John Kani and Sir Anthony Sher deliver stellar performances in this memorable two-hander. Set in Post Apartheid South Africa, the RSC's Kunene And The King toys with notions of identity, belonging and guilt, set against the backdrop of mortality and, well, Shakespeare. Lots of Shakespeare. One of the play's most powerful moments is a joint recital of passages from King Lear, first by Sher in English and then by Kani in isiXhosa. It's a beautiful scene that shows how the same words, the same scene, can be experienced in such different ways.

The 90-odd minute production manages to pack in a lot of themes as well as allow the characters of actor Jack Morris (Sher) and nurse-carer Lunga Kunene (Kani) to be developed. Morris is every bit the aged actor, still riding the wave of his former fame and struggling to come to terms with his own mortality. Kani is civil as his carer but becomes unraveled when Morris visits him in his own home in Soweto. Because the play tries to pack in so much, some key issues aren't given the time they really need to be explored in enough depth. Issues like the on-going crime in South Africa is attributed largely to its colonial past, a casual and unsatisfactory explanation for a very complex issue.

Janice Honeyman's direction allows each of these acting greats enough space for their performances to shine rather than compete with each other. Sher does particularly well in portraying a dying man who fights hard to hang onto the luxury of denial which his status as a white male South African has afforded him. Additional credit must go to him for, on the night we went, he had just learned that former RSC director Terry Hands had passed away. After the curtains closed, a visibly emotional and shaking Sher asked the audience to stand for an ovation in memory of Hands. Despite struggling with his own loss, Sher had managed to ensure the show went on, surely the perfect tribute to his close friend.

Kunene And The King may not be the in-depth debate of morality and mortality in Post-Apartheid South Africa that it professes to be. It is, however, a well-helmed production with excellent casting that allows a glimpse into the many conflicting cultures and perspectives that make South Africa the incredible country that it is. Being South African myself, I might be slightly biased though. You'll have to see it to make up your own mind - the play, the country or, ideally, both.

Four Stars