Original version

BBC World Service

BBC World Service Radio

World Service Radio

Migrated podcast image for: Outlook

Outlook

Factual: Life Stories

True stories of ordinary people and the extraordinary events that have shaped their lives.

BBC World Service Online

BBC World Service schedule for American satellite radio and the Caribbean

BBC World Service Americas and the Caribbean

BBC World Service Australasia

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa Schedule

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa

BBC World Service East Asia

BBC World Service Europe and the Middle East

BBC World Service South Asia

BBC World Service West and Central Africa Schedule

BBC World Service West and Central Africa

Outlook: Risking My Life For a Kiss

Magazines & Reviews

John Kani as Othello

05/09/2016 GMT

Risking My Life For a Kiss

BBC World Service - Outlook, Risking My Life For a Kiss

Actor John Kani took the risky decision to play Othello in apartheid South Africa

John Kani on playing Othello in apartheid South Africa, and the underwater explorer who found a long lost train.

When John Kani took to the stage to play Othello in apartheid South Africa,1987, romantic relationships between black and white people were just recently legal, and still deeply controversial. So when he was asked to kiss a white woman on stage, he was taking a very serious risk. Now in his 70s, he has been telling Outlook the amazing story of that production, and how he came to love the poetry of Shakespeare as a boy growing up in the Eastern Cape. 

In India, many villagers do not have electricity, and have to rely on kerosene lamps for light. But having a live flame in the house can be dangerous, and Ajaita Shah is on a mission to persuade people to use solar lamps instead. She was brought up in the United States, but her parents came from India, and Ajaita is determined to make a difference there after witnessing a horrible kerosene lamp accident some years ago. 

For 30 years, American Tom Crossmon was an underwater rescue worker. But since retiring, he has turned his attention to something else - shipwrecks. Last year, Tom was on a visit to Ontario in Canada when he heard rumours about a large vessel at the bottom of Lake Superior. This time, however, it was not a ship, but a train.

(Photo: John Kani (R) on the stage playing Othello. Credit: Ruphin Coudyzer/FPPSA)

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Outlook

Risking My Life For a Kiss

Genres

Formats

Brand

BBC World Service

About BBC World Service