Mpho Molepo | antakalipa

Marabi

At the Market Theatre for the opening of “Marabi”. Piano, Kasi, Stocko, Doornfontein! A full house, everyone in full attendance. The energy palpable, everyone is just excited! It’s the first show of the year!

Marabi is a South African musical theatre classic adapted from Modikwe Dikobe’s novel The Marabi Dance and originally developed through Junction Avenue Theatre Company workshops. It’s set in the Doornfontein slumpyards, rusted corrugated sheets is the feeling and tone, 1930s – the show tells a powerful story of family, music and change.

The play opens with the Mabongo family, first-generation Black migrants who have come to Johannesburg in search of opportunity but instead face the harsh realities of urban poverty and crowded township life. The central figure, July Mabongo, carries the burden of ancestral expectations, traditional values, and the tension between holding on to the past and surviving in a fast-changing city. Mabongo’s daughter Martha falls in love with Ginger George, a charismatic marabi piano player known for his vibrant rhythms and free spirit. Their relationship challenges traditional norms and creates conflict within the family.

The story uses marabi music not just as background but as an emotional and cultural force — representing continuity with heritage and the promise of transformation. As recorded music begins to challenge live performance, tensions emerge over authenticity, survival and identity.

Onstage we see the characters struggle with love, personal dreams, and the effects of broader social changes — from economic hardship to looming war. Marabi is a story of resilience, rhythm and belonging: a theatrical tapestry where family bonds, cultural heritage, and social pressures all interplay against the backdrop of South Africa’s emerging township culture.

The cast
Josias Dos Moleele
Mduduzi Mtshali
Sello Sebotsane
Gabisile Tshabalala
Mapule Mafole
Mpho Molepo
Peter Mashigo
Alister Mbuso Dube
Katlego Moloi
Thamo Baleka Ngoma

The cast are amazing, simultaneously dancing and singing. Mapule Mafole is just remarkable, she plays the role of a child to perfection. So innocent and pure, nothing betrays her performance. She is so beautiful. Josias Dos Moleele is a shapeshifter who wills things into existence. Esscentric and colorful, he brings flavor to his character. Gabisile with that menacing look, eyebrows tuck in, present your case disposition. Sello Sebotsane plays the father, she is very disappointed with her daughter. He later enrolls to fight in the War after getting fired from work. Each of the members of the cast, work with care and diligence to bring their characters to life. There’s a lot of personality and charm to the characters.

Set Designer – Wilhelm Disbergen
Costume Designer – Lethabo Bereng
Lighting Designer – Mandla Mshali

Congratulations Arthur Molepo and the whole team for a great show and a deserved standing ovation.

📸: SamSays

SARAFINA

At Joburg Theatre to watch SARAFINA. Beyond ecstatic to watch this masterpiece. Full house, every seat taken and it’s like that for the remainder of the run. The movie is pretty great but there is nothing like the theatrical production.

Bantu education, exuberant youth in black and white uniform, soldiers, police, violence, despair and hope. I’ll extend my neck and declare that it’s the greatest show of all time! Perfect choreography, heavenly voices, boundless energy, relatable South African characters, world class performers, fabulous lighting that moved the story and the content is king! The lighting throughout the show is just wonderful. The set evokes the 1970’s, wide stage that is separated by a fence. One side is the students world and the otherside, the soldiers world. On either side of the students world is scaffolding. When there was a monologue, the students dispersed to the scaffolding, making the stage bigger for the performer sharing the monologue. Focus, intensity, with the spotlight fully illuminating the performer.

The play speaks to something deep – freedom. The right to exist without demarcation, limitations or conditions imposed by the unjust, unfair system. The right to just be. Huge stage, the performers make used of every inche. They run, they jump, they dance, they are energetic, animated, expressive and free. The music band are just the best. At the start of the show, the theatre suffered a blackout, the auditorium was dark, the band carried on playing as the audience took out their cellphones to provide the light. It was a beautiful sight, like fireflies. Small glitch, the lights came back on and the crowd went crazy! We were invested in the story from the very start. The show had everything, it was comedic, silly, serious, festive, covered injustices, Bantu education, unrest, sexual assault, apartheid and death. Crocodile is so mischievous! He physically beat his classmates to be Nelson Mandela. His classmates still picked Sarafina, a girl, to be Nelson Mandela. Being the strongest doesn’t always produce the desired effect. So in love with mistress, she teaches her classes with complete conviction, the students trust and respect her. When she performed in that red dress it was as if I were struck by cupid’s arrow.

This is a large ensemble and everyone is important. Some of the names in the production are Noxolo Dlamini, Hlengiwe Pearl and Busisiwe Mhlanga.

Nompumelelo Gumede-Ngema provided the choreography.

Sarafina is the greatest theatrical production of all time. It’s a complete theatrical experience. Thank you to the visionary, an absolute Legend, Mbongeni Ngema for his genius. Thank you to the exceptional performers who gave everything to bring the story alive. SamSays on the credits.

Congratulations Mpho Molepo and the whole team for a great show and a deserved standing ovation.

📷: Dumakude Nxumalo