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 kickstarted Africa Month with a musical and dramatic bang as it opened ‘Mantsopa’ on 2 May 2025. In ‘Mantsopa’, writer and director, Jerry Mofokeng-Makhetha, combines music with storytelling in honour of prophetess and rainmaker, Mantsopa.
Coming up next at The Market Theatre is ‘The Last Country’, a theatrical depiction of real life histories of migrant women who have cut through vast no-man’s lands to finally arrive in their last country. Running between 15 May – 1 June 2025, ‘The Last Country’ is an immersive and deeply moving theatre piece exploring the stories of women who migrated from the DRC, Somalia, Zimbabwe and local villages to (re)create a new home in inner-cities. The script carefully weaves together experiences of struggle, pain, humour, hope and resilience in ways that reflect our shared humanity, and how the smallest acts of kindness can support and transform the experiences of those seeking sanctuary in our cities.
The play is created by the Empatheatre team, known to Jo’burg audiences for the multi-award-winning play, ‘Isidlamlilo/The Fire Eater’. The brilliant cast is made up of Mpume Mthombeni, Faniswa Yisa, Nompilo Maphumulo and Andile Vilakazi.
Pinned on the brow of a hill overlooking inner-city Jo’burg, The Windybrow Arts Centre is once again excited for the return of its annual parade, which is a colourful expression of being, belonging and identity. Happening on 24 May 2025, ‘Hey Hillbrow: Let’s Dlala’ is an attempt at reviving joy over the little things in life. Curated against the backdrop of a struggling and neglected inner-city environment, this carnival is the highlight of many Jo’burg residents looking for a breath of fresh air.
This year’s ‘Hey Hillbrow’ promises even more wonder and entanglement as we move through the streets of Doornfontein and Hillbrow as portals into the past, the future and the now. The playdate is again curated by Tamzyn Botha (Shade) and Daniel Buckland in collaboration with The Windybrow Arts Centre. This playdate 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 this complex inner-city area.
The Market Theatre Laboratory aims to celebrate Africanness through two collaborative partnerships to bring ‘Graveland’ by Thembeni Joni and Lunga Khuhlane, as well as Sibusiso Mthembu’s ‘Uhambo Lwamakhehla’ to the Ramolao Makhene Theatre. From 09 – 11 May 2025, ‘Uhambo Lwamakhehla’ moved audiences with its powerful choreography to tap into the footsteps of their forebears, while crafting their own path into the future.
‘Uhambo Lwamakhehla’ is a dance production that traces and celebrates ancestral journeys, with a strong focus on movement patterns in dance. The work shines light on African footwork as an independent form of art and not dance style, drawing on proudly African techniques such as Pantsula and Zulu dance, among others.
‘Graveland’ is a pan-African artistic response to the question of migration taking place on 29 May – 1 June 2025. The play is a bold confrontation of the wave of xenophobic attacks that have plagued South Africa in the past. It tells a tale of African families who have been affected by these injustices and, as a result, seeks to repair the wounds that keep getting worse for them. Again, it gives both perpetrators and victims a frame of the lens to the question of whether this is the Africa we envisioned.
Whether it’s a colourful playdate in the streets of Hillbrow or a thought-provoking experience you’re looking for, The Market Theatre Foundation has prepared a wholesome meal for you.
ENDS.
The Market Theatre Foundation is an agency of the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture.
For media enquiries, please contact Bongiwe Potelwa (Publicist at the Market Theatre Foundation) at bongiwep@markettheatre.co.za or (011) 832 1641.
For reduced price block bookings of 10 or more and school groups, contact Anthony Ezeoke (Audience Development Officer at The Market Theatre Foundation) at anthonye@markettheatre.co.za or 083 246 4950.