In June 2010 the Arcola Theatre will host the UK premiere of Athol Fugard’s Coming Home. In it he returns to the story of Veronica Jonkers, the girl full of joy and hope who, in his 1997 play Valley Song left her grandfather’s home in the Karoo, to follow her dreams of being a singer in Cape Town.

Now, twelve years later she returns, but her focus is her adored little boy. Her own dreams are lost but she is as passionate as ever, determined to ensure that her child has the education and the future he deserves.

As so often with Fugard, his characters are full of warmth, humour and energy, even in the face of adversity. Against a backdrop of AIDS and poverty the story shines with the joys of friendship, memories, and story-telling.

Coming Home has been produced at the Baxter Theatre in Cape Town, and in the United States both at the Longwharf Theatre, New Haven and at the Berkeley Repertory Centre, California.

The play will begin previews on the 8th of June, with the official opening night currently intended for the author’s birthday, June 11th. This production will mark the second UK Premiere of a Fugard play to be presented by Cordelia Monsey, three years after her production of Victory for the Peter Hall Season at the Theatre Royal Bath.