Desert Chess, a monodrama about Stephen McGown’s capture and being held for ransom for nearly six years by Al Qaeda, will be performed at Artscape’s Arena Theatre from 3-14 November 2026.

Written by Mike van Graan, the creative team features other multiple award winners in Wessel Pretorius, the performer, director Wolf Britz, Philip Miller who composes the soundscape and Marcos Martins, responsible for the visuals.

After living in the United Kingdom for a number of years, South African Stephen McGown undertakes a bucket list trip on his motorbike from London to Cape Town.

He gets to the ancient city of Timbuktu in Mali, where he is captured by an Al Qaeda cell, along with a Swedish biker and a Dutch citizen.

They are transported into the world’s largest hot desert and are moved from camp to camp, unsure of whether they will live or die, with negotiations for their release hinted at only through irregular proof-of-life videos.

This enthralling story is captured in the Daily Maverick publication, Six Years with Al Qaeda as told to and recorded by Tudor Caradoc-Davies.

The stage adaptation is based on the book and condenses McGown’s six-year journey of anxiety, hope, loss, resilience and self-discovery into a 70-minute solo drama.

Stephen’s family manages to send Stephen a chess board, which helps to shift his mind from his plight at times, but which also serves as a metaphor for his journey.

In the book, he says “Getting out of the desert wasn’t chess, but it was a high-stakes game with kings, queens and emirs, knights and mujahideen, bishops and mullahs.  The board was massive, with many moving parts, ancient genesis stories, long-held vendettas and alliances that shifted with the sand.”

The play runs at 18:00 Tuesdays to Saturdays and at 13:00 on Saturdays too.

Tickets are available on Webtickets, with a low-price preview on Tuesday 3 November, and pensioner and student rates throughout the run.

Should you wish to purchase additional tickets or recommend the show to others, PLEASE  book through https://www.webtickets.co.za/v2/event.aspx?itemid=1603918662

For more information, contact Mike van Graan on art27m@iafrica.com