Imaginative and Allegorical Play – Afropocalypse – Returns to Jo’burg
The award-winning production “Afropocalypse” returns to Jo’burg after a critically acclaimed run at the 2025 National Arts Festival, where it won the festival’s highest Fringe accolade—the Standard Bank Gold Ovation Award. Running at The Market Theatre from 19 November – 7 December 2025, this energetic and hugely imaginative production follows the journey of a group of storytellers in an apocalyptic setting as they share their fables of hope and resilience.
We’re all used to apocalyptic imaginings, but what would an apocalypse in the African context look like? How would its survivors tell the story as they rise from the ruins?
Directed by Daniel Buckland, “Afropocalypse” was originally produced by The Market Theatre Laboratory as their student production in 2024. It played to sold-out runs at The Ramolao Makhene Theatre, becoming a hit and instant favourite for audiences. The fourteen-strong ensemble now present the work in their professional debut in the Mannie Manim Theatre at The Market Theatre. The brilliantly entertaining work uses physical comedy and tragic magic realism to paint a vivid and vibrant picture of the past, present and speculative future. The stories they tell are inspired by a myriad of South African voices, from Credo Mutwa to Jan Rabie, to our shared collection of modern South African myths and fables, all interwoven in a comical tapestry of catastrophe and release.