Description adapted from documents in the NET Microfiche)
- Broadcast Date
- 1968-05-03
- Broadcast Date
- 1967-04-14
- Asset type
- Episode
- Genres
- Drama
- Media type
- other
- Credits
-
-
Actor: Mqomo, Phyllis
Actor: Xaba, Douglas
Actor: Mafata, Ferdinand
Actor: Ngakane, Lionel
Actor: Nkonyeni, Ruth
Actor: Tohotlhalemaje, Cocky
Actor: Dira, Obed
Actor: Bendile, Vinah
Actor: Motha, Sydney
Actor: Janney, Ben
Actor: Ngoetjana, Joe
Actor: Shange, Victor
Actor: Makgoba, Paul
Actor: Hou, Philemon
Composer: Bokwe, John Knox, 1855-1922
Composer: Mohapeloa, J. P. (Joshua Polumo), 1908-1982
Composer: Nxumalo, Gideon
Composer: Sowande, Fela, 1905-1987
Costume Designer: Moritz, Ruth St.
Director: Shah, Krishna
Producer: Frank, Mary K.
Producing Organization: Subscription Television, Inc.
Set Designer: Lewis, Pamela
- AAPB Contributor Holdings
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- Citations
- Chicago: “NET Playhouse; Sponono,” 1968-05-03, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC, accessed June 22, 2025, http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-516-mw28912t9c.
- MLA: “NET Playhouse; Sponono.” 1968-05-03. American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Web. June 22, 2025. <http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-516-mw28912t9c>.
- APA: NET Playhouse; Sponono. Boston, MA: American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Retrieved from http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-516-mw28912t9c