South Africa State Theatre presents Marikana - The Musical

Image by Sanmari Marais: Marikana - The Musical

After a four years stage hiatus, SAST is reassembling Meshack Mavuso-Magabane, Aubrey Poo, Siyasanga Papu, Emma Mmekwa and Mpho “Mckenzie” Matome. They lead a 40-member cast and a 13-piece band in unleashing a blow-by-blow account of the events that led to the loss of 44 lives at the hands of the police and the miners during the period of the massacre.

Brand new SA play premieres at The Baxter

21 Jul 2022

Written and directed by Aubrey Sekhabi, Marikana-The Musical is an adaptation of the book We Are Going to Kill Each Other Today: The Marikana Story penned by Thanduxolo Jika, Felix Dlangamandla, Lucas Ledwaba, Sebabatso Mosamo, Athandwa Saba and Leon Sadiki. The story looks at the lives of mineworkers and their families and the events leading up to the massacre. It goes back to the villages and townships where they came from and gives faces and names to the fallen brothers, sons, fathers, and uncles.

On 16 August, police opened fire on a crowd of protesting mineworkers who were demanding a wage increase from the Lonmin platinum mine in Marikana, killing 34 mineworkers. The event was described as the biggest incident of police brutality since the advent of democracy and it revived memories of the brutality suffered under Apartheid security police.

Image by Sanmari Marais: Mavuso Magabane as Mr Green

Marikana – The Musical was last seen on stage in 2017 at the SAST. After its stage premiere in 2014, the musical garnered the respect of audiences and critics alike and won six Naledi Awards out of eighteen nominations the following year. It won awards including Best Production of a Musical, Best Director (Aubrey Sekhabi), Best Performance in a Musical: Female (Emma Mmekwa), Best Set Design (Wilhelm Disbergen), Best Musical Score (Mckenzie Matome, Zakele Mabena and Aubrey Sekhabi), Best original and Choreography (Thabo Rapoo).

Marikana -The Musical will take place from 2-28 August and tickets can be purchased for R150 on Webtickets.