South African theatre classic back on stage

Sizwe Banzi is Dead, written by Athol Fugard, John Kani and Winston Ntshona had a good showing at the Market Theatre’s main stage from September 28 to October 22, 2006.

The play tells the story of Sizwe Banzi (Winston Ntshona), a rural black worker who leaves his home in King William’s Town to seek employment in Port Elizabeth. He is ordered to leave the district because his identity pass is not in order. With his friend Buntu (John Kani), he comes across a dead man with a valid pass. Desperate, they steal his pass and forge his photograph. Sizwe assumes the dead man’s identity so that he can remain in the city to provide for his wife and four children.

Although the work is set in apartheid South Africa, its exploration of the theme of identity remains just as relevant twelve years into our democracy. While calling for political change, it also made its audience aware that new and better political systems ultimately depend on a change of heart for all involved.

The original 1975 Tony Award-winning duo, Kani and Ntshona, here perform this classic tale for the first time since it was produced thirty years ago. Aubrey Sekhabi, Artistic Director of the State Theatre directed this internationally celebrated production which offers the audience a unique and historic theatre experience


Contact the Market Theatre for more information or email: Lusanda@markettheatre.co.za

More theatre at the Market

If you happen to visit South Africa in October 2006 and you fancy good local theatre, do not miss the play by award-winning author, Mike van Graan.

The play titled ‘Some Mother’s Sons’, comes to the Market Theatre in Johannesburg after a national tour that included five festivals and two theatres, as well as short seasons in London and The Hague.

‘Some Mothers' Sons’ features two characters, Vusi Mataboge and Braam Visser who meet in the mid-eighties when Vusi is being brutally assaulted in detention. Braam is acting as his lawyer. They become close friends and eventually, partners in a leading human rights legal firm. Then, in 2004, Braam is a victim of a violent crime and he responds in a manner that leads to his arrest. The original roles are reversed. Braam is in custody, and Vusi is there to act as his lawyer.

Two good men experience violence in an intensely personal way in very different circumstances twenty years apart. How do they react? And what are the consequences of their actions for those around them, and for themselves?

“As one of the few practicing contemporary South African playwrights able to construct morally complex and dramatically layered scripts dealing with highly controversial socio-political topics, Mike van Graan’s latest play is highly recommended,” says Brent Meersman of the Mail and Guardian newspaper.

"Some Mothers’ Sons" is directed by Jay Pather and features Wiseman Sithole and Gideon van Eeden. It is a play that will move audiences, but will also make them think about, and debate the issues raised in the play for some time afterwards.

Visit the Market Theatre website for more information contact
or email: lebogangt@markettheatre.co.za