Conceived by Godfrey Thobejane Directed by Khethiwe Dlamini Co-Director Godfrey Thobejane This is a play about how damage is handed down from generation to generation. A daughter – Matlakala – has a mother who is an addict. She finds herself falling under the same dark cloud as her mother while trying to raise Zazi, her daughter. Will Zazi’s grandfather be able to save his granddaughter? Or has fate marked the next generation too? Will Zazi’s mother be able to escape the fate that ruined her mother? Next Sunday is the latest winner of the Market Theatre Laboratory’s Zwakala Festiva...
A political satire by Allan Kolski Horwitz featuring David James and Lebohang Motaung Directed by Alby Michaels The phenomenon of Brett Kebble, who perpetrated the biggest corporate fraud in South Africa’s history and was then mysteriously killed in 2005 (in what appears to have been an ‘assisted suicide’) is a microcosm of the major fault lines in the New South Africa as well as being an exploration of universal archetypes. In this South African manifestation of megalomania and indulgence, Kebble, an articulate, charismatic but paranoid figure, styled himself as an entrepreneur who wou...
Robyn Orlin’s Daddy explores politics in the arts in terms of performance empowerment and ownership of space. Six performers fight over the same space while they wait for their director to arrive for a performance. The performers wait in panic five minutes before the show, but the director does not arrive. Their waiting becomes the background against which the collage of dances is set. 2003’s winner of an Olivier, Orlin continuously pushes the boundaries of performance and dance. Her new work is a startling reflection on one of the most serious threats of Africa’s future, HIV/AIDS. Des...
Cape Town based contemporary dance company, iKapa Dance Theatre, will be partnering with Johannesburg based music duo, African Explosiv in the exciting nationwide tour of the emotionally engaging performance: Inhale/Exhale.Following its successful premiere in Maputo, Mozambique in March, the South African tour of this full length, dance theatre production commences at The Market Theatre Lab. Inhale/Exhale combines the artistic and technical excellence of iKapa choreographers, Tanya Arshamian and Theo Ndindwa, with the unique musical talents of African Explosiv’s Thokozani Mhlambi and No...
Market Theatre in association with Standard Bank and Think Theatre present Abnormal Loads Written by 2011 Standard Bank Young Artist Neil Coppen Directed Neil Coppen and Jana Ramos Violante Writer/director Neil Coppen (creator of Tin Bucket Drum and Tree Boy), has set his latest play in a fictional battlefield town situated in the once war ravaged valleys of northern KwaZulu-Natal. It has been described in the national press as a breathtaking amalgamation of ghost story, love drama, historical epic and dark comedy. When thirty-year-old loner Vincent Liversage meets sixteen-year-old Katrien J...
After a 3 year absence, stand-up comedian Stuart Taylor returns to the Market Theatre with his latest solo offering, Money’s Too Tight To Mention. Created by the award-winning duo of Stuart Taylor and director Heinrich Reisenhofer the show gives fresh and hilarious perspective on the way we deal with money and pokes fun at the crazy things we do to get and stay ahead in life. With Taylor’s delivery style described as classy, laid back and infectious, Money’s Too Tight To Mention explores the ups and downs on the roller-coaster ride of aspiration, the effects of the current financial cr...
PLEASE NOTE DUE TO DEMAND THE WOZA ALBERT SEASON IS EXTENDED TILL 17 JUNE 2012! Market Theatre, by arrangement with DALRO (Pty) Limited, presents Woza Albert ! Written By Percy Mtwa, Mbongeni Ngema and Barney Simon Starring Mncedisi Baldwin Shabangu and Hamilton Ntokozo Dlamini Directed by Prince Lamla Woza Albert! is one of the plays for which South African theatre is best known internationally. Its physical style of storytelling was to inspire and influence theatre companies around the world – and it is one of the best examples that define South African theatre in all its vibrancy, innova...
