First published as a six-part epic poem (with the same title) in the January 1979 edition of Playboy Magazine and written by Shel Silverstein [see brief biography below] “THE DEVIL & BILLY MARKHAM” is an epic tale spoken in verse of repeated jousts between Billy Markham ["he'd been cut and bled a thousand times, and his eyes were wise and sad"] and the Devil in his various guises ["I know you from many a dark and funky place, but you always spoke in a different voice and wore a different face"]. The price of a loss is Billy’s soul and those of his loved ones.
Billy Markham, a musician, boozer and all around loser, is ripe for the picking when the Devil shows up to taunt him with a gamble he can’t refuse. If Billy rolls a thirteen with dice, he will have all the fame, fortune, and women he ever wanted, but if he loses the roll, he will live in hell forever. Billy sees the dice are blank, and still is tempted with the remote possibility of winning. He rolls – and predictably gets the obvious results. Delighted by his triumph, the Devil brings him to hell, and decides to have more fun by tempting Billy again to try win his release. Same game, but if he loses this time, the Devil will take the souls of the ones who loved him, (his mother – his daughter and his ex-wife).
Billy loses again, but when the Devil allows Billy a few hours on earth to have all the fun he wants before returning to eternal damnation, a series of events follows that seem to give him the upper hand. The Devil claimed Billy could have all the sex he wanted, but if someone denied him, Billy would be set free. With this in mind, Billy has the best time he’s ever had, and begins to conjure a plan that eventually will foil the Devil completely, forcing him to let Billy out of hell.
However, wanting revenge, the Devil returns disguised as God this time, and challenges Billy to a game of pool. By a twist of fate, once again Billy outwits him and though he finally gets to heaven, he knows his mother, daughter and wife are still in hell and decides he needs to return to rescue them. The surprise resolution is not only unexpected – it is uproarious.

GRAHAM CLARKE

Graham Clarke hails from Cape Town and has been in show business since 1965. He has performed in all the genres, including stage, film, TV and cabaret. His last 2 appearances were for Pieter Toerien in the comedies “DOUBLES” with Tim Plewman and “CERTIFIED MALE” with Tobie Cronje. His latest films locally were “STANDER” and “ALI”. Over the years he has acted in more than 60 films.

Last year he was in “SHOWBOAT” in Cape Town, Nuremburg and Oslo. At present he is preparing a cabaret tour of Germany later in the year with “THE BEST OF BREL” and is rehearsing a new one-man play “THE SECRET LETTERS OF JAN VAN RIEBEECK” [by the well known satirist Robert Kirby] for the Grahamstown festival and hopefully a national tour. His TV debut was in 1975 in “THE VILLAGERS” [the pre-cursor of the modern day "ISIDINGO"] as the tearaway Nick Wilmot.

Graham won a Vita Award for his performance in “THE DEVIL & BILLY MARKHAM” and was nominated for his role in “SCRIBBLE”. His talent has been passed on to his daughter, Bianca, who made her acting debut at the KKNK last year.

When not acting Graham is passionate about fly-fishing and painting in oil.

SHEL SILVERSTEIN

Shelly Silverstein, most commonly known as Shel Silverstein, was born in Chicago, Illinois, on September 25. Some books say he was born in 1932, but others give his year of birth as 1930. His full name was Sheldon Allan Silverstein. He is best known in children’s literature for his poetry; however, he was also a cartoonist, composer, lyricist and folksinger. His poem, The Unicorn Song, was recorded by the Irish Rovers. Other hit songs included “A Boy Named Sue” and “The Cover of the Rollin’ Stone” for Dr. Hook. He composed the music for the movies, Ned Kelly (1970), Who Is Harry Kellerman and Why Is He Saying Such Terrible Things About Me? (1971), and Thieves (1977). He composed music for the film, Postcards from the Edge for which he received a nomination for an Academy Award in Music for the song, “I’m Checkin Out.” A man of many talents, he co-wrote the screenplay for the film, Things Change (1988) with David Mamet.

Shel began writing as a young boy in Chicago. Although he would rather have been playing baseball or chasing girls, he could not catch or hit a ball, and the girls were not interested in him. He gave his energies to writing. He developed his very own writing style at a young age and was unfamiliar with the poetry of the great poets of his time. “I was so lucky that I didn’t have anyone to copy, be impressed by. I had developed my own style, I was creating before I knew there was a Thurber, a Benchley, a Price and a Steinberg. I never saw their work until I was around thirty”. By the time girls were interested in him he was involved in his work.

