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.

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.

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.

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.

Kaza Kamba Returns for 3rd Iteration at The Market Theatre

Kaza Kamba Returns for 3rd Iteration at The Market Theatre

The Kaza Kamba Pan African Theatre Festival returns to The Market from 20 – 23 August 2026. This partnership between mehlo-maya (eye-to-the-sun) and The Market Theatre is in its third year and is quickly growing into being “one of the most defining and deserving festivals of our time with a slant on Pan Africanism”, according to Daves Guzha, well-known Zimbabwean theatre producer.  

The theme for this third iteration is Memory Against Forgetting, and is based on the Milan Kundera quotation – “struggle of memory against forgetting” – from his novel, The Book of Laughter and Forgetting. This inspiration from the book balances the lightness of living without the weight of the past, with the weight and responsibility of remembering. In South Africa this rings very sharply as we navigate a particularly difficult time in our relationship to our continent.

The dynamic Kaza Kamba Pan African Theatre Festival programme brings a range of Theatre, Music, Film, Workshops and a Colloquium, as well as tables of goodies to buy.

The festival is committed to bringing together the arts with political discourse.

iPhupho L’ka Biko mainlines the festival. This very dynamic group brings to life a brand new multidisciplinary piece which revisits the Marikana massacre both in memory and mirror. Marikana Still…fontein is a lament for the fallen, for the living, a reflection on fractured solidarities and a call to reclaim a Pan-African imagination rooted in dignity, memory and collective liberation.

Southing the Sound with Yonela Mnana (piano), Lesego Rampolokeng (poetry) and Gontse Makhene (Percussion). This is an expressive artistic ensemble that fuses harmony, spoken word and ambient percussion, spearheaded by the ever fearless and provocative poet and author, Lesego Rampolokeng. Sounding the South is not just a melting pot for piano, poetry and percussion; it is an estuary of communal thought and a confluence of critical yet therapeutic reflection urgently needed in this country and beyond.

Theatre Productions include the ever relevant play Skierlik based on a tragic South African event of 14 January 2008 that took place in the informal settlement, Skierlik. Thomas returns to the place where his wife and young daughter were killed in a racially motivated shooting. This  is a story of love, loss, and hope, and paints poetic pictures with words. The play is written and performed by the skilful storyteller, Phillip Dikotla.

The Dying Need No Shoes joins us from the Kenyan International Theatre Festival. This thought provoking play, written by  Fred Mbogo, directed by Alacoque, and performed by Emmanuel Shikuku and Ann Keveli, reminds us that memory starts at home. Purity Munanda finds herself in a room with her father after years of silence and fear. All the buried trauma comes to the surface. What begins as a tense confrontation soon unfolds into a gripping battle of truth, power and survival as dark family secrets are exposed. 

A Season of Hillbrow, a re-imagination of Arthur Rimbaud’s Season in Hell, is staged by The Windybrow Arts Centre. It asks what ‘hell’ might mean in the unfinished present of post-apartheid South Africa. A Season in Hillbrow brings the fire into post-apartheid Johannesburg, where young people from Hillbrow turn the city’s abandonment and reckless multilingual life into poetry, movement, voice and collective rebellion. The play is performed by the students of The Windybrow Arts Centre and directed by Sibahle Mangena and Gerard Bester.

Kaza Kamba Film Festival includes the classic revolutionary film,  The Battle of Algiers (1966) as memory;  and Sudan…Remember Us (2024) with a discussion by the Sudan Solidarity South Africa members following the screening. This film is an important reminder of Memory Against Forgetting. The words of our poets in Word Down the Line (2015) seek to ask South African poets about our identity and political poetic journeys through Black Consciousness and Pan Africanism, asking who we are today.

Bioscope Beyond Borders is a new project that will be launched, set up as a small cinema in the Lindelani Buthelezi Gallery with 10 chairs and a range of South African films dedicated to migration and identity. People are invited to join films at any time and watch short films that are looped and run for 20 minutes. The Bioscope stands on its own, inviting the individual to watch and interpret the films as a singular experience. Bioscope Beyond Borders is a mobile festival and will be taken to any cultural events in the country, and will be presented at the Warrenton Festival in November, in the Northern Cape. 

Kaza Kamba Workshops are key to the festival, where young and old, starting out and experienced practitioners share ideas. Five workshops covering voice, music, drumming, chanting, movement, languages, are offered—including a workshop for youth and children from as young as three years.

Book Launches include Segopotso, a compilation of 17 plays from 1976 to 1986, most never published before, including Maishe Maponya, Zakes Mda, Fatime Dike and Matsemela Manaka. Edited by Vanessa Cooke, Lesego Rampolokeng, Samu Mfuphi and Bobby Rodwell.

