S.Africa's most famous township gets new theater

Playwright, director and actor John Ledwaba gave up theater during South Africa's turbulent 1980s and left his Soweto home to train to be an anti-apartheid guerrilla. But he soon stopped training to lead the fight through theater, staging powerful works that exposed the horrors of racist rule to the world.

Theater mattered in Soweto in those days. With the opening this week of the first state-of-the-art playhouse in South Africa's most famous township, Ledwaba and others think it can matter again.

Apartheid planners saw Soweto as little more than a dormitory for Johannesburg's black maids and gardeners, mine and factory workers. But it has long been a cosmopolitan center of political and artistic life for black South Africans.

The 150 million rand (about $18 million) Soweto Theatre complex with a 436-seat main stage and two smaller performance spaces is part of an ambitious redevelopment plan by the city of Johannesburg for Soweto.

Steven Sack, acting chief executive officer of the new theater, said black South Africans were once "living at the margins of our society." The theater, he said as he proudly led reporters on a tour Monday, is part of efforts to change that.

Sack said the next step in redevelopment plans is the renovation of the nearby Jabulani Amphitheater, which has since the 1950s hosted concerts as well as major funerals and political events. In 1985, one of Nelson Mandela's daughters, Zindzi, stood in Jabulani to read his refusal of an offer from the white racist government to free him from prison on condition he renounce violence.

Since apartheid ended in 1994 and Mandela became South Africa's first black president, Soweto has seen the building of new parks, homes, museums and malls, the paving of more roads and the renovation of schools and stadiums.

"The Suitcase," the production that will open the Soweto Theatre on Friday, brings together some of South Africa's best-known and most beloved talent. The play is based on a story by the late Es'kia Mphahlele about poverty, desperation and hope. The production has music by Hugh Masekela, choreography by Gregory Maqoma, and is directed by James Ngcobo. The lineup of internationally known South African artists underlines the ambitions behind the Soweto Theatre.

The new theater resembles a giant child's toy with walls clad in bright blue, yellow and red tiles and a tent-like entrance covered in an awning of white canvass. Sophisticated and modern, it contrasts sharply with the community halls where plays in Soweto were once performed.

Ledwaba had one bit of advice for the new theater's management: "Please, no weddings and parties!" He wants a stage devoted to theater where audiences can see sophisticated and challenging work.

"I come from a history of using theater to fight," Ledwaba said.

When he was a young actor, Ledwaba remembers casts and crews bringing their own lights, sets and costumes to halls for performances, then clearing everything out so that the hall could be used for the next activity - a wedding, a political meeting, a funeral. Audiences sat on rows of plastic chairs that could be stacked out of the way to make way for dances.

Theater companies back then had to be mobile, so souvenirs ended up scattered or lost, Ledwaba said. One of his own few mementoes, hanging on a wall in the bedroom he uses as a study in his four-room Soweto home, is a poster showing him in character in "Black Dog Inj' Emnyama," a play that toured the world.

Ledwaba played a character closely based on his own experiences during the explosion of youthful militancy in Soweto in the 1970s. Ledwaba and other cast members created "Black Dog" with famed protest theater director Barney Simon in 1984, the year Ledwaba toyed with becoming a guerrilla fighter, but went back to Soweto to create and perform.

Playwright and director Selaelo Maredi - who, like Ledwaba, began performing in Soweto at the start of a theater career that took him around the world - said Soweto theater drew not just large audiences, but police informers sent to find out what black South Africans were thinking and saying. Maredi toured U.S. colleges with "Survival," a play set in a prison that he and three other actors developed in Soweto in the 1970s to explore themes of oppression and resistance.

Maredi laments that Sowetans lost the habit of going to the theater, reluctant to venture into the streets of an increasingly turbulent and crime-ridden area in the 1970s and 1980s and now distracted by other diversions, including satellite TV and shopping mall cinemas.

Maredi hopes to see an off-Broadway to Broadway system created in Soweto with the opening of the new theater. Artists at the gleaming new theater, he said, can work with small acting troupes across the township to develop shows that will help Sowetans tell their stories, and bring them back to the theater.

Concord Home of the Week: 45 Williams Rd

This unique property evokes a timeless farmhouse chic with rustic craftsmanship and Victorian design. This home’s unique composition and subtle grandeur depicts the ultimate model of Concord’s historical origins. Prominently sited on a spectacular 1.2-acre lot, complete with a tree house, and is conveniently within walking distance to conservation land and bike trails, the Willard elementary, both Concord Middle School buildings, West Concord Village, Concord Center and Routes 2 and 117.

