THE REVIVAL OF COAL YARD HEADS TO THE MARKET THEATRE
From humble beginnings in a backyard in Phuthaditjhaba in QwaQwa, the Zwakala Festival’s past winner, Coal Yard, will enjoy a revival at the Market Theatre from 10 – 27 October 2024.
Coal Yard follows the journey of a young man called Tshepo whose dreams are shattered. He is forced to run away from his home after his father sexually abuses him. In the wilderness, Tshepo meets a mentor who gets him a job in a coal yard. The optimism of finding hope away from home is short lived when Tshepo has to confront labor under an exploitative boss. The play ultimately depicts the events that characterize the passage from boyhood to manhood in the life of Tshepo.
Performed with extraordinary energy, humour and skill, this is a multilingual piece of traditional storytelling par excellence. Working with physical theatre and a stripped back aesthetic reminiscent of plays like those of the late Mbongeni Ngema, including Woza Albert! and Asinamali, the ensemble tells this sensitive story. The set and props are kept to a minimum as the four performers constantly transform themselves across 37 different characters. The action seamlessly moves between dialogue in Sesotho, English, Afrikaans, Xitsonga, Zulu, Sepedi and Setswana.
The genesis of this production goes back to 2004 when a collective of young theatre-makers assembled in the township of the former homeland to experiment with themes that no one was prepared to talk about. These were the social ills and taboos troubling their communities. The then young creatives were determined to find a theatrical way of presenting difficult subject matter. In 2005, Coal Yard was presented as part of a community festival that led to it winning the 2006 Zwakala Festival at The Market Theatre Laboratory. True to the festival’s legacy, the winning production went on to a hugely successful season at the then Laager Theatre at the Market Theatre. A new trendsetting production was born, garnering praise and many accolades in the process. Now the 2007 Naledi Award nominees for “Best Cutting-Edge Play” are coming back to the historic Market Theatre.
The original cast members were: Diphapang “Pepsi” Mokoena, Tumelo Mokoena, Mbovu Malinga and Tshediso Mofali (late). In their midst they had a passionate choreographer in Ohentse Bodibe who assisted with integrating the movement in the play. Later they were joined by the Market Theatre Laboratory graduate Prince Lamla who further developed the piece with his signature approach to storytelling. Alongside the great success of the work, the group suffered some setbacks. Mofali and Bodibe untimely died.
Prince Lamla is at the helm in this revival of the play which is being restaged thanks to a partnership between the Market Theatre and the Performing Arts Centre of The Free State (PACOFS). Lamla, a Wits University Theatre and Performance lecturer, won the Standard Bank Young Artist Award in 2013 which he dedicated to the memory of his friend and fellow creative, Bodibe. The original cast members are now joined by talented actor, Abongile Maurice Matyutyu.
This is a truly must-see production that deals with urgent issues in a theatrically dynamic and powerful way.
~ENDS
For more information, images and interview with the cast members, please contact Bongiwe Potelwa (Publicist at the Market Theatre Foundation) at bongiwep@markettheatre.co.za or (011) 832 1641.
For reduced price block bookings (of 10 or more) and school groups, contact Anthony Ezeoke (Audience Development) at AnthonyE@markettheatre.co.za or 083 246 4950 or Mamello Khomongoe mamellok@markettheatre.co.za 0815729612