Cradle of Creativity Festival

Cradle of Creativity 2023 offers a feast of engaging arts for young theatre goers

The 2023 Cradle of Creativity festival is an 8 day long city-wide celebration of unforgettable encounters. The dynamic roving international performing arts festival for children and young people is hosted by The Market Theatre and offers the very best performing arts for young audiences from across the continent and the world. This year’s theme “The Stories That Move Us” will build a rich legacy of diversity, creativity & opportunity that will continue to generate energy and activity long after the final curtain call.

Cradle of Creativity is meticulously curated in Women’s month, August, by one of the foremost young female curators of our time, Faye Kabali Kagwa, who was recognized as a Mail and Guardian Top 200 Young South African in 2021. “This festival continues to take seriously our youngest citizens and engage them in a creative way, while being an exciting platform for artists from South Africa, the continent and the world” says Kabali-Kagwa.

The festival will feature some of the very best in South African theatre with performances from all provinces, speaking to children from as young as 2 to young adults. We have a range of voices present, from youth voices to professional theatre companies: these include “Skin We Are In” by the Kwasha Theatre Company, “Stories We See” by Gcebile Dlamini, featuring children from the Johannesburg Society for The Blind, “Bounced” by Cape Town based theatre company Magnet Theatre, a leader in early years theatre, and the musical extravaganza, “Mwana wa Mvula” by Kimberley’s Amandla Dance Teatro ZA: these are just some of the bold voices to make up the festival programme on the South African front.

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Cradle also boasts a rich series of international productions presented by Netherlands theatre company, de Stilte; Danish theatre company, Batida; Carre Blanc Cie from France; La Guimbarde from Belgium; the Joshua Monten Dance Company from Switzerland; Ishyo theatre from Rwanda; Teatro Al Vacio from Mexico, and Maas Foundation from Pakistan. Performances take place at the Market theatre, Windybrow Arts Centre, Sibikwa Arts Centre and the National Children’s Theatre as well as at selected schools and community centres. In addition, some of the dance productions will be travelling to the Jomba! Contemporary Dance festival in Durban, in partnership with the Centre for Creative Arts.

In addition, there is a rich Professional programme aimed at artists, teachers, and subject advisors, with workshops, panel discussions and presentations from across the globe taking place daily according to a range of focus areas. To further extend the international element, the ASSITEJ international Executive Committee meeting and an African regional workshop as part of the BABEL, EU-funded ASSITEJ project, will be housed at the festival, ensuring the representation of more than 30 countries in person at the festival.

We are also excited to introduce the Young Critics Programme which is an integral part of the festival and sees youth voices reviewing and critiquing productions, using a variety of styles and media.

The festival producer, another powerful female leader within the arts sector, Yvette Hardie, the Director of ASSITEJ SA, says “this will be a Cradle of Creativity festival to savour and enjoy. We are delighted to bring the festival to Gauteng for the first time, where we hope new audiences and artists will be attracted to participate in and access the performing arts for children and young people. We encourage families, schools and community groups to engage with the festival and ensure that South African children realise the power of their imaginations to make positive change happen.”

Cradle of Creativity will open on the 20th of August and wrap up on the 27th of August, with a closing ceremony at the Market Theatre. The festival is supported by the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture and the Department of Basic Education, as well as a number of cultural agencies that include: British Council Wales, Pro Helvetia, Government of Flanders, Wallonie-Bruxelles Internationale, the French Institute of South Africa, the Royal Netherlands Embassy, the Goethe Institute, the Swedish Embassy and Performing Arts Fund NL.

All programme information and tickets are available on www.cradleofcreativity.com.

For more information please contact:

Yvette Hardie (producer): director@assitej.org.za

Faye Kabali-Kagwa (curator): cradle@assitej.org.za

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Femme is Fatale

Zietsman returns to The Market Theatre with a gender-based violence cabaret

This Women’s Day, the English/Afrikaans cabaret Femme is Fatale will open at The Market Theatre for a limited season until the 18 August 2023.

In this original contemporary cabaret written by Bruce J Little and directed by Eloise Clasen, stage veteran Elzabé Zietsman and pianist Tony Bentel use stories and songs to shine a spotlight on gender-based Violence.

Most women are confronted by gender-based violence, but not enough of us are talking about it.  Zietsman compels you to engage and listen in this cutting cabaret about womanhood, dreams, love, friendship, acceptance, and murder.

Marna, Lian and Khanyi are three women trying to ride out life’s challenges and realise their dreams of better lives. However, like countless other women, they are confronted with gender-based violence.

