Compelling Family Drama – The Graduation

Compelling Family Drama – The Graduation of K-C – Premieres at The Market Theatre

When the Dlomo family comes together to celebrate their daughter’s academic achievement, uncomfortable questions of identity, family history and belonging unravel.

The Graduation of K-C is a brand new South African play by multi-award-winning playwright, director and dramaturg, Greg Homann, co-produced by The Market Theatre and How Now Brown Cow. The production will run from 5 – 29 November 2026 at The Market Theatre.

Set against the backdrop of a looming second wave to decolonise education, the play centres on a Xhosa father and Northern-Irish mother navigating identity, history and belonging as they gather to celebrate their 21 year-old daughter’s graduation from university. As tensions across generations surface and long-held assumptions are challenged, the enticing play explores love, politics and cultural inheritance with wit and emotional depth, offering a timely and resonant reflection on connection across history, place and borders.

Campbell Meas – actor, playwright and winner of the 2025 National Playwrights Competition – directs the play with Homann.

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The formidable cast features rising star Ketsia Velaphi as K-C, alongside Julie-Anne McDowell and Lungi Pinda. The cast is completed by guest Irish actress and playwright, Morna Regan, who brings a rich layer of authenticity and cultural significance to the production.

The Graduation of K-C premieres at the Market Theatre as the country wrestles with heightened divisions and polarising voices around migration. At the heart of the play is the sentiment that ‘we do not belong to countries and maps…we only belong temporarily wherever we are!’

The play’s co-director, Campbell Meas, positions the work as a story about family histories converging through a milestone moment: The Graduation of K-C. Meas adds that for K-C, this moment is more meaningful than just a ceremonial academic capping—it’s potentially about using her voice to say something to her family, the student body, the university and the nation.

As she tries to make sense of her place in this big moment, her personal search for meaning intersects with the student politics of the time, inspired by the courage of the Fees Must Fall and Rhodes Must Fall movements ten years before she enrolled for her university degree. 

Meas remarks, “K-C is at this precipice of what kind of young woman she is choosing to be, and she’s got a lot of adult figures in her life who have tried their best but who are, in K-C’s mind, offering conflicting guidance. And so, we’re met with all of these narratives and different versions of truth, and whose truth matters more, and whether that even matters.”

The Graduation of K-C will be staged as part of the SA/Irish Season, held at The Market Theatre across November and into December in partnership with the Embassy of Ireland in South Africa, bringing together a conversation around the troubled shared histories of both countries.

The SA/Irish Season culminates in a 5-day festival at the end of November with theatre, talks, exhibitions and screenings focusing on the stories that thematically and politically link Ireland and South Africa through their struggles for liberation, cultural influences and international solidarity. 

For The Market Theatre, The Graduation of K-C – and the curation of the SA/Irish Season – is an artistic way of acknowledging this throughline.

“The script, more than being a modern family’s story, is a theatrical furtherance of this vital interconnectedness that has shaped the two nations across many decades of darkness and hope. As an institution, we’re delighted to have partnered with the Irish Embassy, and to have a guest Irish actress with us to sharpen the authenticity of the storytelling. At a time when the world seems increasingly divided, The Market Theatre remains a proud mouthpiece for the South African story and that story is shared across the world,” comments Greg Homann, Artistic Director at The Market Theatre Foundation.

Follow K-C’s story as she graduates into her own version of truth in this poignant, sharp and relevant family drama.

Tickets for The Graduation of K-C are available on Webtickets with special discounts for the preview performance, for groups of four or more, and with all Wednesdays at half-price.

Safe and affordable underground parking available at Newtown Junction.

ENDS

The Market Theatre is a Division of The Market Theatre Foundation, an agency of the Department of Sport, 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 and school groups, contact Anthony Ezeoke (Audience Development Specialist) at AnthonyE@markettheatre.co.za or 083 246 4950.

CROWNED: THE COMEDY SHUTDOWN – LET THE BATTLE BEGIN!

CROWNED: THE COMEDY SHUTDOWN – LET THE BATTLE BEGIN!

The Market Theatre Sets the Stage for Comedy’s Finest to Battle It Out for the R20 000 Prize and

the Crown

The Market Theatre in partnership with EyeUnderM Productions, powered by the City of Joburg’s Arts Alive, present CROWNED: The Comedy Shutdown – Reloaded, the knockout comedy battle even bigger and better than before.