Immediately upon entry, visitors will admire the traditionally carved wooden window and banister details with colorful tiles and mix of rich paint colors which portrays its elegant country aesthetic. Proceeding down the hallway, the lofty ceiling of the barn addition reveals a sprawling great room with a tiled fireplace with ornate wooden details and two quaint window seats. The kitchen boasts stainless steel appliances, an island with built in shelves and soapstone countertops wrap along three walls to include a farmer's sink and plentiful custom cabinets. Adjoining the kitchen is an expansive eating area with a built-in bench to easily accommodate family dining.  Double glass doors lead to the beautiful deck, perfect for grilling or lying out in the sun.

The second floor can be accessed from two staircases located in the front and middle of the house. Completing the second floor is a 24 x 13 square foot master bedroom with a walk-in closet and en-suite bath with luxurious amenities, such as heated marble floors, marble countertops, dressing table, jetted tub, and tiled shower. The first of the remaining three sun-soaked bedrooms on this floor has a large walk-in closet and the adjacent bedroom offers two closets. The third bedroom has light pouring in from a wall of windows, a walk-in closet and ample space for two twin beds. The hallway offers an abundance of storage with two linen closets and a built-in bookshelf, and there is also a laundry room and two full baths on this level. All of the spaces on the expansive second floor offer original vintage details, multiple windows, and hardwood floors.

The third floor expands the home's living space and would make a perfect au pair or teenager suite with two rooms and an open landing.

The whimsical and practical design of this home displays a quiet confidence and strong character with its period design and craftsmanship. It offers an enduring sense of history and extraordinary renovations that fortunately preserved is historical ingredients. This home has and likely always will stand out above the crowd and will endure for years to come.

Woodley Park contemporary

Contemporary-style homes are few and far between in the District, so when one comes on the market, it can generate plenty of excitement.

The city’s extensive swaths of greenery often are the inspiration for a contemporary home with walls of glass. Architect Errol Adels clearly meant to frame views of Rock Creek Park when he designed the single-family home at 2130 Cathedral Ave. NW in Woodley Park. Set on a hillside overlooking the park, this home has an expansive glass front as well as terraces on all three levels.

The home, on the market for $1,795,000, was built in 1988. Its interior was updated in 2002 by designer Thomas Pheasant. Dramatic exterior lighting highlights the distinctive architecture of this residence, which has a vertical cylinder of white-painted brick and a curving, walled stone terrace that punctuate the grid of glass.

The home has a slate motor court with parking for two cars and a storage area under the front exterior stairway. In addition to the curved front terrace, a sheltered terrace and garden are located off the dining room and kitchen, with Bradford pear trees, garden beds, a fountain and stairs to a gate and rear alley. The third-level master suite has a private, 30-foot-long front terrace with landscaping and lighting. The three terraces combined offer 1,250 square feet of outdoor living space.

The home’s interior provides equally dramatic living space. The light-filled foyer has an open spiral staircase to the upper levels, slate flooring and an abundance of closet space.

Adjacent to the foyer is the breathtaking two-story living room, which has an 18-foot-high front wall of windows overlooking Rock Creek Park. The living room has a wood-burning fireplace flanked by sliding glass doors that lead to the curving front terrace. In addition, this room has floor-to-ceiling illuminated shelves for displaying books or artwork, plus a large inset mirror that reflects the trees of Rock Creek Park.

Pocket doors link the living room with the adjacent guest bedroom, currently in use as a library. This room has expansive built-in shelving and custom-designed marble-topped cabinetry. Adjacent to the library are a wet bar and an elegantly remodeled full bath with a marble vanity, sleek gray tiles on the wall and floor, plus a shower with a glass door. The main level also has a utility and storage area.

The carpeted two-story spiral staircase leads up to a generously proportioned dining room that overlooks the first floor. At the front of the dining room is the upper half of the two-story living room window wall that frames treetop views. At the back of the dining room are French doors with louvered wood blinds. The French doors open onto the private rear terrace with its fountain, trees and flowers. The dining room also has marble-topped custom cabinetry.

This level is shared with the sleek modern kitchen, which has custom-designed cabinetry, granite counters, double wall ovens, a dishwasher, a refrigerator and two sinks. A state-of-the-art washer and dryer are concealed in one kitchen cabinet, and a built-in banquette provides a comfortable and stylish area for casual dining. French doors with louvered wood blinds open from the kitchen to the terrace and garden.

The spiral staircase also leads to the third level of this home, which includes a dramatic master bedroom with a front wall of glass framing a view of the woods. The bedroom includes a wood-burning fireplace under a large mirror that conceals a flat-screen TV. Floor-to-ceiling illuminated display shelves and cabinetry flank the fireplace, and the bedroom includes plenty of closet space with organizing elements.

