CapeTalk's John Maytham takes centre stage in 'To Life, With Love'

CapeTalk's Lester Kiewit speaks to award-winning playwright Mike van Graan about To Life, With Love.

Listen below: 

Mike van Graan’s To Life, With Love is back by popular demand!

Following a successful run earlier this year, Van Graan’s acclaimed one-man play features CapeTalk’s John Maytham, who returns as protagonist on stage - this time at the Societas Theatre on Kloof Street.

Inspired by Atul Gawande’s Being Mortal and Helena Dolny’s Before Ever After, Van Graan wrote To Life, With Love as a poetic and poignant reflection on life’s biggest questions. At the heart of the story is Thomas Michael Faulkner, a man facing illness who is forced to confront mortality while seeking meaning through love, loss, grief, success, and the choices we make.

Directed by Josh Lindberg, the play premiered at Artscape in February and has since enjoyed sold-out performances at venues including The Drama Factory, the Franschhoek Literary Festival, and theatres along the Garden Route. Everywhere it has been staged, the production has drawn heartfelt praise from critics and audiences alike.

Maytham delivers a powerful, deeply human performance as Faulkner, breathing life into Van Graan’s lyrical writing. Critics have called the show 'deeply moving' and 'brilliantly performed'. Van Graan says Maytham’s honesty and vulnerability, especially around his publicly shared health challenges, bring an added layer of depth, authenticity and relatability to the character and the play itself.

“Many people have said they've seen John in this production and found it so wonderful, so affirming. It explores life, love, loss, success, and the choices we make when we're faced with our mortality," Kiewit says.

The hour-long play will run from Tuesday to Saturday at 7:15 pm, with additional Saturday shows at 4 pm (excluding 23 August).

Tickets are available via Quicket.

Van Graan says the play was originally conceived after meeting Maytham for the first time.

"He jokingly said to me, 'How about writing me a play?' That led to the genesis of this piece... I know of John's health challenges; he's been quite open about it on public radio... I also had an early-stage prostate cancer diagnosis in October 2023, so I guess we're both these ageing males in our 60s, and this is an issue many people encounter... so both those experiences and being inspired by books... To Life, With Love emerged."

- Mike van Graan, playwright

"Although it deals with serious or what people might think of as heavy themes, it's done in a poetic and light and humorous way... the way John performs it is just good. People think it's his story, but it isn't; it's inspired by a range of different things, and he just gives light to that character in the most brilliant way."

- Mike van Graan, playwright

"The play explores what is meaningful for me and how I can make even more of an impact in encounters at a personal but also at a broader social level... this is much more human in a way, set in the context of our South African society," says van Graan.

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