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Marna feels old after Koos, her husband of 30 years, left her for someone younger. She adopts a dog and plans a visit to her daughters in Australia.  Lian knows from a very young age that she is trapped in the wrong body.  She saves every cent she makes to pay for hormone therapy and the necessary operations, so that she can be her true self.  Khanyi cleans houses and dreams of studying beauty therapy.  She walks long distances to work and back to save enough money to break the domestic worker cycle of the woman in her family.  These three women not only share chasing their dreams, they also get confronted by the same monster.

Elzabé Zietsman last performed at The Market Theatre in the late eighties. Since then she has built a prolific career as one of South Africa’s leading cabaret artists, mastering this form of performance. Earlier this year, this cutting cabaret was nominated for a kykNET Fiësta for best music-driven production.

Zietsman’s courageous and memorable performance in Femme is Fatale is an opportunity to see her at the top of her game. She tackles a script which offers a blistering account of women’s lives, and integrates songs that result in a heartfelt and moving show.

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AZANIA

AZANIA

“Journey of hopes and disappointments”

Story told in 3 forms, music, storytelling, and art exhibition. Azania recently published as a book.

The play’s open speech quotes the words of Paul Mashal in one of Tom Feelings book. “The Psychological and spiritual journey that we must take back into the past in order to move forward. She said deal with it if you want to create a future that really reflect you”

Bantu Africa takes us on his personal journey that starts in the late 1980’s, after unbearable thought of losing his family from an angry mob that burn down his family house suspecting his father of whistle blowing for the apartheid government. Bantu a man in no politics or any revolution struggle focusing on working for his daughter, 1993 returns home and find his 14-year-old daughter missing. Entering new South Africa still searching and longing for his daughter.

This music meets storytelling production is a winner of INSIKA MAN’S FESTIVAL 2018 at KCAP, where adjudicators were Mondli Makhoba, Wiseman Mncube and Thokozani Zulu. 2019 it was part of Durban Playhouse CAF under the eyes of Matjamela Motloung and Musa Hlatshwayo. 2020 it was nominated best production, best actor, and best script on ZABALAZA THEATRE FESTIVAL, curated by Mndu Kweyama, Bongile Matsayi. Later it was invited to be part of PLAYHOUSE NEW STAGES Festival and funded to be staged at STABLE THEATRE by NAC pesp grant. Now is published as a book. 

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Actor sbusiso Sithole portrays all the characters in this one man show. Sithole is an experienced actor who has engaged on UZALO, IMBEWU and other stage theatre productions. His storytelling is accompanied by a musician HloniphaniArt Mthethwa. Whom with his skills has travelled the world of India, new Orlins. Now working with great Mbuso khoza on releasing his new EP.

“I have read and engaged on writings of our legends. Mbongeni Ngema, John Kani, Athol Figured, Zakes Mda, the writings of apartheid and South African history. What I noticed all these writers lived and experienced those times. I choose to write the same story, but I was not Part of the South African history or experienced the apartheid system. I write as someone who is affected of the apartheid and this country history. I am affected economical, political, social, and religiously in a sense that I am not sure of my beliefs. I regard this play as a consent letter to my brothers and sister of this country. It is an open letter to the eyes of those who have an impact, but never got a chance to reflect so they can understand the course. A letter that reads the justification of the black youth lacking behind from their white peers.” (Xola Mziwakhe speaks)

Tickets sales:

  • Dates:  26th -29th July 2023
  • Price: Full price R100
  • Address:  Kippies Fringe venue @ The Market Theatre
  • Tickets available at Market Theatre box office or webtickets

Production Credits

Writer and Director: Xola Mziwakhe

Stage and Project Manager: Nompilo Ntshangese

Artwork and Exhibition: Khulekani Mkhize

Sonwa Sakuba Institute For Performing Art

Isigqi Somhlaba Art Projects (ISA-PROJECT)

Performers and creative team available for interviews – contact Mampho Moshoeshoe

Cell: 0674071710      email: mamphomoshoeshoe@gmail.com

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Bänz Oester & The Rainmakers

Bänz Oester & The Rainmakers

Javier Vercher, Saxophone Tenor
Afrika Mkhize, Piano
Ayanda Sikade, Drums / Percussions
Bänz Oester, Bass

The Rainmakers continue a tradition that relatively few formations claim today. We immediately think of the so-called spiritual jazz, whose heyday stretched from the mid-1960s to the middle of the following decade. They give us this ‘old religion’, not as superstitious bigotry, but in terms of what binds us back, a precious sense of human belonging, brotherhood and sisterhood.

