This work introduces the songstress’s creative “evolved” ego and producer tag, “Rha”, who takes centre stage in the telling of this personable, vulnerable, quirky and sensual story. “Rha!” is the South African expression usually associated with disgust. In this case, it is used as an expression of audacity, which is what expressing freely requires.

The phrase also means “places of water”. This is the code to this secret music and the secret place in all of us.

“I am a musical chameleon who is excited to share that with people. I feel anchored in all we’ve been able to collectively create and build over the years, and I feel ready to expand on that through what has been a childlike exploration and fire beneath my feet. Much of my practice involves being anchored by the discomfort that can accompany the music-making process. It is in the digging deep that I intend to express and encourage the necessary freedoms that can only emerge from being refined in that fire,” Zoë Modiga shares.

She continues, “We have cultivated a culture around the music, imaging and messaging, and now I wish to share the in-betweens, the unknowns, and ultimately the beauty in creating from that. I wish for many things; I wish to find the innocence and play that music always brought out of me from an early age. I recognise the layers and textures as they describe the multiplicity that has always existed with me. More than anything, I champion humanising myself and all my listeners with this record.”

Zoë Modiga returns to The Market Theatre during its year-long 50^th anniversary celebrations, which – among others – aim to highlight the power of music in confronting injustices and giving audiences a vocabulary of love, hope and resistance. As she lends her powerful voice to this crucial milestone, heritage meets innovation to create a legacy for the future.

Don’t miss this powerful performance on 23 April 2026 in the John Kani Theatre. Unlock “The Vault” and discover the wonders hidden within you.

The show starts at 7:30pm. Tickets are out on Webtickets.

This upcoming performance will showcase a selection of Zawadi’s beloved tracks and her latest singles “Ngimuhle” and “Mama”, capturing the essence of her musical journey. Each song is infused with deep emotional resonance and cultural significance, offering listeners a unique experience.

Joining Zawadi on stage will be a stellar lineup of featured artists, including The Soil, a renowned Afro-soul band known for their harmonious vocals and socially conscious lyrics, Sindiswa Zulu, a rising star in the music scene, and a guest act yet to be confirmed, whose dynamic performances are sure to enhance the evening’s entertainment. Together, they promise to create an unforgettable atmosphere filled with vibrant energy and rich musical variety.

Tickets for the event are available now, and early booking is highly recommended given the anticipated demand. This concert provides an excellent opportunity for fans to experience live music in a captivating venue, and supports the local arts scene.

The show arrives at The Market Theatre as it marks 50 years of bold storytelling, with programming that is in part dedicated to highlighting the power of song and sound in confronting injustice and giving audiences the vocabulary of hope, love and resistance.

Zawadi Yamungu invites music lovers of all backgrounds to join her on this special night, as she celebrates the power of music to connect communities and uplift spirits. This performance at The Market Theatre is not just a concert; it’s a celebration of culture, unity and the enduring beauty of African music.

Tickets for Ngimuhle Album Tour are out on Webtickets.

“This show is a homecoming for my music and my spirit,” shares Berita. “Moving into the John Kani Theatre allows us to truly honour the heart. I want to share the stories behind the songs and the moments in between that have echoed in my soul over the years.”

Audiences can expect a meticulously curated journey through Berita’s chart-topping hits and soulful renditions of beloved classics, all reimagined for a world-class theatre stage.

Don’t miss this once-off unforgettable night that honours your heart and echoes your soul.

Tickets for “Echoes of the Soul” are available at Webtickets.

Safe, secure and affordable underground parking available at Newtown Junction.

It is directed and choreographed by Emma Crystal, with musical direction by Dr. Ashley K. Davis.

The show arrives at The Market Theatre as part of Black History Month, which marks its 100th year in 2026. The centenary calls for an honest reflection on memory, healing, culture, as well as the condition and position of Black bodies in an increasingly divided world. This milestone coincides with The Market Theatre’s 50^th anniversary, a powerful connection that presents a rich opportunity for representation and amplification of unheard voices.  

In addition, this month-long international engagement arrives in South Africa in the 70th anniversary of the historic 9 August 1956 Women’s March, putting a much needed spotlight on Black women’s struggles across the world and highlighting the shared challenges we face.

