John van de Ruit
John van de Ruit was born in Durban and educated at Michaelhouse and the University of Natal (now KwaZulu-Natal ) where he completed his Masters Degree (Cum laude ) in Drama and Performance studies. Van de Ruit has performed in a number of productions and highlights include title roles in Hamlet and Master Harold… and the Boys and appearing in his own play War Cry for which he received a best actor FNB VITA award nomination. He has also been seen in Greig Coetzee's Seeing Red and Athol Fugard's, People are Living There, for which he received a FNB VITA award nomination. He has also starred in an independent film called, I Shot Lucy and an ABC docudrama Global Health, due to be screened in America. Together with actor Ben Voss he received the Johannesburg Naledi award for best comedy performance for Green Mamba (2004). Most recently, together with Ben Voss, he has been nominated for best performance in a comedy or revue for his performance in Black Mamba.
As a writer, John van de Ruit has won a number of awards including an FNB VITA award for best script and the Noupoort award for new writing, both for his play War Cry. He has also won two awards for his co-writing of Green Mamba. In 2004 he directed, produced and wrote his second full length play Crooked which premièred at the 2004 Hilton Festival. The long awaited Mamba sequel opened in July 2005 when Black Mamba premiered at the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown to both critical and popular acclaim. Black Mamba won the Durban Theatre Award (2005) for Best New Script. From May 2006, Black Mamba will be touring to The Liberty Theatre in Johannesburg, The National Arts Festival in Grahamstown and returning to the Heritage Theatre in Hillcrest before embarking on a tour to London.
His first novel, Spud, published by Penguin Books and launched nationally in September 2005, became an instant bestseller. The book was also selected for the Exclusive Books Publishers Choice 2005.