Most jazz musicians today focus their research on complex and elaborate structures, be it rhythmic, harmonic or melodic. Many current productions can therefore be perceived as a demonstration of discipline and work to which body and mind can be subjected in order to achieve a result: speed, precision, control, etc. The Rainmakers’ music breaks this trend. Of course, individual virtuosity and creativity are in the foreground (the four members of the quartet are all masters of improvisation and have a phenomenal power of expression), but this music also tells of the pursuit of freedom, revolt and rebellion against systems of control and against oppression in the world general, as well as the need for transcendence and humanity. Through their interplay, the musicians tirelessly affirm their spiritual aspirations and their need to free themselves from all forms of constraints. In doing so they continue a tradition that relatively few formations can claim today (except perhaps in South Africa, and so the presence of Afrika Mkhize and Ayanda Sikade in the quartet is undoubtedly crucial). One immediately thinks of John Coltrane’s 4tet, but also of the other apostles of so-called spiritual jazz, whose heyday stretched from the mid-1960s to the middle of the following decade. This music is strikingly relevant today. At a time when control algorithms are becoming more efficient and machines are reaching and even surpassing the physical and mental capabilities of humans, the offer of Bänz Oester,

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Javier Vercher, Afrika Mkhize and Ayanda Sikade is undoubtedly what we need most: they give us this ancient religion, not as superstitious bigotry, but as what binds us back together, a precious sense of human belonging, brotherhood and sisterhood.

The musicians not only play their instrument, they ARE the instrument itself; they are the sound, fully present in the now, generating pure joy and together they create a sound that seems to influence the universe. The Rainmakers make everything bloom. The band leader Bänz Oester and Javier Vercher (tenor sax) come from Europe, the pianist Afrika Mkhize and the drummer Ayanda Sikade are among the high-flyers from South Africa. The four of them form a sworn unit that cannot be divided by anything or anyone. In other words, we are dealing with a formation in which the individual class of all participants is not displayed in an egocentric manner but is transformed into collective energy. Oester, who has had a long-standing fascination with the extremely rich musical culture of Africa, puts it this way: “I want to communicate with the other musicians on an equal footing. This requires a certain attitude that does not tolerate hierarchical thinking. I’m all about breaking boundaries. I don’t dictate anything to anyone – the music is developed together.” Namely along a high-voltage line between north and south.

Bänz Oester & The Rainmakers will be performing in Johannesburg at the Market Theatre on the John Kani stage on Friday 7 July 2023 (7pm) and Sunday 9 July 2023 (3pm). Bookings through WebTickets.

www.rainmakers.info

jbo@rainmakers.info

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The Market Theatre Foundation Heads to The National Arts Festival

The Market Theatre Foundation Heads to The National Arts Festival

The Market Theatre Foundation is set to make an impact at this year’s National Arts Festival, showcasing the creative prowess of The Market Theatre, The Market Theatre Laboratory, and The Market Photo Workshop. Greg Homann, the Artistic Director of The Market Theatre Foundation, expresses his excitement, stating, “We are keen to have a strong presence at this year’s festival, where we are bringing two new South African plays, a stimulating photographic exhibition, and a dynamic facilitated conversation.”

One of the highlights presented by The Market Theatre Foundation is The Market Theatre’s production of J Bobs Tshabalala’s Khongolose Khommanding Khommissars (KKK), directed by the brilliant Theatre Duo, Billy Langa and Mahlatsi Mokgonyana, who are recognized as the 2022 Standard Bank Young Artists for Theatre this year. Festival-goers may remember Langa’s exceptional performance in the acclaimed and multi-award-winning one-man show Tswalo, directed by Mokgonyana.

Khongolose Khommanding Khommissars (KKK) delves into the intricate web between politicians and businessmen that contributes to South Africa’s current chaotic political landscape. It explores the perpetuation of an elitist culture of greed through corruption utilizing a “game of words” or what one might call, “Comrade-speak”, that disguises the farce of socio-political revolution. Homann states, “Through Theatre Duo’s theatrically rich approach to Tshabalala’s text, Langa and Mokgonyana promise a highly creative and playful experience that boldly explores the power dynamics that pervade our country.”

Following its National Arts Festival premiere on 30 June, Khongolose Khommanding Khommissars (KKK) will run at The Market Theatre in Johannesburg from 26 July to 6 August. This groundbreaking satire is made possible by the generous support of the Eyesizwe Mining Development Trust, alongside additional financial contributions from the National Arts Festival, Business Arts South Africa (BASA), and the National Arts Council.

The Market Theatre Laboratory, the educational arm of The Market Theatre Foundation, presents two compelling works in Makhanda. The first offering, KiDDING, is a dynamic and innovative devised performance that seamlessly blends dance, music, and text. Under the guidance of mentor Stella Dlangalala and directed by fellow student Thabang Chauke, second-year students from The Market Theatre Laboratory bring to life untold stories of young individuals struggling to navigate the pressures of school, friendship, and the digital world. This production, with its attention to detail and lived understanding of the challenges faced by today’s youth, is a must-see for those interested in contemporary theatre and the narratives that shape our society.

