

December 2000, Cape Flats, South Africa. A woman steps in front of a train with her baby on the railway tracks between Philippi and Nyanga.
Two months later Roelf, the train driver, has spent weeks searching for the identities of the victims. After a fruitless journey through shanty towns, he encounters an old gravedigger named Simon who helps the desperate man unburden his conscience. Based on a true story, The Train Driver is a soulful exploration of guilt, suffering, racial intolerance and the powerful bonds that grow between strangers.
After receiving its world premiere at the Fugard Theatre, Cape Town in March 2010, the play received its UK premiere in November 2010 at the Hampstead Theatre.
This production is the first UK revival in 16 years and will be directed by Jimmy Walters (Mrs Orwell, The Trackers of Oxyrhynchus) and presented by Proud Haddock and Sarah Lawrie in association with Park Theatre.
In the Press
‘Brave, confrontational and tender… Essential theatre viewing’
Sunday Times, South Africa
‘The Train Driver leaves us… with a question about the psychodrama of social guilt’
Vulture
Creative Team
WRITER | ATHOL FUGARD
DIRECTOR | JIMMY WALTERS
PRODUCERS | PROUD HADDOCK & SARAH LAWRIE
Artwork by Doug Kerr.
Proud Haddock and Sarah Lawrie in association with Park Theatre present
The Train Driver
By Athol Fugard, Directed by Jimmy Walters