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# Theatre Ensemble stages 'The Island,' a play about South Africa's Robben Island prison
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/081106-story-20060811-2/
- Published: 2006-08-11T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T21:09:49.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Entertainment, Santa Monica, #archive-import

*By Daily Press staff*

The Los Angeles Theatre Ensemble & The Powerhouse Theatre Company present a play about a country’s repressive laws and the artists who stood for freedom. The play called “The Island,” written by Athol Fugard, John Kani and Winston Ntshona, and directed by Hiu Cho Wong, is set in the notorious Robben Island maximum-security prison, and is a tribute to the men and women who were imprisoned there during the fight for a free and democratic South Africa. “The Island” is based on the true story of Norman Ntshinga, a black actor who was arrested during a police raid on suspicion of being a member of the then-banned African National Congress and sentenced to 10 years at Robben Island.

Robben Island was a prison for political opponents of the South African government at the time the play was written. It’s most famous inmate was Nelson Mandela, but in its time, it held thousands of men who have been imprisoned because of their resistance to the racist regime.

The play follows two political prisoners as they rehearse their two-man version of Sophocles’ Antigone for the prison’s annual concert.“The Island” demonstrates that it may be easy for a repressive regime to imprison a person, but crushing their spirit is harder.

Opening Friday, Aug. 11, “The Island” will be performed for three weeks through Saturday, Aug. 26 at the Powerhouse Theatre, located at 3116 Second Street in Santa Monica. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m.

Ticket prices are $20 for Fridays and Saturdays, $15 for students with ID’s. For tickets, please call the Powerhouse Theatre at (310) 396-3680 ext.3 or visit www.latensemble.org.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on August 11, 2006.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/081106.pdf?ref=smdp.com)