Jo'burg theatre picks: December 2 2011

Poet and playwright Napo Masheane has focused her work on perceptions of the female African body shape.

In 2007 she scored a triumph with her theatre work, My Bum Is Genetic, Deal with It, directed by the late John Matshikiza.

In the past she was in this newspaper’s list of young South Africans you should to take to lunch and in 2005 she was nominated for a DaimlerChrysler Award for her poetry. Now Village Gossip Productions, in association with the Market Theatre Laboratory, presents Napo Masheane and the Fat Black Women Sing.

The production coincides with the launch of her new poetry anthology, Fat Songs for My Girlfriends. The show weds the spoken word with melodies of years past, which pay tribute to icons such as Letta Mbulu and Miriam Makeba, and stars vocalists Nqobile Sibeko, Thami Ngoma, Solace, Nqobile Sephamla, Tumi Moloi and Nkoto Malebye.

Market Theatre Laboratory, Bus Factory, Newtown, on December 8, 9 and 10 at 7pm, and on December 11 at 3pm.

■ We’re not sure whether to keep punting Craig Higginson’s Girl in the Yellow Dress because, like John Kani’s Nothing but the Truth, it is a work that simply refuses to die. Not that there’s anything wrong with the play—in fact, like Kani’s, it exemplifies the best that local theatre has to offer.

When the drama opened last year, the Mail & Guardian wrote: “The strength of The Girl in the Yellow Dress lies in its intelligent and subtle use of language and dialogue. Just beneath the verbal sparring is a vast landscape where concepts like race, truth and sex are endlessly examined. It is a fascinating production, showing the possibilities that abound when Europe and Africa are cleverly brought together.” Malcolm Purkey directs.

Laager Theatre, Market Theatre Complex, Miriam Makeba Street, Newtown, until December 11. Book at Computicket.