The second offering from The Market Theatre Laboratory is a collaborative venture led by J Bobs Tshabalala, once again working alongside the Theatre Duo. Titled Think Tank: The Dope Shop meets the Art Spaza, this one-night only event on 28 June seeks to turn “Audiences of Art” into “Consumers of Product.” Embracing Tshabalala’s interactive sketch style, the work incorporates audience engagement through a live auction. The performance will be a high-energy joyride of song, dance, and text, reflecting the Theatre Duo’s distinctive physical and vocal approach.

The Market Photo Workshop, the fourth offering from The Market Theatre Foundation, presents a captivating photographic exhibition that showcases the vision and artistry of its talented photographers. Through a compelling collection of images, the exhibition explores diverse themes, offering unique perspectives and narratives that capture the essence of contemporary South Africa. The Market Photo Workshop in collaboration with the Eastern Cape Department of Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture will present a group exhibition titled “Ukubakho Nokubona”. The exhibition presents a selection of photographs by 8 female photographers who participated in a training project that capacitated the participants in using photography as a tool for awareness in telling their own stories and lived experiences as women in the Eastern Cape communities.

The exhibition reflects on a photographic interaction that has mediated community experiences of the women from across the various municipal districts in the Eastern Cape. This iteration gives audiences the opportunity to engage with different photo narratives on the photographers’ lived realities. The exhibition explores themes of culture, social change, openness, democracy, identity, social inclusion and gender issues.

The Market Theatre Foundation’s presence at this year’s National Arts Festival promises an array of stimulating experiences. From the thought-provoking play Khongolose Khommanding Khommissars (KKK) to the dynamic offering of KiDDING, Think Tank and the Ukubakho Nokubona Photographic Exhibition, audiences can expect a diverse and engaging exploration of South Africa’s rich cultural landscape.

ENDS

For further information, interviews and images, contact:

Acting Brand and Communications Manager: Lusanda Zokufa 072 367 7867 or email lusandaz@markettheatre.co.za

Khongolose Khommanding Khommissars (KKK)

Khongolose Khommanding Khommissars (KKK)

The Market Theatre, in association with the National Arts Festival, proudly present a daring theatrical satire directed by the brilliant current Standard Bank Young Artist Award (SBYA22) recipients, The Theatre Duo – Billy Langa and Mahlatsi Mokgonyana.

 

Khongolose Khommanding Khommissars (KKK) written by J Bobs Tshabalala (SBYA20) plunges deep into the dark underbelly of South African politics, laying bare the intricate web of political intrigue and corruption that shape our nation.

J Bobs Tshabalala’s captivating new South African play pulls the curtain on the lives of pot-bellied men, greedily vying for control of state resources while shamelessly deceiving the impoverished masses with their deceptive speeches. This epic satire examines the overt interactions and sometimes illegal dealings of our contemporary South African political camaraderie – the Comrades, the brown-envelope tenderpreneurs.

The play dissects the intentional and intertwined actions of politicians and businessmen, who contribute to our current political and socio-economic chaos that perpetuates a culture of greed and corruption. Through the ingenious use of Comrade-speak; a deceptive language that masks the true intentions of those in power, the play exposes the farcical nature of the socio-economic freedom promised to the masses.

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The Theatre Duo, revered for their boundary-pushing storytelling techniques, an inventive fusion of words and movement, and an unwavering devotion to interdisciplinary collaboration, guide an impressive cast and creative team.

Don’t miss this awe-inspiring collaboration between The Theatre Duo and playwright J Bobs Tshabalala, three creative powerhouses united in their quest to provoke thought and ignite change in theatre.

CREATIVE TEAM

Writer:                                     J Bobs Tshabalala

Co-Directors:                          Billy Langa & Mahlatsi Mokgonyana

Assistant Director:                  Ketsia Velaphi

Lighting and Set Design:        Denis Hutchinson

Costume Design:                    Lethabo Bereng

Projection Design:                  Nikki Pilkington

Sound Design:                        Jannous Aukema

Movement Direction:               Ernest ‘Ginger’ Baleni

CAST

Lebohang Motaung as QINISO NXUMALO

Moagi Kai as MXOLISI MTHEMBU

Xolile Gama as RONALD MULAUDZI

Tshireletso Nkoane as TSEBO RAPOO

Anelisa Phewa as SQALO HOKO

Season:                                   Wednesday 26 July  – Sunday 13 August 2023  

Venue:                                     The John Kani Theatre

To make block bookings and discounts please contact Anthony Ezeoke 011 832 1641ext 203/ 083 246 4950

For further information, interviews and images, contact:

Acting Brand and Communications Manager: Lusanda Zokufa 072 367 7867 or lusandaz@markettheatre.co.za

The Market Theatre acknowledges the generous support of the Eyesizwe Mining Development Trust and Business and Arts South Africa (BASA), whose funding has made this production possible.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