Dance Umbrella 2012 will be the 25 MINUS 1 equals the 24th edition of this internationally acclaimed dance platform and the programme will feature a celebration of contemporary dance, performance art, Afro-fusion, dance film and video and internationally renowned South African choreographers. The shows featured at the Market Theatre are: EXIT/EXIST by Gregory Maqoma Directed by James Ngcobo, music composed by Simphiwe Dana Main Theatre 17 & 18 Feb @ 20h30 & 19 Feb @ 15h00 The core of this piece is memory; rephrasing the notion of existence and the notion of simply existing in order t...
Tshabi Girl Productions in association with the Market Theatre presents Shwele Bawo Shwele Bawo looks at the juxtaposition of old traditions fighting for survival against modern ways in South Africa and the effect this has on society. Through the story of the protagonist, Dikeledi Nkabinde, told retrospectively from Dikeledi’s place of imprisonment, many themes create multiple layers for thought: identity crises among men and women; the disintegration of family structures; women and child abuse; relationships; incest; the power of the media and the inequalities in our justice system...
SOLD OUT UNTIL 5 FEBRUARY 2011 NEW SEASON FROM 12 MARCH 2012 The Market Theatre, by arrangement with DALRO (Pty) Limited, presents Woza Albert! Written By Percy Mtwa, Mbongeni Ngema and Barney Simon. Starring Mncedisi Baldwin Shabangu and Hamilton Ntokozo Dlamini. Directed by Prince Lamla. Woza Albert! is one of the plays for which South African theatre is best known internationally. Its physical style of storytelling was to inspire and influence theatre companies around the world – and it is one of the best examples that define South African theatre in all its vibrancy, innovation and huma...
The Market Theatre, by arrangement with Josef Weinberger Plays Limited, London, presents presents Yellowman Back by Popular Demand Following its phenomenal success at three South African Arts Festivals and a tour of Holland, acclaimed US playwright Dael Orlandersmith’s compelling love story, Yellowman, returns to the Market Theatre. Director Lara Bye once again confirms her passion for powerful storytelling with this explosive two-hander, beautifully and unforgettably brought to life by David Johnson and Mwenya Kabwe, who won a Fleur Du Cap for Best Actress for her role as Alma. Yellow...
Kosie House of Theatre and The Market Theatre presents Somewhere on the Border Writer: Anthony Akerman Director: André Odendaal Designer: Kosie Smit The horrors of a lost generation will be brought into stark relief when Somewhere on the Border, written by Anthony Akerman and directed by Andre Odendaal, is presented at the Market Theatre from 10 January to 12 February. The play was written by Akerman while in exile, intercepted in the post and banned as a publication by apartheid censorship because the language was considered “offensive” and the...
Village Gossip Production in association with the Market Theatre Laboratory presents Napo Masheane and The Fat Black Women Sing Renowned, acclaimed and celebrated poet Napo Masheane is poised to set the stage alight with her latest reworked offering titled Napo Masheane and The Fat Black Women Sing and the launch of her new poetry anthology “Fat Songs For My Girlfriends”. This evocative theatrical performance marries the best of spoken word and jazzy songs that are set to dazzle audiences at the Market Theatre Laboratory from the 8 - 11 December 2011. As a writer, poet and director Napo Ma...
From the bedroom to the battlefield: 6 -10 December 2011 To coincide with the annual 16 Days of Activism Campaign, UNDP and UNFPA in collaboration with the Department of Arts and Culture, Department for Women, Children and People with Disabilities, the Films and Publications Board (FPB), UNWomen, UNICEF, and foreign missions such as the Jamaican High Commission, British High Commission and the Department for International Development (DFID); with Women of the Sun and Nayanaya Pictures are hosting a 16 Days of Activism Film Festival entitled ‘From the Bedroom to the Battlefield’. Fil...
PODIUM…THE COMEDY MERCHANTS PRESENT SIYABONGA RADEBE’S – SMILES & CRIES PROUDLY BROUGHT TO YOU BY DStv COMPACT Enlivened by the recent successes of live local stand up comedy, popular actor and rising comedy star Siyabonga Radebe’s brings to life his much anticipated one man stand up comedy show – Smiles & Cries. It will run at the Market Theatre from the 24 November to 4 December 2011 and is bound to allow audiences to see Siya like they have never seen him before. Smiles and Cries is about the trials and tribulations of a young township boy from Kwazulu Natal and his jo...