Finding Nelson Mandela by Dennis Ward

Cité des Arts presents Dennis Ward’s comedy-drama, Finding Nelson Mandela, directed by Charlee Halphen. Rose Johnson has been making a cake in the exact likeness of her sister, Della, ever since she died in a car accident in 1968. In fact, she has conversations with her dead sister, a cake. Rose’s family thinks she is crazy and she is resigned to spending the rest of her unhappy life as an unpaid servant for her abusive husband and his alcoholic mother. On a car trip to Atlanta to attend a family reunion, Ms. Bell, an African-American nurse, takes Rose on a journey to the threshold of her freedom, and at the same time, Nelson Mandela is released from prison after twenty-seven years and travels to Atlanta to gain worldwide support to end the Apartheid government in South Africa. Finding Nelson Mandela tells the story of two people’s struggle for freedom and how their destinies meet. Play performances are August 24-27 and August 31-Sept 3rd, Thursday-Saturday at 7:30pm and Sunday matinees at 2:00pm in the Robert D. Sidman Theatre at Cité des Arts, 109 Vine Street in downtown Lafayette. Admission is $15.00 general admission and $12.00 for seniors and students with a valid ID. Call 337-291-1122 for reservations or go to citedesarts.org to buy tickets. Cité des Arts is a non-profit organization that was organized to support the artistic endeavors of other 501(c)(3) organizations including, but not limited to, educational organizations, religious organizations, performing arts organizations as determined by the Board of Directors. Cité des Arts began operation in 2001 and since that time has become Acadiana’s grass roots arts incubator, by supporting and hosting numerous theatre and dance groups, visual artist and French cultural programming.