The Theatre Duo – Directors

Billy Langa and Mahlatsi Mokgonyana – or The Theatre Duo, as they are affectionately known – are independent collaborative theatre makers. They have produced original creative and theatrical works in South Africa. Their work has toured most parts of the country and internationally including, Namibia, Germany, Scandinavia, and the United Kingdom. Their work has earned them critic’s picks and multiple awards which include being the current Standard Bank Young Artist Award winners for Theatre, a Cape Town Fringe Fresh Creative Award for directing, Standard Bank Ovation Awards, Naledi Theatre Awards for Best Production for Young Audiences and Best Solo Performance, a FUSE International Award for Best International Performance [UK], an ICA Fellowship Award, and being an ACT (Arts and Culture Trust) ImpACT prize finalist.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

The Theatre Duo – Directors

Billy Langa and Mahlatsi Mokgonyana – or The Theatre Duo, as they are affectionately known – are independent collaborative theatre makers. They have produced original creative and theatrical works in South Africa. Their work has toured most parts of the country and internationally including, Namibia, Germany, Scandinavia, and the United Kingdom. Their work has earned them critic’s picks and multiple awards which include being the current Standard Bank Young Artist Award winners for Theatre, a Cape Town Fringe Fresh Creative Award for directing, Standard Bank Ovation Awards, Naledi Theatre Awards for Best Production for Young Audiences and Best Solo Performance, a FUSE International Award for Best International Performance [UK], an ICA Fellowship Award, and being an ACT (Arts and Culture Trust) ImpACT prize finalist.

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The Kesivan Naidoo

The Kesivan Naidoo Big Band Experience, South African Tour 2023

“Kesivan Naidoo is unarguably the most eminent South African drummer of his generation. Say, what? Well, this is a cat who honed his sure-fire feel for sonic spectacle with a roll call of SA jazz masters from the iconic Miriam Makeba, pianists, Hotep Galeta and Bheki Mseleku to saxophonist Winston Mankunku to drummer Louis Moholo-Moholo and beyond. It is his reverential feel for history, space and place that Naidoo channelled in his seminal 2014 album, Brotherhood. At a sold-out Carnegie Hall premiere, no less. Dig it? Fast forward to 2023 and the Basel-based Naidoo is reimagining Brotherhood as a Big Band experience. Celebrated trombonist Adrian Mears breathes beatific big band arrangements into modal Afro-Indo modulations, shadowy cinematic improvisations and more.”

(Miles Keylock, former editor of Rolling Stone Magazine)

In June/July 2023, Kesivan Naidoo is swinging back from Switzerland to South Africa with his brand-new Big Band Experience.

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The Experience: from South Africa (11), Switzerland (5), Germany (2):

 

Conductor and Arranger: Adrian Mears (CH)

Drums and Composition: Kesivan Naidoo* (SA)

Double Bass: Benjamin Japhta* (SA)

Guitar: Reza Khota (SA)

Piano: Kyle Shepard* (SA)

Trumpet 1: Thabo Sikhakhane (SA)

Trumpet 2: Darren English (SA)

Trumpet 3: Sakhile Simane (SA)

Trumpet 4: Lee Thomson (SA)

Trombone 1: Julia Rueffert (CH)

Trombone 2: Siya Makuzeni* (SA)

Trombone 3: Andreas Tschopp (CH)

Trombone 4: Maxine Troglauer (D)

Alto 1: Justin Bellairs (SA)

Alto 2: Tara Sarter (D)

Tenor 1: Sisonke Xonti* (SA)

Tenor 2: Marc Stucki (CH)

Baritone: Danni McKinnon (SA)

* Standard Bank Young Artists of the Year

Music lovers know: Jazz is the (he)art of improvisation. And the heart of the art doesn’t get much bigger than a full-blown Jazz Big Band.

In 2022, Kesivan and Adrian ran the (he)art of everyone from Duke Elington, Count Basie and god darn Glenn Miller to Louis Moholo-Moholo’s big band Voodoo down. The first big band concerts in Germany and Switzerland were an experience!

A demo-run with the Swiss Jazz Orchestra at the Jazzhaus Freiburg during the German African Studies conference (VAD) in Freiburg in June 2022 and the Bierhübeli in Bern in November 2023, saw Kesivan and Adrian tweaking any ‘boys’ own’ testosterone, massaging the music, making the arrangements more…malleable, where needed.

Kesivan’s opening concert performance with the Swiss Jazz Orchestra in early March 2023 at the Jazzwerkstatt Bern featured a young all-star big band – with an unusually high number of women.  The tactility of the Big Band tunes were met…with standing ovations.