The event originally scheduled for 7 August 2026, the battle will now resume on Saturday, 29 August 2026. Tickets already purchased remain valid for the new date, and organisers thank patrons and partners for their understanding.

On Saturday, 29 August 2026, doors open at 18h30 at the John Kani Theatre at the Market Theatre, as South Africa’s most established comedic voices go head-to-head with the country’s sharpest rising talent in a battle for R20,000 and crowned overall winner.

Reloaded and stacked with fresh faces, the line-up sees Mfazomhlophe, Jacques Pienaar, Snatcho, Dr Matthews, Nqobile Mahlangu, Sandile the Giraffe, Masibonge Mndende, Keketso Hutamo, KingSbuda, Neo, Timani X, Emilio Tobias, Aiden Ho and Nkukza Phiri battle it out in knockout-style rounds, competing to secure a spot in the Top Four as selected by the judges. The finalists then go head-to-head for the R20,000 grand prize, with the audience joining in via a live clapometer to help crown the ultimate comedy champion. The winner takes all.

Produced by EyeUnderM Productions (Mzansi Comedy Nights) and Nomad Concepts, the evening is staged as part of the Market Theatre’s 50th Anniversary Programme, with the City of Johannesburg and the Market Theatre joining as presenting partners, lending the weight of one of South Africa’s most storied stages to a groundbreaking comedy format. 

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Alongside the laughs sits a genuine tribute: the Doek Challenge, honouring the women in the room during Women’s Month, with partner prizes for the best doek drip of the night.

Leading the night as co-hosts are two of South Africa’s most recognisable comedic voices: Celeste Ntuli, one of Mzansi’s most celebrated stand-up comedians and television personalities, whose sharp, unapologetic wit and decades of stage experience have made her a household name and a fitting face for a night built around women’s stories and comedy royalty, alongside Siphelele “Pele Pele” Mchunu, the Soweto-born comedian, actor and Jozi FM breakfast host and the 2019 recipient of the Savanna Audience Choice Comedy Award. Together, Ntuli and Pele Pele bring the star power to match a bigger, better Reloaded edition of the Shutdown.

The competition will once again be adjudicated by two heavyweights of South African comedy: David Kau, one of the country’s most established stand-up comedians and a foundational figure in building platforms that launched a generation of talent, joined by Trevor Gumbi, a multi-talented performer known for his sharp, socially conscious humour, with credits spanning Blacks Only, Comedy Central Live and Oppikoppi, to name a few.

Audience members are invited to arrive wearing their stylish doek, celebrating the heritage, identity and stories carried by women. A live, in-venue activation will crown the best doek of the night, with prizes contributed by event partners.

YFM DJ FIF_LAAA will keep the energy high and set the tone for a vibrant reloaded experience.

Tickets are now available on Webtickets. Grab yours for R250 only to secure your seat at CROWNED: The Comedy Shutdown.

                                                                                                                          ~ENDS

Issued by SM Communications on behalf of EyeUnderM Productions.

For media enquiries and interviews, please contact:

Sakhele Mazalazala

E: sakhele@gmail.com

M: 084 438 4487

JOMBA! @ The Market Theatre celebrates world-class contemporary dance in Johannesburg

The Fourth JOMBA! @ The Market Theatre Celebrates World-class Contemporary Dance

Following the 28th edition of the Centre for Creative Arts’s JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience in Durban, the acclaimed festival expands access to groundbreaking contemporary dance by bringing a selection of the JOMBA! festival’s most celebrated productions to Johannesburg audiences. The carefully curated four-night season celebrates exceptional contemporary dance. Running from 9–12 September 2026, the programme features African and European internationally acclaimed artists and companies alongside two of South Africa’s most influential choreographic voices.

Opening this 4th iteration of JOMBA! @ The Market Theatre is the extraordinary HEROES, presented by the acclaimed Dutch company Introdans in collaboration with Uganda’s Joseph Tebandeke and Durban’s FLATFOOT DANCE COMPANY. This remarkable programme spans celebrated choreography by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Iratxe Ansa and Igor Bacovich, including new South African choreography by Zinhle Nzama. The programme also features the inclusive masterpiece IUNGO by Adriaan Luteijn, bringing together performers of different backgrounds, generations and physical abilities in a powerful celebration of humanity, diversity and connection.