Rising to Palestine: Africans in Solidarity for Decolonisation and Liberation, edited by Raouf Farrah and Suraya Dadoo with articles from African scholars connecting struggles from Gaza to Sudan, the DRC and Western Sahara.

Play Readings is our new development wing. Two new plays by Khutjo Green (Maki Next Door), and Jonathan Maseng (Sobukwe) will be presented to an audience for comments and debate.

The Kaza Kamba Pavement Café will be open from Thursday to Saturday night in The Market Theatre Precinct, with music and an open mic and lots of lovely food and drinks to purchase, as well as stalls with materials, clothing, earrings and all manner of goodies.

In short, there is a lot to see!

All documentary films and workshops are FREE. Tickets for plays and music shows are available on Webtickets.

Do not miss this vital festival, critical to our country today. It presents a weekend of live performances, film, workshops and debate on Pan Africanism. Everyone is most welcome!

ENDS

The Market Theatre 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.

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

khanyisat@markettheatre.co.za and 065 955 7182.

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.

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.

TX Theatre at The Market 2026

TX Theatre at The Market 2026

The Market Theatre is proud to host the second season of Tembisa Township’s TX Theatre Hub at The Market Theatre, a four-day festival running from 23 – 26 July 2026 and comprising of five compelling, thematically rich and theatrically explorative productions.

Audiences are spoilt for choice as Masai Sepuru and Isaac Sithole return with the Naledi Theatre Award-winning Dark Magic and Standard Bank Ovation Award-winning Chasing Laughter, respectively. Mxolisi Masilela’s Adam’s Ale, also a recipient of an Ovation Award, makes a debut appearance alongside Untitled Deeds by Moruti Dlamini. Solly Ramatswi’s new work, Sinking, adds more flavour to the festival buffet.

The festival comes hot off the heels of The TX Theatre Hub’s successful showcase at the National Arts Festival in Makhanda, presenting works that won the hearts of audiences.

“The first year proved that there is both an audience and a need for this platform. Returning for a second year allows us to deepen that work,” reflects The TX Theatre Hub’s Artistic Director, Mxolisi Masilela. “This partnership with The Market Theatre is about creating continuity for artists, building audiences for independent theatre, and ensuring that stories developed in townships occupy the same stages and receive the same consideration as any other work in the country. We are not simply presenting productions, we are investing in a theatrical ecosystem that values access, collaboration and artistic excellence.”

The 2026 edition also welcomes the valued support of the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture, who will be sponsoring a series of technical workshops for women in theatre. Starting from 23 July 2026 and running throughout the festival, the workshops will cover areas such as producing, directing, administration and technical. Participation in the workshops is free, but registration is necessary.

The TX Theatre Hub Walk from Tembisa to The Market Theatre that took place on Mandela Day functioned as a symbol that highlighted to township-based storytellers that there’s a pathway to present their work at a leading cultural institution such as The Market. It marked a long walk of roughly 40 kilometres for independent theatre-makers, where every step was a bold statement of faith for access to venues, funding opportunities and audience cultivation.

“Many creators in townships find it incredibly difficult to showcase their creations on big stages. So, our walk is essentially a movement of dreams, where the distance signifies the obstacles township-based storytellers continue to face when trying to bring productions to mainstream spaces. Having since walked the journey, we are bringing others on board to ‘show them the way’. To us, this is not just an exercise but a transfer of knowledge, mentorship and inspiration,” Masilela states.

Greg Homann, Artistic Director at The Market Theatre Foundation, speaks with excitement about the return of The TX Theatre following a successful inaugural run in 2025, saying this continued collaboration further affirms The Market Theatre’s commitment to community-based storytelling, amplifying voices, creating access, and blurring the lines between so-called independent spaces and mainstream platforms.

“We’re looking forward to having The TX Theatre Hub with us again. This partnership is significant to us as it brings us closer to the communities and stories often limited only by resources and access. The Market Theatre, across five historic decades, has cemented itself as a home to the South African story in its complexities. Through our continued work with The TX Theatre, we’re reassuring community theatre-makers that The Market Theatre is a space where they – and their stories – can find an artistic home.”

Don’t miss this year’s instalment of The TX Theatre Hub at The Market Theatre for award-winning, socially engaged and entertaining storytelling created with the heart, soul and authenticity of the township.

Tickets for the festival are available on Webtickets.

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.

 

SINKING

In Sinking, written by Solly Ramatswi and directed by Moruti Dhlamini, a born-free revisits the memories in his blood. There are living shadows of his (great) grandmother and grandfather to aid him as he interrogates the times of apartheid. The journey starts with a remembrance of who we are – or more accurately, who our (great) grandparents were – and heads to the war zones where his grandfather disappeared. We see a name get buried when a body is not found; his absence is used as a telescope looking into the past and the future.