Playing alongside South Africa’s musical theatre classic “Marabi”, this curated season of musical work at The Market Theatre celebrates the influence of song and sound across the USA and South Africa in confronting injustice and giving oppressed people a vocabulary of resistance and hope. 

Founder and CEO of Hattiloo Theatre, Ekundayo Bandele, and Artistic Director of The Market Theatre Foundation, Greg Homann, highlight the common histories between the two theatres in staging socially engaged works that prick at their respective nations’ collective conscience.

“From South Africa to the U.S., generations of oppressed people have sung their way up against discrimination, racism, subjugation and dispossession as an unstoppable wave. This year as we proudly present ‘Blues in the Night’ for its African premiere, we also celebrate music’s  ability to remind us of our shared humanity despite our fractured times,” shares Homann.

“The centenary of Black History Month finds us at a crossroad as a nation, as we interrogate the various histories that have shaped our democracy. In the local context, ‘Blues in the Night’ is a commemoration of the courage of the women of 1956, the fearless spirit of the youth behind the 1976 uprisings and the brave hearts who bared themselves open at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in pursuit of justice 30 years ago. As The Market Theatre celebrates 50 years of artistic excellence, it does so not only as a crucible for South African theatre, but also a stage that shaped the country’s cultural identity.”

Ekundayo Bandele is excited about the upcoming season in Africa. “Taking ‘Blues in the Night’ to The Market Theatre in Johannesburg is an incredible honour for Hattiloo. I’m deeply proud to share our work on an international stage and to create a moment where Memphis artists can carry our stories, our sound, and our spirit across the world,” he says.

This cultural intersection between the two socially conscious theatres will also see a South African production travel to Memphis this year for a season. This, states Homann, is in line with The Market Theatre’s approach to international collaboration, aimed at ensuring that partnerships benefit local talent.

Don’t miss this wonderful chance to enjoy the best of Memphis talent at The Market Theatre for a powerful celebration in February of music, history and heritage.

                                                                                                                                         ENDS.

The Market Theatre is a Division of The Market Theatre Foundation, an agency of the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture.

 For reduced price block bookings (of 10 or more) and school groups, contact Anthony Ezeoke (Audience Development) at AnthonyE@markettheatre.co.za or 083 246 4950.

For media enquiries, please contact Bongiwe Potelwa (Publicist at The Market Theatre Foundation) at bongiwep@markettheatre.co.za or (011) 832 1641.

The story follows the tranquil village of Hlanzeka, where the bonds that knit this community quickly begin to fray when residents discover that their lives and homes lie directly in the path of a planned new coal mine. With courage and relentless faith, an environmental defender known as ‘Mam Nomsa’ (portrayed by Mpume Mthombeni) leads the charge against the land-hungry mine and fosters a fragile resistance to defend her home, history and ancestors. 

Churches, school halls, fields and kitchens become her battle grounds, while bees, birds, elephants and a faithful dog guide her way as she tries to unite her people against the destruction masked as progress that wears an all too familiar face. Worn down by the might of the system, soon the growl of machines reverberates across the same valley, poisoning the hearts and minds of the people of Hlanzeka along with their water and land. Her community, too, rejects her defence of their land, seeing her instead as standing in their way to prosperity.

“Her community,” states co-writer and director Neil Coppen, “are not united and she must confront corrupt traditional leaders, mounting threats to her family’s safety, and the bitter irony of being declared an enemy of the very people whose lives and land she is fighting to preserve. Joined by a puppeteered elephant matriarch called Ndlovukazi, their journeys pose urgent questions about who decides what progress looks like. What is the cost of development when the dead are displaced along with the living? And who becomes the ‘enemy’ when truth threatens power?”

The highly anticipated brand new production features an incredible cast of twelve, led by Mpume Mthombeni, Tony Miyambo, Billy Langa, Minenhle Skhosana, Zesuliwe Hadebe and Sabelo Sekgoto. It is co-written by Neil Coppen, Tony Miyambo, Mpume Mthombeni and Dr Dylan McGarry and directed by Coppen, with original music, score and choreography by Nhlanhla Mahlangu, set and puppetry design by Dylan McGarry and Craig Leo. Puppetry direction by Craig Leo, lighting design by Tina le Roux and sound design by Tristan Horton. Additional musical and sound elements by Guy Buttery.