A free-standing headboard has extra drawer space, and remote-controlled blackout curtains cover the sliding glass doors that lead to the private terrace. The terrace features a row of boxwoods for privacy and views of the sky and woods of Rock Creek Park.

Pocket doors link the bedroom with the master bath, which has a front wall of glass, a sunken tub with a shower attachment and a honed marble vanity with a vessel sink.

The upper level also has a third bedroom, currently in use as a study, which has built-in shelving and a work station with concealed wiring, a closet and large windows overlooking the rear terrace and garden. The bedroom has a dressing area with a vanity with a vessel sink and a large mirror. Pocket doors link this bedroom with a private bath with a shower and built-in storage niches.

This home has been enhanced with two-zone heating and air conditioning, a multiline phone system with DSL/Wi-Fi, and central sound and security systems.

A Bethany Beach house gets a makeover

For 20 years, the Burns family made awesome memories here in their cedar-sided beach house on stilts. They learned to fly kites and ride boogie boards and even met future spouses. Most summer weekends, Kevin and Nancy Burns and their three kids couldn’t wait to hear the crunch of gravel in their driveway as they pulled in after a three-hour trip, first from Potomac, and then Bethesda.

But two decades of salt air, nor’easters, houseguests and wet dogs took a toll on the three-story beach block property. In 2010, with kids grown and two grandchildren on the way, Kevin and Nancy, both 62, decided it was time to shore up the place for the next generation with a renovation and redecoration.

“We needed to do some extensive work. We wondered who we could get with the right combination of design talent and construction and project management skills,” says Kevin. The right person was sitting at their dinner table: daughter-in-law Erica Burns, 31, a Washington interior designer married to their son Ryan, 33. The two have a 10-month-old daughter, Elle.

Erica has a degree in construction management and previously worked for high-end residential builders. “I can read plans and understand sequencing, and I know a lot about finishes,” she says.

She also was familiar with the patterns of life by the sea among the extended family, which includes Ryan’s sister Kate Coleman, 29, married to Joe Coleman, 31, and their daughter Lindsey, 1; Ryan’s sister Jaime, 36; and three dogs.

“It was so important to me,” says Erica, who got engaged here to Ryan, who manages an investment partnership. “It’s where my family will be going for years.”

The house had lots of great relaxing spaces inside and out. On the main level, a living room, kitchen and dining room are all connected, and there’s a screened porch off to the side. “It’s a very communal type of atmosphere that can accommodate a lot of people,” Erica says. There are two bedrooms and a bath on the first floor and a family room that holds the only TV in the house. Yes, that’s on purpose: Kevin and Nancy have always felt that limiting TV to one room encourages conversation and reading in the rest.

On the second floor, there’s a master bedroom and adjoining bath and two bedrooms with another bathroom. Up a narrow spiral staircase is a loft where you can escapebabies and dogs.

Kevin, a venture capitalist, and Nancy didn’t want too much change. It was important to preserve the casual, open feel of the house. But it was showing its age. The original plan was to renovate the kitchen and bathrooms, replace carpeting with wood floors and redecorate in a cottage style. The builder-grade details on the fireplace and trim needed to be improved. There was a deadline: the work should start October 2010 and be completed by Memorial Day weekend 2011.

Like any renovation, there were surprises. They uncovered extensive water damage requiring replacement of the cedar siding with cement board plank. Although unfortunate and costly, it led to more improvements: a bigger screened porch, new windows and the opportunity to create a spacious sundeck on the second floor. “It’s the cool new favorite place to go now because it’s breezy and has a view of the beach,” Erica says.

One of her favorite makeovers was the master bath, where a monster Jacuzzi tub (so 1990s) that nobody used was replaced with a large open glass shower lined with subway tiles and a new white marble vanity. Nancy wanted a white kitchen with marble counters, a bit tricky for a beach house where kids will be spilling juice boxes and adults will be mixing margaritas. Instead of marble, Erica went to Charles Luck Stone and found Antico Namibian White granite, which is less porous and shows fewer stains than marble.

Nancy and Erica agreed there would be no baskets of shells or wooden signs saying “Beach This Way.” Erica says they “focused on colors and textures that remind you of the beach.” They painted walls the color of sand (Winds Breath by Benjamin Moore), hung an oxidized lantern and chose a cotton rug in a sea blue.

Erica and Nancy selected reclaimed wooden tables and white slipcovered sofas. The bedrooms are spare and restful. They kept a few old things, including wicker porch furniture and quilts, which have a cottage look.

