Six Years with Al Qaeda

drama
Written by Mike VAN GRAAN | Performed by Ashley DOWDS
PG 13+

Six Years with Al Qaeda is the stage adaptation of Stephen McGown’s real-life story of his capture and being held by Al Qaeda in the Sahara Desert for six years.

Stephen McGown, a South African based in London, decided to head back to Cape Town and realise a bucket list dream, to do so by riding his motorcycle from London to Cape Town.

He got as far as Mali when he and other internationals were kidnapped by Al Qaeda and held for ransom.

His story has been captured in a book published by the Daily Maverick.

This one-person play is an adaptation of the book that both tells the story and provokes discussion around key questions to do with identity, religion-textured conflicts, the way we view the ‘other’ and the human struggle to survive.