FATHER & I
The dynamic dance-theatre work exploring South African fathers is back
The heart-warming and beautifully crafted Naledi-nominated dance-theatre piece, ‘Father & I’, returns to The Market Theatre for its second season, after its initial four performances in November, 2024. This year, the show will play from 21 – 31 August 2025, before touring to the JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Festival in Durban.
‘Father & I’ uses personal stories, dance, song and music to explore the relationships between South African fathers and their children. As an interdisciplinary work, it combines song, dance, music and personal testimony to create a theatrical experience aimed at acknowledging the complexity and beauty of fatherly relationships, with all its imperfections.
It is choreographed by Moving into Dance’s Artistic Director, Sunnyboy Motau, with music by Bongile Lecoge–Zulu and Matthew MacFarlane, and direction by Artistic Director at The Market Theatre Foundation, Greg Homann.
This dynamic fusion of real life stories from the cast is created between The Windybrow Arts Centre’s 2024 Kwasha! Theatre Company, The Market Theatre and Moving into Dance.
In a country battling high fatherlessness statistics, ‘Father & I’ offers a warm and nuanced take at what it means to be a father in contemporary South Africa. The performances are delivered with humour, care and empathy, aimed at facilitating understanding, reconciliation and love. According to the 2024 State of South African Fathers report, only 35.6% of South African children live with their biological fathers. The impact of absent fathers on children, especially boys, is widely documented.
The work goes beyond this concerning reality, and delves into the nuances of fatherhood. While spotlighting the crisis of absent fathers, the show further aims to offer a balanced and honest narrative that celebrates present fathers. The artistic treatment creates an empathetic space that has the potential to lead audiences to a place of honest conversations about healing the father wound, reconciling broken families and inspiring a new generation of fathers to break an all too familiar destructive cycle.
Choreographer, Sunnyboy Motau, emphasises that the dance theatre work attempts to show all sides of fatherhood, especially in a country like South Africa where the role requires added resilience, courage, vulnerability and responsibility.
Greg Homann, adds, “Starting with the personal narratives of the actors and dancers involved, ‘Father & I’ weaves stories of absence and presence, identity, inherited roles, support, and notions of masculinity. Each artist shares their experiences, highlighting the challenges of these bonds—the joys, the struggles, and the fatherly moments that define them. These heartfelt stories invite the audience to reflect on their own relationships with their fathers, sparking dialogue about love, belonging, the act of providing and the deep yearning for connection.”
As ‘Father & I’ makes a comeback, it will sit alongside the upcoming Zwakala Festival-winning production, ‘Fatherhood’, as The Market Theatre’s artistic focus over the next few months centres, in part, on issues relating to fathers.
Don’t miss this new work that will shift your perspective about fatherhood in a daringly heart-stirring way. Tickets via Webtickets start from R170 when booked as 4-or-more. There is also a “Parents Special” when buying two full price tickets, where you get a third ticket for free.
ENDS
The Market Theatre is a Division of The Market Theatre Foundation, an agency of the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture.
For enquiries, please contact Bongiwe Potelwa (Publicist at the Market Theatre Foundation) at bongiwep@markettheatre.co.za or 011 832 1641.
For reduced price block bookings (of 10 or more) and school groups, contact Anthony Ezeoke (Audience Development) at AnthonyE@markettheatre.co.za or 083 246 4950/081 572 9612.