The season then honours two previous JOMBA! Legacy Artists whose work has transformed contemporary dance in South Africa and beyond.

Acclaimed choreographer Mamela Nyamza presents her breathtaking ensemble work THE HERD/LESS, a visually arresting meditation on community, conformity, vulnerability and survival. Characterised by Nyamza’s fearless choreographic language and uncompromising social commentary, the work powerfully interrogates belonging and resistance.

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Internationally regarded choreographer and performer Vincent Mantsoe, whose deeply embodied artistic practice bridges ancestral knowledge with contemporary performance, presents his compelling new solo Desert Poems. This intimate work offers a profound meditation on endurance, spirituality and transformation through Mantsoe’s distinctive movement vocabulary.

 Additionally, as part of the season, JOMBA! and The Market Theatre will host two free professional development workshops, offering dancers and movement practitioners the opportunity to work directly with some of the artists involved in the festival.

On Tuesday, 8 September (4.30–6pm), Giuseppe Calabrese, ballet master with Introdans, leads a repertoire workshop exploring the choreographic language of renowned Belgian-Moroccan choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui. Participants will engage with concepts of fluidity, musicality, connection and dynamic movement quality, drawing on Calabrese’s extensive experience performing Cherkaoui’s celebrated repertoire.

On Friday, 11 September (4.30–6pm), Vincent Mantsoe shares his celebrated KOBA Technique, described as a “physical meditation”. Integrating traditional and contemporary dance practices, the workshop invites participants to explore identity, presence and embodied expression through Mantsoe’s internationally recognised movement philosophy.

Workshop places are free but booking is essential as numbers are limited.

Full JOMBA! @ The Market Theatre programme available on www.markettheatre.co.za. 

JOMBA! @ The Market Theatre offers Johannesburg audiences a rare opportunity to experience some of the world’s most compelling contemporary dance artists in one carefully curated programme—celebrating innovation, artistic excellence and the transformative power of movement across cultures, generations and borders.

Tickets for performances are available on Webtickets.

For free workshop bookings: 2024jomba@gmail.com.

Safe, affordable and secure underground parking available at 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.

JOMBA! KANYAR Epilogue

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JOMBA! Asanda Ruda

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JOMBA! Bodies of Water

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JOMBA! In Search of Our Humanity

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CROWNED: THE COMEDY SHUTDOWN HITS THE MARKET THEATRE STAGE

CROWNED: THE COMEDY SHUTDOWN HITS THE MARKET THEATRE STAGE

The Market Theatre Foundation and EyeUnderM Productions, powered by the City of Joburg’s Arts Alive, present CROWNED: The Comedy Shutdown, a knockout battle.

On Friday, 7 August 2026 ahead of Women’s Day, the John Kani Theatre at the Market Theatre plays host to the event, bringing South Africa’s most established comedic voices head-to-head with its sharpest rising talent in a battle for R20,000 and the title of champion.

Produced by EyeUnderM Productions (Mzansi Comedy Nights) and Nomad Concepts, the evening is staged as part of the Market Theatre’s 50th Anniversary Programme, with the City of Johannesburg and the Market Theatre Foundation joining as presenting partners, lending the weight of one of South Africa’s most storied stages to a groundbreaking comedy format. Alongside the laughs sits a genuine tribute: the Doek Challenge, honouring the women in the room and the culture they carry expressed in their stylish doek drip.

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Built as a high-energy, knockout-style comedy battle, CROWNED: The Comedy Shutdown brings together sixteen of Mzansi’s finest comedians as they compete to secure a spot in the Top Four, selected by the judges.

The four finalists will then advance to the knockout round, going head-to-head for the R20,000 grand prize. At this stage, the audience will also participate through a live clapometer to help decide the ultimate comedy champion. The winner takes all.

The line-up of 16 comedians battling for the crown includes Farieda, Shanray, Mfazomhlophe, Tsitsi Chiumya, Jacques Pienaar, KingSbuda, Dr Matthews, Thabiso Mhlongo, Emilio Tobias, Oscar Omuhle, Keketso Hutamo, Nhlanhla Shabangu, Nqobile Mahlangu, Sandile the Giraffe, Masibonge Mndende and Snatcho.