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South Africa Tour 2023

Now Kesivan’s arrangements will be taken on a Grand South African tour. Five big band concerts and 3-4 smaller shows will take place in South Africa in June/July 2023, at the National Arts Festival in Makhanda and in Cape Town. Before returning to Switzerland, the band will perform at the Market Theatre in Johannesburg on July 8. Our aim is to make the tour as sustainable as possible, both in terms of travelling (emissions) as well as future projects. To this end, the band will be in Makhanda for a week. During this time, the band members will not only play the Big Band concerts but also be involved with workshops and collaborations with other musicians. The Cape Town part of the tour features diverse venues to engage different audiences: one Big Band concert at the Star Theatre (Fugard), and 3-4 smaller band performances in various venues in Cape Town (such as the Blue Room, Openwine, The Athletic Club & Social etc). The mission is to make contacts and foster further projects to evolve out of these encounters. Another goal is to guarantee diversity not only in terms of origin (a mix of South African, Swiss, and German musicians), but also in terms of gender. We aimed to allocate a third or more of the positions in the band to women.

Recordings and Documentation

The “Kesivan Naidoo Big Band Experience” adapts original compositions (from the past 20 years) by Kesivan Naidoo for Big Band. The adaptations are performed by various Big Bands in Switzerland, South Africa, the EU, and the USA. The recordings of the live performances will culminate in an album. The entire work in progress, including the concerts at the Jazzhaus Freiburg, the Bierhübeli in Bern, and the Jazzwerkstatt Bern as well as the entire South African tour will be part of a documentary of Naidoo’s musical journey dating back to his SAMRO overseas scholarship in 2000 and his first Pro Helvetia sponsored project in 2004 with Beat Bag Bohemia. The dynamic journey of this music will be told through footage from various different festivals, concerts and recordings starting as early as 2004 – giving depth to the narrative of the documentary capturing the development of this unique Big Band sound. We are currently in conversation with OCHER Moving Pictures (affiliated with Netflix and various other television channels). They have already expressed interest in producing the documentary.

Age: 14 + Language: English with some Zulu.

Featuring Mpume Mthombeni as Zenzile Maseko

Directed by Neil Coppen

Written by Neil Coppen in collaboration with Mpume Mthombeni

Lighting design by Tina Le Roux

Sound design by Tristan Horton

Set Design by Greg King

Additional Set dressing Dylan McGarry, Neil Coppen and Wendy Henstock.

Production Manager Tina Le Roux

Rain SFX by Steven Woodroffe

Poster Design by Dylan McGarry

Stills photography by Val Adamson

Season:                                               Thursday 20 July  – Sunday 6 August 2023  

Venue:                                                 The Mannie Manim Theatre 

To make block bookings and discounts please contact Anthony Ezeoke 011 832 1641ext 203/ 083 246 4950

For further information, interviews and images, contact:

Acting Brand and Communications Manager: Lusanda Zokufa 072 367 7867 or lusandaz@markettheatre.co.za

ABOUT EMPATHEATRE (WWW. EMPATHEATRE.COM)

Empatheatre was founded by Neil Coppen, Mpume Mthombeni and Dylan McGarry in 2014. The company and methodology has been heralded for its unique approach which sees the creative team forging creative responses to complex social concerns while uniting a range of stakeholders including policy-makers, citizens, community based performers, storytellers, artists, musicians, activists, human-rights lawyers and academics. Empatheatre has been responsible for launching several ground-breaking Research-based theatre projects over the last decade in South Africa including Soil & Ash (focusing on rural communities facing pressure from coal-mining companies), Ulwembu (street-level Drug addiction and harm reduction advocacy), The Last Country (female migration stories), Boxes (homelessness and Urban land justice inequalities in the city of Cape Town) and Lalela ulwandle (an international project supporting sustainable transformative governance of our oceans). The company’s work has toured internationally to Egypt, Rome, New York and Geneva. Empatheatre was recently nominated as The Daily Maverick’s 2022 artists of the year and awarded the Bertha Artivism Award for their theater and social-justice work as well as the 2023 Fleur Du Cap award for innovation in South African Theatre.

     

Planned/confirmed concerts:

Planned/confirmed concerts:

DateVanue
National Arts Festival Makhanda
30 June 2023concert 1
01 July 2023concert 2
Cape Town
03/04 July 2023several smaller concerts in Cape Town
07 July 20231 concert at Star Theatre (Fugard)
Johannesburg
08 July 20231 concert Market Theatre

A second leg of the tour is planned in Europe. One option is the Stockholm Jazz Orchestra to which Kesivan has close relationships (band members of Kesivan’s original sextet Kesivan and The Lights from 2009 are part of this orchestra). Another option is to take a Swiss big band to the North-Sea Jazz Festival in Rotterdam.

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Isidlamlilo/The Fire Eater

Isidlamlilo/The Fire Eater

Presented by The Market Theatre in association with Empatheatre & the National Arts Festival.