Throughout the eight-month redo, the family stuck together. “A lot of people said I was crazy for doing this with my in-laws, that it was a recipe for disaster,” Erica says, “Not true.” She says only a few things required a little convincing of Nancy, such as going with granite instead of marble and replacing Palladian windows with a more contemporary style.

The people of Glasgow's East End are many things, but they are not pampered

There is no echo of steel, no molten metal being fired, no forgings or armaments being hammered out in what was once the largest steelworks in Europe. Here on its site, the only clanking to be heard is the sound of zimmer frames hitting the tiles on a shopping centre floor.

With its furnaces drawing in a workforce from across the country, the Parkhead Forge was the largest employer in the city. Now all that remains is the nomenclature, giving title to a down-at-heel shopping centre, a place that can often seem like a petri dish of everything that ails the East End of Glasgow.

Look at some of the faces here and you will see the ravages of ill health, smoking, alcohol abuse, poor diet, a lack of sunshine and a life lived without much hope. Here people aimlessly wander, hoping to fill empty days with a wee blether, a free heat and a cheap cup of tea.

It is an oft-remarked fact that the average life expectancy at birth for men round these parts is 68.1 years, five years lower than the Scottish average. And it would be a rare thing indeed for the East End man to bid his farewell to this mortal coil on a sedan chair.

So to hear Sir Tom Hunter describing this life as "pampered" would no doubt leave the poor old soul burling in his grave – and shouting that at least his early death meant one less demand on the public purse.

Hunter, Scotland's first self-made billionaire – whose riches were made selling training shoes to the nation – has declared that his fellow Scots are "pampered, dependent people who expect what others strive and graft hard for".

This was closely followed by the Daily Mail's description of the East End of Glasgow as the "benefits capital" of the UK, with almost nine out of 10 people "on welfare". It states: "Astonishing figures from the Department of Work and Pensions reveal that 85% of working age adults in Bridgeton, in the city's impoverished east end, are claiming some kind of welfare payment."

But a closer analysis of the DWP statistics for Bridgeton (not actually in the Glasgow East constituency) shows that while high at 44.1% compared with the national average of 14.8%, the total number of claimants was 1,480, and that number included those on disability and incapacity benefit and bereavement and carers allowance. People on employment and support allowance are lumped in there too.

When I think of the East End, other statistics, published by the Glasgow Centre for Population Health in 2008, spring to mind.

Approximately 1,960 patients are admitted to hospital each year for alcohol-related or attributable causes, with 420 deaths due to alcohol over the past five years. There were 800 new cancer cases and 1,400 heart disease patients admitted to hospital last year.

Just under a third of the population are classed as income-deprived. In the last year, 490 serious assaults were recorded, as well as more than 1,600 domestic abuse cases. The rate of low birth-weight babies is 62% above the Scottish average and teenage pregnancies are 42% above. Almost 16,000 people, out of a population of around 124,000, are estimated to be on prescription drugs for depression.

I grew up in the East End of Glasgow and my family have lived there for generations (almost all of them working all their lives). This is a landscape far removed from the glossy designer stores of the city centre's style mile or the coffee bars and delis of Byres Road in the West End. Here, the clutter of charity and pound shops that shoulder the pavements speak their own story. In the off-sales, wine is sold from behind bars or bulletproof glass and the Shettleston branch of Tesco rarely stocks free-range chicken since "there's not much call for it round here".

Walk these streets and you can see that gross inequalities have hammered hard into the souls of people who are disenfranchised and ignored. Their housing stock has been improved and overhauled but their lives do not thus have more meaning. Poverty and social problems are still endemic. A local minister recently told me that day by day things were only getting worse.

Safety Violations at India Plant Linked to Tuna Salmonella Outbreak

As the case count continues to rise in the nationwide Salmonella outbreak linked to raw tuna, an inspection by U.S. health officials has revealed unsanitary conditions at the India facility that produced the implicated tuna product.

On April 19, about a week after authorities announced that a ground yellowfin tuna product  imported by Moon Marine USA Corporation was the likely source of the Salmonella bacteria that had sickened 116 people, health inspectors began a 6 day review of the plant where the tuna - called Nakaochi Scrape -  was processed. The resulting report - issued by FDA's Department of Health and Human Services -  details a series of 10 sanitation slip-ups.

Of the offences, four were violations of Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) guidelines, which all foreign producers must comply with in order to export seafood to the United States.  A HACCP plan identifies all points in the processing where contamination could occur and outlines steps to prevent pathogens from entering food.