“Comedy is one of the most powerful reflections of society. It challenges, unites and gives voice to lived experiences, supporting platforms like CROWNED: The Comedy Shutdown speaks directly to the City of Johannesburg’s commitment to the arts and to the comedians who give this city its voice and its laughter. Through Arts Alive, we back the talent that keeps our creative economy alive, because a city that invests in its comedians and storytellers invests in its own culture and its own people,” says Mr Vuyisile Mshudulu, Director: Arts, Culture and Heritage in the City of Joburg.

Guiding the night as the host is Siphelele “Pele Pele” Mchunu, a Soweto-born comedian, actor and Jozi FM breakfast host with over 15 years in the industry and the 2019 recipient of the Savanna Audience Choice Comedy Award. Pele Pele is known for transforming raw, relatable and sometimes uncomfortably honest life experiences into comedy gold.

The competition will be adjudicated by two heavyweights of South African comedy; David Kau, one of the country’s most established stand-up comedians and a foundational figure in building platforms that launched a generation of talent. Joined by Trevor Gumbi, a multi-talented performer known for his sharp, socially conscious humour, with credits spanning Blacks Only, Comedy Central Live, and Oppikoppi to name a few.

“As part of our 50th Anniversary Programme, the Market Theatre continues to open its doors to diverse forms of storytelling and comedy remains a vital part of that ecosystem. CROWNED: The Comedy Shutdown is not just entertainment; it is a celebration of voice, community and the next generation of talent stepping onto a historic stage,” adds Greg Homann, Artistic Director of the Market Theatre Foundation.

Audience members are invited to arrive wearing their stylish doek, celebrating the heritage, identity and stories carried by women. A live, in-venue activation will crown the best doek of the night, with prizes contributed by event partners.

Keeping the energy high throughout the evening will be the dynamic female duo, DJ &NDee and DJ KayDaph, setting the tone for a vibrant and engaging experience.

Tickets are now available on Webtickets. Grab yours for R250 only to secure your seat at the CROWNED: The Comedy Shutdown before the battle sells out. Come ready not just to laugh, but to witness a crown being claimed.                       

Wall of Names

Wall of Names

For 50 years, The Market Theatre has been shaped by thousands of people, and we aim to honour them. We're inviting you to add names to this growing record of artists, directors, designers, technicians, administrators, educators, musicians, crew members, patrons, supporters and staff who have contributed to the life of The Market Theatre. At the conclusion of our anniversary year, the names submitted will be reviewed and validated before being permanently added to a wall installation at The Market Theatre. Scan this QR code to contribute a name to the record.

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The Annual Parade – Hey Hillbrow! Let’s Dlala! – Is Back with “Arise!”, the Cry that Alerts, Gathers, Protects and Transforms

The Annual Parade – Hey Hillbrow! Let’s Dlala! – Is Back with “Arise!”, the Cry that Alerts, Gathers, Protects and Transforms

Hey Hillbrow! Let’s Dlala! returns for its seventh iteration, presented by The Windybrow Arts Centre and Shade in collaboration with organisations and artists from Johannesburg and beyond. This year’s procession happens on 8 August 2026, on the eve of the commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the August 9, 1956 Women’s March.

The 2026 Hey Hillbrow! Let’s Dlala! iteration is themed ARISE, taking to the skies to make a declaration against the cage and in celebration of freedom. “Just as birds migrate across lands and share messages from afar, we are taking up the airspace,” states Shade’s Tamzyn Botha, curator of the parade. “This year’s theme, ARISE, looks to the seasonal journeys of birds as a provocation for freedom, communication and collective movement.”

Working with more than 350 children and young people from Hillbrow and beyond, Hey Hillbrow! Let’s Dlala! gathers handmade bird costumes, bird dances, birdsongs and street-scale imagination into a living flock. These birds are border-crossers, message-carriers, mischief-makers and freedom-dreamers. They migrate across walls, neighbours, languages, histories and streets.

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According to Gerard Bester, The Market Theatre Foundation’s Head of The Windybrow Arts Centre, the Grey Go-away-bird known as the Lourie, whose sharp call warns the bushveld when danger is near, will inspire the 2026 public procession—transforming alarm into art, warning into wonder and rebellion into play. “Hey Hillbrow! Let’s Dlala! honours the power of collective voice: the cry that alerts, gathers, protects and transforms. In Hillbrow, the call becomes a chorus. The street becomes a sky. The children become birds of warning, beauty, defiance and joy.”

