Barney Simon

BroadwayWorld is saddened to report that playwright Mbongeni Ngema has died at age 68, following a car accident. Ngema was best known for writing the musical Sarafina!, which premiered on Broadway in 1988, and was later adapted into a film starring Whoopi Goldberg in 1992.

Following sold-out performances at The Market Theatre, the story of Susan Nell KAMPHOER enters two more sold-out weeks at the Roodepoort Theatre this week. Starring esteemed South African actress Sandra Prinsloo, she tells BroadwayWorld of her experience with the multi-award winning solo theatrical play.

The latest play by Tony Award winning playwright Athol Fugard and Paula Fourie will have its world premiere in Stellenbosch in April.

'Finding Fellini', a mighty memoir about one woman, Megan Metrikin, who leaves the brutality of Apartheid South Africa in search of her muse -Federico Fellini, in Rome. You slip down the rabbit hole with her and emerge into a wonderland of palpable sensuality, exploration and adventure. It's a wild, obsessive, funny, filmic experience about the power of art to lift you out of any political or emotional doldrums.

Aclamada por la crítica y por el propio Peter Brook, la versión mexicana de El traje, dirigida por Héctor Flores Komatsu y Sebastián Espinosa Carrasco, a partir del montaje original del investigador y director escénico británico, y de Marie Hélène Estienne, es una labor magnifica y estupenda, pues tiene la habilidad de hallarle un nuevo lenguaje que le permite tener un nuevo público.

La Secretaría de Cultura, a través del Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Literatura (INBAL), tiene preparadas actividades artístico-culturales en sus diferentes recintos de la Ciudad de México para que las niñas, los niños, así como los adolescentes y adultos ejerzan sus derechos a la cultura durante este periodo de vacaciones de Semana Santa.

A decir de Peter Brook, la versión mexicana de su montaje El traje, dirigida por Héctor Flores Komatsu y Sebastián Espinosa Carrasco, es estupenda. “Estoy muy feliz. Todos han hecho verdaderamente una labor magnífica, inolvidable. Héctor es un amigo que ha colaborado mucho con nosotros y ha hecho un gran trabajo al hallarle a El traje un lenguaje profundamente correcto y, al mismo tiempo, un nuevo público; una audiencia contemporánea en México. Por eso debo decir especialmente: ¡Bravo, Héctor!”.

Makuyeika: Colectivo Teatral escenificará El traje (The Suit), adaptación realizada por Héctor Flores Komatsu, bajo su dirección, a partir del montaje original de Peter Brook y Marie-Hélène Estienne con un equipo afrodescendiente de artistas. Se presentará del 4 al 21 de abril en el Teatro El Granero Xavier Rojas del Centro Cultural del Bosque (CCB) y del 25 de abril al 12 de mayo en el Teatro Isabela Corona.

Welcoming 2019 with a heartwarming rom-com, HAPPY NEW YEAR (A PLAY WITH SONGS) is the latest adaption by David Kramer brought to the Fugard stage. Starring Bianca Flanders and Dean Balie, the play follows two out-of-luck and out-of-love souls in a hilarious and captivating whirlwind adventure of a weekend. Nicolas Kent, the London-based, award-winning director at the helm of the production, chats to Broadway World South Africa about his directorial beginnings at university, international aspirations, and involvement in this anticipated production.

Acclaimed South African theatre luminaries, Mbongeni Ngema and Percy Mtwa, reprise their original roles - created some 40 years ago - in one of this country's most brilliant and popular classics, Woza Albert!, at the Baxter Flipside from 5 February to 2 March 2019 at 7.30pm and Saturday matinees at 2pm.

The eighth annual 2018 Zabalaza Theatre Festival to showcase some 40 productions by dynamic young theatre-makers from all over the Western Cape.

THE FALL returns to the Baxter for a short season this September, following its recent success at the Edinburgh Assembly Fringe Festival.

The Suitcase brings together a unique partnership of venues in the North of England and the Market Theatre Johannesburg, marking the internationally renowned theatre company's return to the UK after a five year absence.

Following its unprecedented sold-out success last year, THE FALL will return to the Baxter Golden Arrow Studio during youth month. THE FALL is a candid collaborative piece of workshop theatre based on the experiences of seven UCT graduates during the #RhodesMustFall and subsequent student movements.

Theatre legend Fatima Dike styles herself as a playwright, director, teacher and mentor. Her latest directorial work, the staging of Pfarelo Nekamonde's THREE'S A CROWD at the Guga S'Thebe Arts & Culture Centre, is currently on the boards. Dike found time during rehearsals to answer some questions about the production and the vibrant cultural scene in Langa.

It was no unlucky Friday the 13th for South Africa's theatre community when BroadwayWorld's Regional Managing Editor Christina Mancuso released the names of the of the winners of the 2016 BroadwayWorld South Africa Awards.

WHITE ELEPHANT is a study of contemporary South African malaise, framed by the story of Issy and Ma: a mother and daughter who each seek, in their own peculiar way, to do the impossible and kindle a future from the dying embers of their past.

WOZA ALBERT! remains an incredibly powerful play. That it can withstand mediocre productions and still, more or less, manage to resonate with an audience is a testament to what Ngema, Mtwa and Simon achieved 35 years ago. When the real WOZA ALBERT! stands up, it takes no prisoners. It is a play that reminds us of the journey we have travelled, and the long way we still have to go.

Writer-director Koleka Putuma's assemblage of ideas and motifs in WOZA SARAFINA! is constructed within the context of the #RhodesMustFall movement and is informed by the ideologies that underpin that movement. While it speaks many truths, the play never finds a way to deliver more than just "the feels".

THE FALL, a brand new production at the Baxter this October, shares the experiences of seven recent UCT graduates during the #RhodesMustFall and subsequent student movements.