Greg Homann, Artistic Director of The Market Theatre Foundation, says this hard-hitting musical drama is set in KZN but bears profound resemblance of the 140-years-old history of Johannesburg, a city built on the gold rush, migrant labour towards the mines and forced removals to make space for industry.

“As The Market Theatre celebrates 50 years of bold storytelling, welcoming this strongly relevant play continues on our legacy as a  performance space renowned for being unafraid to take on difficult subjects in beautifully crafted theatrical ways, holding the powerful accountable and amplifying bold voices such as those of environmental defenders. We’re overjoyed that the production – with its strongly aligned themes – sits with us in our crucial anniversary year,” remarks Homann.

The play has been devised by the award-winning KZN-based company Empatheatre whose multiple Naledi Theatre Awards winning work “Isidlamlilo/The Fire Eater” as well as “The Last Country” had a run at The Market Theatre in 2024 and 2025 respectively.

The theatre project is supported and made possible by The Naia Trust, the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), Collaboration of Humanities and Social Sciences in Europe (CHANSE),  Humanities in the European Research Area (HERA), groundWork,  Rhodes University and the University of Southampton.

Don’t miss this bold new piece as it premieres at The Market Theatre. Tickets are available on Webtickets, with special prices for preview performances and half-price Wednesdays.

ENDS.

The Market Theatre is a Business Unit of The Market Theatre Foundation, an agency of the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture.

 For reduced price block bookings (of 10 or more) and school groups, contact Anthony Ezeoke (Audience Development) at AnthonyE@markettheatre.co.za or 083 246 4950.

For media enquiries, please contact Bongiwe Potelwa (Publicist at The Market Theatre Foundation) at bongiwep@markettheatre.co.za or (011) 832 1641.

The cast includes Gontse Ntshegang (South Africa), Amernis Nokshiqi (North Macedonia) Ilire Vinca (Kosovo), Kensiwe Tshabalala (South Africa), Arben Bajraktaraj (Kosovo/Frace), Les Made (South Africa), and Bongile Gorata Lecoge-Zulu (South Africa).

Through humour and piercing performance, this exceptional cast takes you into the heart of a commission, mirroring the pain victims felt when confronting those who have committed ghastly horrors, while exposing how systems of violence break generations. It is a moving, irreverent, and aesthetically rich journey through the complexity of national acts of healing.

The script – originally workshopped by Junction Avenue Theatre Company – is brought to life by a nine-member cast that features Sello Sebotsane (as Mabongo), Katleho Moloi (as Ginger George) and Gabisile Tshabalala (as Martha), to mention a few.

Staged in the 140^th year since Johannesburg was formed, the piece in 2026 presents an important reflection on the city’s unique cultural identity, artistic richness and movement of people. It looks into the introduction of recorded music and the exploitation of artists that followed, bearing rich reflection for the music industry, especially for up-and-coming musicians. This local classic further exposes the evils of the apartheid regime’s forced removals, which uprooted families from Doornfontein to Soweto in order to achieve its ideology of segregation.

Director Arthur Molepo calls the revival of “Marabi” during The Market Theatre’s landmark year a profound tribute to South Africa’s cultural heritage. “This is not just a classic story retold with a fresh voice and sound,” he explains. “It’s also an opportunity to bridge generations of artists, promote social cohesion and preserve our country’s musical heritage. This piece speaks to the power of music as a transcendent force, using rhythm to guide us back to our roots.”

For The Market Theatre, opening its 50th anniversary year with this uniquely South African work illustrates its proud legacy as the people’s theatre.

Greg Homann, Artistic Director at The Market Theatre Foundation, states: “Our 50th celebrations will be guided by our principles of fearless storytelling, shared ownership and programming that reflects our nation’s diversity. This work is a signature South African theatre piece that will be enjoyed by both our legacy audiences as well as new theatre-goers of any age, giving them access to a period that defined the soul of the city. It’s a perfect play to sit as our 50^th Anniversary season premiere, as we look back at the past and set the tone for the future.”

Homann further notes that just as marabi rose from the hardship of one of Johannesburg’s toughest spaces to become the city’s defining cultural sound and movement, The Market Theatre too was born in the wake of one of apartheid’s darkest tragedies: June 16, 1976. “We opened our doors in the same week as the Youth Uprising, which rooted The Market to a legacy of using artistic expression to resist oppression. It feels especially fitting, then, to begin our 50th-anniversary year with a production that celebrates how music and dance have shaped our social life and created a sense of home for generations of migrants navigating a fast-paced and unfamiliar city,” he says.

