1937

Join us at Amber Glades for a riveting live talk by Michael Charton – 1937.

The untold human story behind the 1937 Springboks in New Zealand.

"1937" traces the extraordinary adventure of the 1937 Springbok rugby team on their tour of Australia and New Zealand. A tour which began as an attempt to reinvent the flagging Springbok brand, but which quickly transformed into something much bigger.

For in being released from a throttling political narrative in South Africa, these young men were able express themselves both as rugby players and as human beings. They did so famously to capture the imagination of New Zealand.

1937 is a celebration of rugby's unique value system and the great characters it produces. A reminder of what is truly important in life and legacy.

18:00 for 18:30.

Includes light refreshments.

MICHAEL CHARTON

As an accounting student at Stellenbosch University, Michael came to realise how little he knew about the South African story. Accordingly (having qualified as a chartered accountant in 2004) he made the unorthodox decision to study history.

Initially it was a simple pursuit in curiosity, however, it developed into something bigger. A passion for the great untold stories of South Africa's past and their potential for bridging the divides which continue to hamper our potential.The product was a chasm between his financial career (paying the bills) and a life-passion which was consuming Michael's everyday thoughts.

Meanwhile a trip to the KwaZulu Natal Battlefields in 2005 to witness David Rattray speak on the Battle of Isandlwana, exposed Michael to the transformative powers of a beautifully-told story. So emerged the idea that storytelling could (potentially) be applied beyond specific battles, to capture the broader brushstrokes of South African history.

Michael marinated over that idea for the next decade as he continued his studies. But by 2015, his ideas were sufficiently precise, prompting Michael's to exit his corporate career and found INHERIT SOUTH AFRICA (Pty) Ltd.

Michael's approach reveals the core dynamics of our past by exploring the lives and interactions of carefully selected characters. At face value, it is a simple model, but in drawing on our instinctive human capacity for connection, Michael inspires empathy on both sides of our great human divides, so goading his audiences to appreciate complexity at a time when so much of the information we consume has been stripped of its nuance.