DARK MAGIC

Written and performed by the award-winning poet Masai Sepuru, Dark Magic is a powerful celebration of African spirituality, delving into its rich history and its profound influence on the global medical industry and spiritual institutions. Through an evocative blend of prose, poetry and music, Masai leads audiences on a journey into a world of mystery, ancestral wisdom and wonder. This work invites deep reflection, sparking conversation and urging audiences to reimagine and challenge dominant perspectives.

CHASING LAUGHTER

Chasing Laughter is a gripping drama exploring hate, guilt and grief. It follows a man driven by irrational desires, haunted by his past, where power blurs justice and destruction. His descent into madness warns that even justified acts can have unforgivable consequences. Through redemptive transitions and phenomenal storytelling, it confronts the darkness within and poses profound, unsettling questions. Age Recommendation 16LV

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.

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.

The Jury Experience

The Jury Experience

Step into the world of justice with The Jury Experience, where you become the jury in a live, interactive trial. This immersive courtroom drama challenges you to examine witness testimonies, cross-examine key players, and assess forensic evidence, all while live actors present compelling arguments in front of a cinematic screen. As you engage with the case, you’ll make decisions at pivotal moments, with your final vote determining the fate of the accused: guilty or innocent.

Designed for group participation, this 60-minute experience immerses you in high-stakes courtroom drama where the line between right and wrong is blurred. Will justice be served? Only you can decide.

Practical info

Duration – 65 minutes – Doors open 30 min before

📍Venue – John Kani Theatre – The Market Theatre – 138 Lilian Ngoyi Street, Newtown, Johannesburg 2001

👤Age12+Under 16s must be with an adult

Accessibility –  Fully accessible Wheelchair zone available

Woza Albert!

WOZA ALBERT! Returns to Its Home at The Market

Woza Albert! makes a highly anticipated return to The Market Theatre for a strictly limited run of two weeks as part of the Theatre’s 50th anniversary celebrations. The work was first created and staged at The Market Theatre in 1981 by Mbongeni Ngema, Percy Mtwa and Barney Simon. Through biting satire and chilling truthfulness, the creators explored what would happen if Morena – the Lord – were to return to a racist, oppressive apartheid South Africa.

The current version is performed by Hamilton Dhlamini – who also directs it – and Thulani Mtsweni. The two actors move between characters to capture the daily realities of Black lives under apartheid. They highlight the resilience, imagination and defiance of Black South Africans, while confronting audiences with the moral contradictions of the time.

Set to run in the Barney Simon Theatre from 15 July – 02 August July 2026, this hugely influential piece of protest theatre is an honest and raw portrayal of the apartheid regime’s brutality as it satirically revisits the ground we walk on today.

Actor-director Hamilton Dhlamini regards the staging of Woza Albert! as an opportunity for the nation to sit back and reflect on its progress more than 30 years after democracy, especially in a high-stakes local government election year.

“Thematically, this play is about power and its (mis)use. We need responsible and accountable leadership who will honour the sacrifices of the past and deliver a better life for all. When it was created, it pierced sharply into the heart of apartheid. Its return is now an examination of the conduct of our current leadership. The piece is an important mobilising tool towards elections, reminding both leaders and the electorate of what the struggle has always been about: the people.”

“It is an immense honour,” Hamilton goes on, “to bring Mbongeni Ngema, Percy Mtwa and Barney Simon’s seminal piece to its original home. With this totally unmissable run, we’re not just reviving an old apartheid story; we’re confronting contemporary issues facing the nation in the new dispensation.”

At the height of apartheid in the ‘80s, which included the declaration of the State of Emergency alongside calls to make the country ungovernable through mass action, Woza Albert! commanded attention globally as a strong voice against the regime. Through impactful performances, the work contributed to the international condemnation of the system, proving how powerful art can be in giving language to people’s struggles.

Almost 50 years later, the play has enjoyed a prolific local and international life, with successful tours and rave reviews at the Edinburgh Festival, Berlin, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Philadelphia and more.

It has also won numerous international awards and is now among South Africa’s stage classics read in schools nationally, and is studied worldwide.

About its return during the crucial 50th birthyear of The Market Theatre, Artistic Director Greg Homann comments: “Woza Albert! is woven into the DNA of The Market Theatre. Created here in the early years of our existence, it stands as one of the seminal works that helped define both our stages and the South African story we have been home to for the past 50 years. Bringing it back now acknowledges where we come from as a nation, as well as how our story continues to evolve.”

Tickets for Woza Albert! are available on Webtickets starting from R110, with special discounts for the preview performance, for groups of four or more, and with all Wednesdays at half-price.

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 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.