In this case, inspectors noted that Moon Fishery - from which Moon Marine Co. sources its tuna - was missing the following steps from its plan:

Monitoring for temperature on shipment vessels and testing for histamine when receiving tuna to make sure temperature wasn't too high on the harvesting vessel

In addition to HACCP violations, HHS officials reported that the facility's water and ice, both of which come into contact with fish during processing, were dirty. They also found product residue on the ceiling and on cutting knives and peeling paint above the processing line.

"Tanks used for storage of process waters have apparent visible debris, filth and microbiological contamination," noted the inspectors. "There is no laboratory analysis for water used in ice manufacturing," continued the report.

Inspectors also noted broken and cracked tiles in the floor and ceiling, which they observed can trap pathogens and make these surfaces hard to clean.

Overall, "You are not monitoring the condition or cleanliness of food contact surfaces," said the investigators in the report, addressed to the company's managing director, Dominic Sebastian.
  
Since the report was issued, Moon Marine has recalled tuna strips because the FDA isolated Salmonella in a sample that had not yet been distributed. The company agreed to recall frozen tuna strips that had already been shipped as a precautionary measure.

The outbreak involving the company's tuna scrape has now sickened at least 258 people. Illnesses come from two different strains of Salmonella: Salmonella Bareilly, which has infected 247 of the victims, and Salmonella Nchanga, which has infected 11.

Authorities tested samples of unopened Nakaochi Scrape and found Salmonella Bareilly in 2 of them. The bacteria's genetic fingerprint was indistinguishable from the type found in outbreak victims. Another specimen contained a type of Salmonella Nchanga, also indistinguishable from the Salmonella Nchanga contrated by victims.

3 Razorback football players charged with burglary

Three Arkansas football players, including wide receivers Marquel Wade and Maudrecus Humphrey, were arrested Saturday and charged with burglarizing dorm rooms.

University of Arkansas police arrested Wade, Humphrey and tight end Andrew Peterson after looking at security video in which the players allegedly walked into rooms where items had been taken. The preliminary police report valued the stolen property, including computers and textbooks, at nearly $5,000.

Razorbacks coach John L. Smith immediately and indefinitely suspended the three players in his first test of discipline since being hired to replace Bobby Petrino last month.

"We have high standards for our student-athletes, and I expect them to conduct themselves appropriately," Smith said. "Poor conduct and misbehavior will not be tolerated and is not what we expect from the University of Arkansas football program."

Six Razorback players have been arrested since March, and Saturday's arrests add to what has already been a difficult spring for Arkansas, which was 11-2 last season and finished the season ranked No. 5 after a Cotton Bowl win over Kansas State.

Petrino was fired April 10 after initially trying to cover up the fact he was riding with his mistress during an April 1 motorcycle accident. The married father of four later admitted to an inappropriate relationship with Jessica Dorrell, who Petrino had hired to work in the football department and had given $20,000 in gifts.

In mid-March, offensive tackle Jason Peacock was arrested and charged with using a stolen debit card to buy $35 worth of gas. Wide receiver Kane Whitehurst was charged with possession of a controlled substance and drug paraphernalia in early April, and linebacker Tyler Gilbert was arrested in mid-April for allegedly taking part in an apartment break-in.

Wade, a sophomore, is the top returning player of the three after finishing with eight catches for 62 yards last season. He was one of Arkansas' top offensive threats during its recently completed spring practice, finishing with five touchdown catches during one scrimmage, and was being counted on to replace the three former Razorbacks receivers (Joe Adams, Jarius Wright and Greg Childs) who were taken in the fourth round of the NFL draft.

Wade was also one of Arkansas' top special teams' players last season, averaging 25.6 yards per kickoff return and returning one kick 85 yards for a touchdown.

He was suspended for the Razorbacks' game against South Carolina after being ejected for a late hit on a Vanderbilt punt returner, leveling the Commodores' Jonathan Krause as he was looking up before he had the ball. Wade later apologized for the hit, but only after he was ejected and escorted off the field upon becoming animated.

Wade was charged Saturday with one felony count of burglary. Humphrey, a junior, and Peterson, a redshirt freshman, are both charged with nine felony counts of burglary.

The case began after an Arkansas student reported on May 1 that her laptop had been stolen from her unlocked dorm room. Over the next seven days, police had a total of 10 reports of stolen items, including cash and DVDs, from four different dorm buildings.

The police reviewed security video from the dorms and said they observed Wade, Humphrey and Peterson walking the hallways, checking doors and entering rooms. Police also said a witness saw Peterson and Humphrey opening doors, and police said another witness identified Peterson as having been in her room

Some of the stolen items were recovered from a bookstore near campus, along with in Peterson's room, and the report said a store clerk identified the three as regularly selling used items.

Records from the Washington County Jail indicate the players have a court hearing on Monday. The records do not indicate whether they have attorneys.