Theatre season lifts off in Joburg this February

For many people, the Joburg city centre only becomes a viable space at the end of the year, when everything is all pantomime and Christmas cheer.

But between the Joburg Theatre complex and Arts on Main in Maboneng, the centre of the city is an exciting place for new and returning productions. And the next few weeks has no shortage of exceptional shows.

Why Should I Hesitate?

Where: Arts on Main
When: 19 February at 8pm

William Kentridge and Kyle Shepherd.

William Kentridge and Kyle Shepherd join forces in this collaborative concert. It is an expansion of their work together at the Centre for the Less Good Idea in Joburg and on the chamber opera Waiting for the Sibyl, which premiered in Rome last year.

It includes a section of Kurt Schwitters’ Ursonate, which Kentridge has performed with different musicians on several occasions in various cities and a live piano performance by Shepherd to a charcoal animation film, still in progress, by Kentridge.

Brothers

Where: The Market Theatre
When: 24 January to 24 February

An award-winning play by Victor Gordon that reflects the serious side of family tragedies and the human truths about families haunted by past occurrences.

Brothers reflects the social strata and attitudes that exist within a poor white family in a harsh and desolate area of the Eastern Cape in the 1950s.

The play reflects the tension derived from circumstances, provoked by the return of one of the brothers who had mysteriously disappeared for 18 years.

It stars Dawid Minnaar, Drikus Volschenk, David James, Gustav Gerderner and Ruan Wessels.

Text Me When You Arrive: How to not get raped and killed in South Africa

Where: Arts on Main
When: 30 January to 2 February

This is a powerful, satirical and physical exploration of the plight of South African women through the lens of a playful YouTube channel.

Three women explore how they navigate their way through the “rules” set by rape culture.

Vuka Machel

Where: The Market Theatre
When: Until 2 February

This fantastic comedy is just the beginning of an exciting year of programming at the Market Theatre Laboratory, including the return of its flagship residency programme.

Phifalo Ya Ngwidi, a powerful play made by Market Lab students with the direction of Sylvaine Strike, about the Life Esidimeni crisis, will return to Joburg stages, while the award-winning Hani: The Legacy and The Little Prince gear up for national and international tours.

Vuka Machel is a revolutionary comedy told by two chicken thieves from Kanyamazane, just outside Nelspruit in Mpumalanga. Through the eyes of this infamous pair, the audience is taken on a hilarious journey that is well worth watching.

(Compiled by Adriaan Roets)

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.