After almost 18 months of renovations, The Market Theatre is reopening its Laager Theatre with productions created by Can Themba and Barney Simon.

The Laager Theatre will reopen in July with two dynamic and award-winning young directors adapting and reviving works written by Can Themba and Barney Simon. Both figures became cultural icons through their creative work and its socio-political critiques of the oppressive regime of the day.

Director Khayelihle Dom Gumede will be revisiting an old flame in Can Themba’s Crepuscule and Clive Mathibe will be awakening a sleeping giant in Barney Simon’s Cincinatti – Scenes from the City Life. The two young directors are both being mentored by industry visionaries and renowned theatre practitioners Kgafela oa Magogodi and Vanessa Cooke, respectively.

The Market Theatre is world famous for staging struggle theatre during the dark days of apartheid, and continues its legacy today by giving fresh young talent a platform to express and showcase their skills. These two works will inspire conversations about our current socio-political landscape and issues that have remained with us since the days of these iconic works from the era of struggle and protest theatre.

Khayelihle Dom Gumede was the recent winner of the Sophie Mgcina Best Emerging Voice category at the Naledi awards, an award initiated and sponsored by The Market Theatre. He has created this play by adapting Themba’s short story Crepuscule, which is believed to be a fictional interpretation of Themba’s real life love affair with a white woman, Jean Hart, during the 1950s.

Set in the often revered and romanticised world of Sophiatown, the play asks a range of pertinent and contemporary socio-political questions. Themba and Hart’s illicit relationship serves as a means to unpack how much of our identity is formed by our environment and how much is shaped by our choices as individuals. Crepuscule is a story about human connection and a search for freedom and humanity in a world that sought to deny it.

This ensemble-based production offers a highly visual feast, combining the poetry of language, movement and song to create a high energy, fast paced and sometimes dangerous look at a time that still has more influence on who we are today than we may realise.

Award-winning actor Leroy Gopal will play the role of Themba in his first appearance at the Market Theatre. The production also features Kate Liquorish, Lerato Mvelase (Emmy Nominated), Conrad Kemp, Nhlanhla Mahlangu and Thami Ngoma.

Crepuscule will run until August 2, followed by Cincinatti – Scenes from the City Life from August 19 to September 13. For the first time in its history, The Market Theatre is offering theatre lovers a discounted package of a ticket to see both productions for R180, a saving of 50% for any day of your choice. This season ticket offer is another initiative by the theatre to ignite a love of the performing arts in a new generation of audience.

Performance times: Tuesdays to Saturdays at 8.15 pm and Sundays at 3.15 pm. Tickets cost R90 on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. To make block bookings, please contact Anthony Ezeoke at 011 832 1641 ext 121.