Qondiswa James' New Play AMAXELEGU to Debut in Cape Town This March

Amaxelegu (roughly translated as Messy People),  is a provocatively risqué yet relatable and beautiful story exploring the bedroom dynamics of a young couple and their interactions with the woman who ‘cleans up after them'. Performances run 18, 19, 20 March at 20h00 and 21 March at 14h00.

It is a journey into the complexity of present-day relationships, set in the bedrooms of the characters Thabisa and Azola, in Cape Town. The pair navigate the day-to-day transactions of class, politics and gender as they move between various private and domestic contexts as young, upwardly mobile-middle-class black South Africans.

Amaxelegu features an impressive cast which includes Qondiswa James as Thabisa, Luxolo Ndabeni as Azola and Peggy Mongoato in the role of Mama Priscilla.

This bold, fresh three-hander emerged out of the Market Theatre's Play Development Programme which was launched in 2025. The initiative focuses on unearthing and developing fresh, urgent, or compelling stories under the guidance of Artistic Director, Greg Homann.

The story: Their romance begins on Bumble and is quickly charged by ideology, desire, and class difference. As they fall for one another through screens and marches, messages and misrecognition, their longing for “free love” collides with the structural inequalities that shape their lives. Hovering between them is Mama Priscilla, Azola's mother and Thabisa's domestic worker – the invisible bridge whose quiet labour sustains both their worlds. Her presence draws into view the inheritance of servitude and the unbroken line between care, work, and love in a country still haunted by its hierarchies.

“Amaxelegu is an exploration of how we navigate having multiple relationships, while remaining an ethical version of ourselves,” says writer, director and performer Qondiswa James.

“It maps the intimacy between the erotic and the political. At once tender and unflinching, Amaxelegu is a portrait of contemporary South African intimacy where politics seeps into the bed, where the personal is historical, and where even love cannot escape the architecture of inequality.”

Completing Amaxelegu's team is:

Assistant Director and Tour Manager: Ketsia Velaphi

AV designers: Abigail Meekel and Claire Meekel 

Set and costume designer: Lungiswa Joe

Sound designer: Jannous Nkululeko Aukema

Lighting designer: David Themba Stewart

Movement Director: Ernest 'Ginger' Baleni

Intimacy Coordinator: Tshego Khutsoane

Acting Coach: Monageng ‘Vice' Motshabi 

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