Silverstein’s work goes beyond writing children’s literature. He began his career as a writer and cartoonist for an adult magazine in 1952. He had served as a member of the U. S. military forces in Japan and Korea during the 50’s. While in the military, he was a cartoonist for the military newsletter, Pacific Stars and Stripes. In 1980, he produced a new folksong album entitled The Great Conch Train Robbery. His first play, The Lady or the Tiger Show, was produced at the Ensemble Studio Theater’s annual festival of one act plays.

Silverstein never planned on writing and drawing for children. His friend, Tomi
Ungerer, brought him to Ursula Nordstom’s office where she convinced him to do children’s books. One of his earliest and most successful books, The Giving
Tree, was rejected by editor William Cole. Cole felt that the book fell between
adults’ and children’s literature and would never sell. In Silverstein’s eyes,
it was a story about two people; one gives and the other takes. Ultimately, both
adults and children embraced the book. He hoped that people, no matter what age, could identify with his other books as well. His works include Falling Up
(1996), Where the Sidewalk Ends (1981), A Light in the Attic (1981), The Missing Piece (1982), The Missing Piece Meets the Big O. He won awards for all three books: The Michigan Young Readers Award for Where the Sidewalk Ends (1981); a School Library Journal Best Books (1982) for A Light in the Attic, an
International Reading Association’s Children’s Choices Award for The Missing
Piece Meets the Big O. “.

A man of many talents, Silverstein wrote to reach out to as many people as he
could with his writing. “I would hope that people, no matter what age, would
find something to identify with in my books, pick one up and experience a
personal sense of discover. That’s great. But for them, not for me.”

(Twentieth-Century Children’s Writers. 4th ed. St. James Press, 1995.)

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SCHEDULE FOR 2008

2008 SCHEDULE

EVENING SHOWS – WEDNESDAY TO SATURDAY [and some Sundays]

JANUARY 04 to JANUARY 26
“THE DEVIL & BILLY MARKHAM” with GRAHAM CLARK
JANUARY 30 to FEBRUARY 17
SHIRLEY VALENTINE” with ANTHEA THOMPSON
FEBRUARY 20 to MARCH 15
“FACE IT” with ANNE HIRSCH
MARCH 19 to APRIL 12
“COME FLY WITH ME”
APRIL 16 to MAY 03
“THE DOGS’ BOLLOCKS” with GAETAN SCHMIDT
MAY 07 to JUNE 01
“MOUCHE” & “PRODIGAL” with TIM REDPATH
JUNE 05 to JULY 05
“STRESSED FOR SUCCESS”
JULY 09 to JULY 13
“52″ : THE STUART LIGHTBODY SHOW
JULY 16 to AUGUST 09
TO BE ANNOUNCED
AUGUST 13 to SEPTEMBER 06
“MY MOTHER’S SHOES MY FATHER’S HAT with ALDO BRINCAT
SEPTEMBER 10 to SEPTEMBER 14
THE HA!MAN IN CONCERT
SEPTEMBER 12 TO SEPTEMBER 21
GODFREY JOHNSON PLAYS NOEL COWARD
SEPTEMBER 25 to OCTOBER 19
PICTURES OF YOU with ROB MURRAY & LIEZL DE KOCK
OCTOBER 22 to NOVEMBER 22
“SITTING MAN” with JAMES CAIRNS
DECEMBER 03 to DECEMBER 30
WITH LOVE FROM BREL with GRAHAM CLARKE & MICHELE MAXWELL

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THEATRE FOR CHILDREN [probably @ 11h30]

EASTER HOLIDAYS [and maybe before] “SNAKE MAGIC” with HEATHER MAC
JUNE / JULY HOLIDAYS new show to be announced
AUGUST 16, 17, 23, 24, 30 & 31
& SEPTEMBER 06 & 07 “NUT CASE” with ALDO BRINCAT
SEPTEMBER HOLIDAYS “ROALD DAHL’S REVOLTING RHYMES 2″ with
SHOW WORKS
DECEMBER HOLIDAYS to be announced