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Mail & Guardian

Market Theatre

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That terrible day: Rise ‘76: The Story of June 16th at the Market Theatre is at the Mannie Manim Theatre until 28 June. Photos: Supplied

Fifty years on, ‘Rise '76’ asks what we still owe the generation of June 16th

Running at the Market Theatre, 'Rise '76: The Story of June 16th' explores the profound impact of the Soweto Uprising through the lens of playwright Tiisetso Mashifane wa Noni.…

Emotional texture: Zilungile Mbombo, Mfuneli Ntumbuka and Alex
Sono. The script is sharp, witty and moving. Photos: Fiona MacPherson

‘Rise ’76’ confronts a generation haunted by how little it has done with its inherited freedom

A powerful and emotionally layered theatrical work revisits the 1976 Soweto Uprising through testimony, memory, contradiction and unresolved generational grief

Performance: Expect a mix of township storytelling, struggle songs
and emotional gut-punches that linger. Photo: Supplied

Gig Guide: Lehlohonolo Shale presents Call of the Revolution’s Children, Dada Masilo’s Hamlet at the Market Theatre and Welcome to Wrexham is back on Disney+

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Afro soul star: Berita will be holding a special Workers’ Day performance at The Market Theatre.

Berita’s ‘Echoes of The Soul’: A meditation on migrant workers

Berita’s Workers’ Day performance becomes a powerful meditation on migration, memory and xenophobia in a nation built through labour, movement and forgotten solidarities

Mirroring the past: At times, the actors in Under the Shade of a Tree I Sat and Wept step out of their roles entirely, debating the material they are performing, questioning its meaning or even its validity. It’s here that the play’s meta-theatrical dimension comes into focus. Photo: Thandile Zwebanzi

What does it mean to forgive? A play asks, 30 years after the TRC

Drawing from archives and lived experience, the international production probes the emotional and political complexities of reconciliation in a fractured world

Spirit leader: Zawadi Yamungu.

Zawadi Yamungu: The African Dramaturg

Blending jazz, folk and indigenous instrumentation, Zawadi crafts a sound that reconnects audiences to heritage while confronting the politics of the present

A powerful reflection on how Isitha Sabantu channels Fanon’s radical thought into a deeply political, emotionally resonant theatre of resistance and remembrance

‘Isitha Sabantu’: The new frontier for anti-colonial theatre

A powerful reflection on how Isitha Sabantu channels Fanon’s radical thought into a deeply political, emotionally resonant theatre of resistance and remembrance

Moving: Multi-disciplinary artist Aldo Brincat’s The Moon Looks Delicious From Here is a semi-autobiographical story.

Diary: Aldo Brincat at the Market Theatre, NYO Jazz releases new album and Kabza De Small set to release Kabza Chant 2.0

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Calvin Ratladi sees beyond the script, conjuring ghosts of land, legacy and loss in ‘Breakfast with Mugabe’

The world through Calvin Ratladi’s eyes

The playwright sees beyond the script, conjuring ghosts of land, legacy and loss in ‘Breakfast with Mugabe’

Andrew Buckland, puppeteer Craig Leo, Markus Schabbing, Michael K and Carlo Daniels in Life & Times of Michael K at the Market in Joburg

Puppets, prose and perseverance: JM Coetzee’s Life & Times of Michael K comes to life

The author’s classic is reimagined through puppetry in a powerful stage adaptation

Weighty matter: The Cry of Winnie Mandela, on at the Market Theatre in Joburg, explores how women handle the absence of the men they love.

A story of love, loss and resilience

A powerful reflection on women who wait – out of devotion, duty and often unrewarded hope

Issues: Botswanan artist and photographer Thero Makepe’s work Insurance, 2024 will be at his exhibition It’s Not Going to Get Better.

Diary: The realities in Botswana, A Month of Love and Fresh Met operas on South African big screens

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Support group: Michelle Rosewall and Rondean Hughes will perform at the Flatfoot Access Festival.

Diary: A feast of dance, musical blessings from the avant-garde, WGRUV Dance Company opens in Gauteng

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Critique: Musician Tumi Mogorosi (above) and poet Lesego Rampolokeng will be in MoRa at the Pan African Theatre Festival.

Diary: The Pan African theatre festival, Disney’s Aladdin Jr and two unmissable events in Durban

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Striking: Cion: Requiem of Ravel’s Bolero was choreographed by Gregory Maqoma.

Diary: Requiem of Ravel’s Bolero, BMW Art Generation, live scores to silent films

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