The Market Theatre Foundation stories
Hey Hillbrow! Come Out To Play—The Streets Are Calling
The Windybrow Arts Centre, a division of The Market Theatre Foundation, and its partners are proud to present the sixth iteration of its annual parade, Hey Hillbrow! Let’s Dlala!
Fun, joy and creative energies are set to fill the inner-city of Jo’burg this Africa Month as Hey Hillbrow! splashes the neighbourhood with colourful visuals and alters the soundscape with exciting frequencies. The parade, which cuts through Hillbrow and Doornfontein, takes place on 24 May 2025. It starts at 10am from The Windybrow Arts Centre, followed by a music concert featuring Thamsanqa Vuthela Band, Mozambique’s The Dizzy Brains and Styles Da Deejay of The Creators Room.
Launched in 2017, Hey Hillbrow! is a celebration of the possibilities that public performance brings to public space—to spread energy, laughter, surprise and provocation, and to make visible the wonderful work that several organisations and individuals have continued to do in impacting inner-city communities and spaces. It is once again curated by Tamzyn Botha, alongside Daniel Buckland and The Windybrow Arts Centre.
MTF’s Africa Month Curation Explores Place, Heritage and Migration
The Market Theatre Foundation (MTF) has curated a compelling and exciting artistic offering in commemoration of Africa Month across The Market Photo Workshop, The Market Theatre Laboratory, The Market Theatre, and The Windybrow Arts Centre, reaffirming its commitment as a proudly African storyteller. The curation leans into the complex themes of ancestry, belonging, place, migration and heritage.
As a precursor to the Africa Month programming, The Market Photo Workshop, a visual literacy and photojournalism division of The Market Theatre Foundation, co-curated an exhibition titled ‘Afrikan Stories for Social Change’ in Ghana, in collaboration with Thrive Africa. Held from 14 – 16 April in 2025, this exhibition set the tone for the rest of the MTF’s Africa Month commemoration.
The Market Theatre Puts the 10th Anniversary of #FeesMustFall Under The Spotlight
The Market Theatre is set to mark the 10th Anniversary of #FeesMustFall with two bold productions: “The Fall” and “The Good White”. The plays will individually explore this watershed period in post-apartheid student activism from different perspectives.
Throughout their runs, starting from 9 April 2025, audiences will be guided down the past decade to the first #RhodesMustFall protest at the University of Cape Town (UCT) that sparked similar protests against colonial monuments on campuses nationwide, ultimately dovetailing with the #FeesMustFall movement that called for free, quality and decolonised education.
The staging of these plays brings the achievements of the Fallist movement under examination, as thousands of disadvantaged students still struggle to afford the rising – instead of falling – fees of higher learning, including the costs of accommodation, transport and food.
Tshiamo Mokgadi leading the Market Theatre Foundation – a contested space with a rich legacy – into the future
When the public talk about the Newtown Cultural precinct, they often refer to it as the Market Theatre Precinct, even though the area is a home to other institutions, such as museums and dance institutions. And one should not fault the people, as the Market Theatre is an iconic space with a rich history that is recognised both locally and internationally due to its role in the struggle for freedom for South Africa.
The Market Theatre Foundation is the legal entity that runs the four business units under it, namely the Market Theatre, Windybrow Arts Centre, Market Photo Workshop and Market Theatre Laboratory.
Market Theatre Foundation appoints Lekgetho Makola as the new Chief Operations Officer
Greg Homann is committed to creating artistic programmes that speak to current issues
Now approaching its 50th anniversary, The Market Theatre Foundation is a space that in the height of apartheid was a pain to the apartheid rulers. It created a defiant theatre experience that during times of state censorship, was the newspaper of the day, offering an opportunity for audiences to probe their socio-political conditions.
Market Photo Workshop, a renowned photography school attracting students from the African continent and the rest of the world
One could tell that the community, those passing by on the main street where the gallery is situated and the neighbours, were all curious. This is because in this neighbourhood, it is unusual to see a bus load of strangers, especially an assortment of visitors, some with cameras strapped on their shoulders, some carrying note books and whipping out phones from their pockets to capture all the action. Certainly the crowds were no tourists, but locals.
The Market Theatre Laboratory, a school that gives access to young theatre makers to learn and experiment with new ideas
Head of the Market Theatre Laboratory, an institution within the Newtown cultural precinct otherwise known simply as The Lab, Cherae Halley,has a simple way of defining what the theatre learning institution is: “It is a space for young theatre makers to upskill and experiment through our three different programmes – through the two year full-time course, which is quite competitive and we can only take 20 students per year, through the Ramolao Makhene Theatre space
Transforming the lives of the youth within its surrounding community of Hillbrow
Right at the core of Hillbrow’s vibrant community, amid the all-pervasive poverty and inner-city degradation, stands the brightly restored Mock – Tudor style mansion, now home to the Market Theatre Foundation’s, Windybrow Arts Centre. When you speak to Gerard Bester, Head of the Centre, about the role it plays in the area, he becomes animated. This is because it is more than just a classic arts institution. Whether by default or design, it is vital to Hillbrow, it is the artistic heartbeat of this community, and its contemporary existence is inextricably tied to the fate of Hillbrow.
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