Age: 82
male
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Bonsile John Kani (born 1943) is a South African actor, director and playwright. He was born in New Brighton, South Africa. Kani joined The Serpent Players (a group of actors whose first performance was in the former snake pit of the zoo, hence the name) in Port Elizabeth in 1965 and helped to create many plays that went unpublished but were performed to a resounding reception. These were followed by the more famous Sizwe Banzi is Dead and The Island, co-written with Athol Fugard and Winston Ntshona, in the early 1970s. He also received an Olivier nomination for his role in My Children My Africa! Kani's work has been widely performed around the world, including New York, where he and Winston Ntshona won a Tony Award in 1975 for Sizwe Banzi Is Dead and The Island. These two plays were presented in repertory at the Edison Theatre for a total of 52 performances. Nothing but the Truth (2002) was his debut as sole playwright and was first performed in the Market Theatre in Johannesburg. This play takes place in post-apartheid South Africa and does not concern the conflicts between whites and blacks, but the rift between blacks who stayed in South Africa to fight apartheid, and those who left only to return when the hated regime folded. It won the 2003 Fleur du Cap Awards for best actor and best new South African play. In the same year he was also awarded a special Obie award for his extraordinary contribution to theatre in the USA. Kani is executive trustee of the Market Theatre Foundation, founder and director of the Market Theatre Laboratory and chairman of the National Arts Council of SA. Description above from the Wikipedia article John Kani, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
In a dark period for Wakanda, King Azzuri is dying, leaving the kingdom in limbo. His sons, T’Chaka and S’Yan, are divided over who should inherit the throne, with S’Yan nearly hating his brother over the succession. T’Chaka is the people’s choice to become king and the next Black Panther with Ramonda being pregnant, while Wakanda’s uneasy alliance with Atlantis begins to collapse. Sensing Wakanda’s weakness, Kraven the Hunter arrives with a team of hunters—Klaw, Chameleon, and a young Taskmaster—armed with technology capable of countering vibranium. The hunters exploit Wakanda’s political divisions, infiltrating the kingdom and launching attacks. Chameleon is eventually exposed when he disguises himself as Azzuri, only to be discovered by T’Chaka and imprisoned before being sent to the Raft in New York. Klaw is also defeated, leaving Kraven and Taskmaster as the final threats. As the chaos escalates, Wakanda struggles to protect its royal family and must decide who will become the Black Panther. Azzuri is critically wounded amid the fighting. Before he can die naturally, Taskmaster finds him and kills him. S’Yan, enraged, takes the Black Panther suit despite never completing the ritual and attacks Taskmaster without its powers. For the first time, Taskmaster cannot keep up. Though S’Yan nearly defeats him, Kraven intervenes to save his younger ally, killing S’Yan before fleeing with Taskmaster. T’Chaka arrives too late and confronts Kraven at the waterfall. With no time for the ritual, the two fight as ordinary men in a brutal, bloody battle. Both are pushed to their limits, but T’Chaka finally overpowers Kraven, beats him down, strikes him with his own dagger, and knocks him over the waterfall. T’Chaka is hailed as Wakanda’s rightful king. During his coronation, he honors S’Yan as the true king—the man who fought for his father and kingdom without power, just as T’Chaka did. He vows to protect Wakanda and then undergoes the ritual, becoming its new Black Panther.