Isidlamlilo/The Fire Eater is an electrifying new one-woman show brought to life by acclaimed actor Mpume Mthombeni and theatre-maker Neil Coppen through their company Empatheatre. The work premiered at the 2022 National Arts Festival where it was met with rave reviews and standing ovations with many heralding it as a contemporary South African theater classic.

Coppen and Mthombeni’s play is set in a downtown womens’ hostel in Durban, where we first meet sixty-something Zenzile Maseko (Mpume Mthombeni), a grandmother partially disabled and declared dead by the Home Affairs’ decrepit system. Zenzile, we soon discover, operated as one of the IFP’s most feared assassins (nicknamed Impundulu/The lightning bird) in the build-up to the 1994 South African elections.

Zenzile’s dizzying, devastating and often hilarious recollections propel the audience back and forth through time, traversing the shifting landscapes of KwaZulu-Natal and while charting critical events in the province’s post-1994 trajectory through to its present day floods and insurrections. While the story offers an insightful look at the eddying cycles of violence and revenge that play out across generations, it is most of all a story about redemption, regeneration and reinvention.

Zenzile’s story is inspired by the lives of real women living in a Durban hostel. These women were part of an oral history project on migration, gender and inclusion run by the Urban Futures Centre at the Durban University of Technology. This oral history research formed the foundation of an Empatheatre production that produced powerful pieces of theatrical storytelling that were shared far beyond the confines of research publications.

 

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Mpume Mthombeni sets the stage ablaze in a breathtaking tour-de-force, shifting seamlessly between the feared assassin Impundulu and the reborn Gogo longing to return to the house she’s building in her childhood village, iPharadise. It is a performance that touches on what it means to live with, and through, political violence, the transition to democracy, the brutality of inequality, health epidemics like HIV/AIDS, patriarchy, and the apathetic bureaucracy of government departments.

The creative team have woven in elements of Zulu folklore, biblical mythology, magical-realist framings to make for an unforgettable theatrical experience that speaks to both the country’s haunted past and present-day complexities.

The production will have its Johannesburg premiere at the Market Theatre (Mannie Manim) from the 21 July to 6 August 2023 before it embarks on a month long European tour.

Isidlamlilo was made possible by the The National Art’s Festival (NAF) and later funding from the NAC PESP fund, with additional support and thanks to the Drama department and the UFC (Urban Futures Centre) at Durban University of Technology.

Running time: 100 minutes without interval.

 

Age: 14 + Language: English with some Zulu.

Featuring Mpume Mthombeni as Zenzile Maseko

Directed by Neil Coppen

Written by Neil Coppen in collaboration with Mpume Mthombeni

Lighting design by Tina Le Roux

Sound design by Tristan Horton

Set Design by Greg King

Additional Set dressing Dylan McGarry, Neil Coppen and Wendy Henstock.

Production Manager Tina Le Roux

Rain SFX by Steven Woodroffe

Poster Design by Dylan McGarry

Stills photography by Val Adamson

Season:                                               Thursday 20 July  – Sunday 6 August 2023  

Venue:                                                 The Mannie Manim Theatre 

To make block bookings and discounts please contact Anthony Ezeoke 011 832 1641ext 203/ 083 246 4950

For further information, interviews and images, contact:

Acting Brand and Communications Manager: Lusanda Zokufa 072 367 7867 or lusandaz@markettheatre.co.za

ABOUT EMPATHEATRE (WWW. EMPATHEATRE.COM)

Empatheatre was founded by Neil Coppen, Mpume Mthombeni and Dylan McGarry in 2014. The company and methodology has been heralded for its unique approach which sees the creative team forging creative responses to complex social concerns while uniting a range of stakeholders including policy-makers, citizens, community based performers, storytellers, artists, musicians, activists, human-rights lawyers and academics. Empatheatre has been responsible for launching several ground-breaking Research-based theatre projects over the last decade in South Africa including Soil & Ash (focusing on rural communities facing pressure from coal-mining companies), Ulwembu (street-level Drug addiction and harm reduction advocacy), The Last Country (female migration stories), Boxes (homelessness and Urban land justice inequalities in the city of Cape Town) and Lalela ulwandle (an international project supporting sustainable transformative governance of our oceans). The company’s work has toured internationally to Egypt, Rome, New York and Geneva. Empatheatre was recently nominated as The Daily Maverick’s 2022 artists of the year and awarded the Bertha Artivism Award for their theater and social-justice work as well as the 2023 Fleur Du Cap award for innovation in South African Theatre.

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When They Go Low

The Market Theatre and De La Salle Holy Cross College present When They Go Low

Written by Natalie Mitchell

Co-directed by Devon Flemmer and Daniel Buckland

ABOUT THE PLAY

Social media goes into a frenzy over pictures of Sarah at a party on the weekend – no one knows quite what she got up to. When Miss Reef lectures the girls on taking more responsibility for their actions, Buhle becomes enraged that the boys who took the pictures of Sarah have nothing to answer for. She wages war on misogyny, but when she threatens the popular soccer captain Scott and his claim to the School Captain title, things get heated. A website appears, rating the girls on their appearance and shaming them for their actions, and Buhle stages a protest to bring attention to the lack of equality in the school. When They Go Low is a fast-paced, witty and relatable story tackling everyday feminism and the changing face of teenage sexuality in an online world.