As hundreds of participants from local youth organisations – Dlala Nje, Shade, Dlamini Foundation, Johannesburg Society for the Blind, Innovation of Excellence, Lefika La Phodiso, Fight with Insight, MES and The Windybrow Arts Centre – flock to the streets of inner-city Jo’burg in birdlike freedom, they’ll also be paying tribute to the unbeatable spirit of the women of 1956, who marched against pass laws as cages to reclaim their freedom of movement.

In celebrating the music of freedom, the parade will end with the mighty Kebra Ethiopian Sound System.

In the lead up to the parade, The Windybrow Arts Centre has turned into a creative makerspace for all the participants. This two week multi-disciplinary, artist residency/holiday programme ranges from Textile Design with Imbali Visual Literacy, Choral Works with Sbusiso Shozi and Muzi Radebe, Physical Theatre with Philani Tenso Mahlanga and Muzi Trust, Street Art with Rivaldo Nelson, Site Specific Theatre with Gcebile Dlamini and Parade Direction with Johannesburg Mask and Movement. The sonic library made in collaboration with the participants, will inform the soundscapes curated by Jarred Parenzee and Muhammed Dawjee.

The programme also invites youth and children to shadow these artists and production teams, to co-design the works and foster intergenerational collaboration. 

Come glide, fly and flutter as we celebrate in the streets and in the skies. Join the seventh iteration of Joburg’s most anticipated parade on 8 August 2026, starting from 10am at The Windybrow Arts Centre.

Hey Hillbrow! Let’s Dlala! launched in 2017 in celebration of the possibilities that public performance brings to public space; to share energy, laughter, surprise and play. This day was inspired by the life of Joburg public art super-heroine Lesley Perkes who died in 2015 and who had dreams for this place that others have continued to manifest.

The parade would not be possible without the generous support from Ekhaya CID, Badboys Security, Hillbrow Police, Assitej South Africa, Joburg Photowalkers, Craig Maarschalk, City of Johannesburg, Department of Sport, Arts and Culture, BirdLife South Africa and our media partner, Johannesburg in Your Pocket.

ENDS

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

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

NATIONAL ARTS AND CULTURE AWARDS (NACA) 2026 – CALL FOR NOMINATIONS

NATIONAL ARTS AND CULTURE AWARDS (NACA) 2026 - CALL FOR NOMINATIONS New

ADAM’S ALE

ADAM’S ALE

ADAM’S ALE

Adam’s Ale is a powerful one-man theatrical work that explores the complexities of identity, masculinity and loss within contemporary South African society. At the heart of the story is a young man – Letswai – navigating the uncertain space between boyhood and manhood, grappling with what the rite of passage into manhood truly means and whether the expectations placed upon him align with his own understanding of himself.

The story unfolds through a series of memories, reflections and encounters that reveal the protagonist’s journey from innocence to experience. As he confronts the realities of social expectations, absent fatherhood and the pressures of manhood, he is forced to question the values and beliefs that have shaped his life. The work examines how inherited ideas of masculinity can both empower and imprison individuals, while also highlighting the resilience required to break cycles of trauma and silence.

Adam’s Ale is written by Mxolisi Masilela, directed by Banele Yengeni and performed by Kgwadi Tshwarelo Selolo.

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UNTITLED DEEDS

UNTITLED DEEDS

In a desolate land built from tin cans and plastic scraps, survival is a daily act of resistance. There is no water, electricity or any promise of service or care. Only the Law: a merciless system that forces citizens to move endlessly, evicted from one settlement to the next without reason or warning.

At the centre of this world is a family constantly on the run. Each time they build a fragile sense of home, the law arrives to tear it apart, declaring the land forbidden and the people illegal. Homes are dismantled overnight, memories left behind among rusted metal and melting plastic.

As eviction after eviction erodes their dignity and hope, the family begins to question whether the law is meant to control land or to erase the people who live on it. In a world designed to keep its citizens rootless and silent, their struggle becomes a quiet rebellion: the fight to belong, to stay and to exist.

Untitled Deeds is written and directed by Abednigo Moruti Dhlamini.

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