Over three decades ago, Market Theatre co-founding father and first artistic director Barney Simon noted how community theatre groups had little or no resources to create work.
Bhele and Ramaine say that their application was merely a process of testing the waters to see how far they could go. For them, winning was a bonus as their approach was one where they wanted to touch at least one life and make a small difference. This may not have been a deliberate move by the theatre but the piece is a perfect fit for our Heritage Month. Before there was Broadway, ancient Africans were the pioneers of song, movement, acting and all things theatrical.
There have been many brilliant productions that have come out of Zwakala, like Thabiso Rammala’s Tau, which went on to win two Naledi Awards and a Gold Standard Bank Ovation Award at the National Arts Festival.