Get ready to start your year with a theatrical experience that reminds us of South Africa’s true gift to the world: the power of sound, movement and storytelling.

Tickets for the show are available on Webtickets via The Market Theatre’s website, with special festive season prices at R150 available till 11 January 2026. Reduced price bookings of 4 or more and half-price Wednesdays are also on sale.

Affordable, safe and secure underground parking is available at the Newtown Junction.

                                                                                                                                      ENDS.

The Market Theatre is a Division of The Market Theatre Foundation, an agency of the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture.

 For reduced price block bookings (of 10 or more) and school groups, contact Anthony Ezeoke (Audience Development) at AnthonyE@markettheatre.co.za or 083 246 4950.

For media enquiries, contact Bongiwe Potelwa (Publicist at the Market Theatre Foundation) at bongiwep@markettheatre.co.za or (011) 832 1641.

“Using the metaphor of a missing teddy bear, the show appeals to young audiences with a powerful message that breaks down an otherwise heavy topic to entertain and educate children. This production is a beacon of hope, a call to action, and a testament to the resilience of the human spirit.  While the subject matter is intense, the production is crafted with care to ensure an engaging and thought-provoking experience,” said Andile Vilakazi.

The Market Theatre Kippies Fringe, which has delivered exceptional developmental works throughout the year, nears its glorious end with a number of productions scheduled for November. The month’s programming is themed around healing, reflection and renewal. This play continues to engage our collective conscience, interrogating how we treat the most vulnerable. Again, it offers affected people a moment to grieve and heal, while sharing educational information about children’s safety.

This is  a production that will leave audiences moved, inspired and motivated to act against South Africa’s worsening crisis of missing children.

Tickets are out on Webtickets for R100.

                                                                                                                                                ENDS.

Kippies Fringe is an initiative of The Market Theatre, curated by Art Cave.

The Market Theatre is a Division of The Market Theatre Foundation, an agency of the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture.

 For media enquiries, please contact Bongiwe Potelwa (Publicist at The Market Theatre Foundation) at bongiwep@markettheatre.co.za or (011) 832 1641.

 For reduced price block bookings of 10 or more and school groups, contact Anthony Ezeoke (Audience Development Specialist at The Market Theatre Foundation) at anthonye@markettheatre.co.za or 083 246 4950.

Not only in love relationships but also in global politics and wars. I was drawn to the original play by Euripides because of the relevance of its themes, but also because of its heightened language, heightened emotion that tells a domestic story of love, betrayal and survival.”

Gerard Bester, Head of The Windybrow Arts Centre, adds that “Medea” presents a reframing of marginalisation, calling for deeper understanding of each other’s lived experiences. “The work forces us to engage, in the most visceral way, what desperation can do to us to create havoc and destruction to those close to us and ourselves. How poverty and finding oneself unwanted in a foreign land can lead to this destruction. The work demands understanding, empathy and compassion for humans who perform horrific acts under the most difficult of circumstances.”

“Medea” is a collaboration between The Windybrow Arts Centre, Kwasha! Theatre Company as well as Playgroup, a multidisciplinary art collective whose interest lies in how Johannesburg is experienced through sound. Chloe Whittstock designs set and costumes, Andile Mgeyi choreographs and Themba Mthimkulu designs lighting. The cast comprises Gofaone Bodigelo, Londa Mkhize, Thingo Mcanyana, Jack Mabokachaba, Natasha Dube, Malcom Moloi, Andile Ngoboza and Privilege Ndhlovu.

Tickets for “Medea” are available on Webtickets starting from R110, with special prices for groups of four or more. The recommended age for this play is 14+.

Affordable, safe and secure underground parking is available at the Newtown Junction.

                                                                                                                                ENDS.

The Windybrow Arts Centre is a Division of The Market Theatre Foundation, an agency of the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture.

 For reduced price block bookings (of 10 or more) and school groups, contact Anthony Ezeoke (Audience Development) at AnthonyE@markettheatre.co.za or 083 246 4950.

For media enquiries, contact Bongiwe Potelwa (Publicist at the Market Theatre Foundation) at bongiwep@markettheatre.co.za or (011) 832 1641.