When They Go Low is a play about young adults, performed by young adults, confronting contemporary socio-political issues with humour, depth and bravery. After a successful run at De La Salle Holy Cross College, the show has its professional premiere in the Mannie Manim at the Market Theatre during Youth Month, on the 10th and 11th June 2023.

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PERFORMANCE TIMES

Saturday 10th June at 15h00 and 19h00

Sunday 11th June at 15h00

VENUE

Mannie Manim Theatre, Market Theatre

CREATIVE TEAM

Writer:                         Natalie Mitchell

Directors:   Devon Flemmer and Daniel Buckland

Costume designer:     Neka Da Costa

Set designer:              Chris Booyens

Lighting designer:       Barry Strydom

Cast:                           Thandiwe Witley, Angelina Hardwick, Senna Moreira, Liam Heaney, Kyle Makumbe, Julian Luiz, Daniel Wundram, Keila Becker, Mbalenhle Rose Malinga, Nonhle Mukomondo, Julia Leeming, Jacqui Lace, Julie Ann Hodgkinson, Lisa Hawthorne, Kwanda Nhlapo, Karen Kyandi, Dilara Yilmaz, Sophia Bullen, James Heaney

Presented by arrangement with DALRO

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Bänz Oester & The Rainmakers

Bänz Oester & The Rainmakers

Javier Vercher, Saxophone Tenor
Afrika Mkhize, Piano
Ayanda Sikade, Drums / Percussions
Bänz Oester, Bass

The Rainmakers continue a tradition that relatively few formations claim today. We immediately think of the so-called spiritual jazz, whose heyday stretched from the mid-1960s to the middle of the following decade. They give us this ‘old religion’, not as superstitious bigotry, but in terms of what binds us back, a precious sense of human belonging, brotherhood and sisterhood.

Most jazz musicians today focus their research on complex and elaborate structures, be it rhythmic, harmonic or melodic. Many current productions can therefore be perceived as a demonstration of discipline and work to which body and mind can be subjected in order to achieve a result: speed, precision, control, etc. The Rainmakers’ music breaks this trend. Of course, individual virtuosity and creativity are in the foreground (the four members of the quartet are all masters of improvisation and have a phenomenal power of expression), but this music also tells of the pursuit of freedom, revolt and rebellion against systems of control and against oppression in the world general, as well as the need for transcendence and humanity. Through their interplay, the musicians tirelessly affirm their spiritual aspirations and their need to free themselves from all forms of constraints. In doing so they continue a tradition that relatively few formations can claim today (except perhaps in South Africa, and so the presence of Afrika Mkhize and Ayanda Sikade in the quartet is undoubtedly crucial). One immediately thinks of John Coltrane’s 4tet, but also of the other apostles of so-called spiritual jazz, whose heyday stretched from the mid-1960s to the middle of the following decade. This music is strikingly relevant today. At a time when control algorithms are becoming more efficient and machines are reaching and even surpassing the physical and mental capabilities of humans, the offer of Bänz Oester,

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Javier Vercher, Afrika Mkhize and Ayanda Sikade is undoubtedly what we need most: they give us this ancient religion, not as superstitious bigotry, but as what binds us back together, a precious sense of human belonging, brotherhood and sisterhood.

The musicians not only play their instrument, they ARE the instrument itself; they are the sound, fully present in the now, generating pure joy and together they create a sound that seems to influence the universe. The Rainmakers make everything bloom. The band leader Bänz Oester and Javier Vercher (tenor sax) come from Europe, the pianist Afrika Mkhize and the drummer Ayanda Sikade are among the high-flyers from South Africa. The four of them form a sworn unit that cannot be divided by anything or anyone. In other words, we are dealing with a formation in which the individual class of all participants is not displayed in an egocentric manner but is transformed into collective energy. Oester, who has had a long-standing fascination with the extremely rich musical culture of Africa, puts it this way: “I want to communicate with the other musicians on an equal footing. This requires a certain attitude that does not tolerate hierarchical thinking. I’m all about breaking boundaries. I don’t dictate anything to anyone – the music is developed together.” Namely along a high-voltage line between north and south.

Bänz Oester & The Rainmakers will be performing in Johannesburg at the Market Theatre on the John Kani stage on Friday 7 July 2023 (7pm) and Sunday 9 July 2023 (3pm). Bookings through WebTickets.

www.rainmakers.info

jbo@rainmakers.info

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