Newly Devised Work Explores Life and Death through the Walls of an Old Town
The Market Theatre Laboratory presents the 2025 first-year student production, Isilawu, a new work which invites audiences into the cracks of Newtown, Johannesburg’s storied cultural precinct where history clings to every brick, and spirit to every street corner. Once a hub of industry, resistance and artistic revolution, Newtown becomes the setting – and a character – in this lyrical and evocative fantasy. In its puddles, plants and crumbling walls live memories, ghosts, gods and desires still waiting to be born.
Isilawu is directed by art-maker and facilitator, Siphumeze Khundayi, and devised with The Market Theatre Lab first-year students. The show will be staged at The Market Square, in the Ramolao Makhene Theatre, in Newtown, from 08 – 10 August 2025.
Each year, The Market Theatre Lab prides itself in creating an ensemble production with the first-year group of twenty students. This is an opportunity for students to learn through collaboration and understand the art of devising with an acclaimed theatre-practitioner.
Speaking on this valuable curriculum component, Roberto Pombo, Education Coordinator at The Market Theatre Lab, believes: “At the heart of The Lab’s training is the actor as maker: someone who generates work through a playful, collaborative process with their fellow performers. Ensemble work teaches students to listen actively, respond authentically and support one another on stage, resulting in bold, dynamic performances. It reinforces the idea that theatre is a collective art form, where every contribution is vital to the success of the whole. This spirit of collaboration is woven throughout each student’s journey at the Lab.”
The play’s director, Siphumeze Khundayi, was one of the many creative practitioners who put in a proposal to direct this year’s first-year student production when the public call went live. No stranger to The Market Theatre Laboratory itself, Siphumeze has previously offered a masterclass in the directing module to second-year students. Now, for the past four weeks, Siphumeze has been with the first-year group, employing techniques such as physical theatre, Butoh, African Storytelling techniques and the idea of sourcing movement and character from nature. They state: “Core to this learning experience has been paying attention to those often forgotten—merchants, labourers, spirits and dreamers, making room for their stories to unravel through play and understanding theatre-making outside of text-based work.”
Isilawu will be staged at The Market Square, in the Ramolao Makhene Theatre in Newtown, from 08 – 10 August 2025. To view show times and purchase tickets, visit Webtickets.co.za
For more information on purchasing tickets and further enquiries please contact The Market Theatre Laboratory on 011 838 7498 or contact Thandeka Nheke on thandeka@marketlab.co.za.
ENDS
The Market Theatre Laboratory is a Division of The Market Theatre Foundation, an agency of the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture.
For media enquiries, please contact Bongiwe Potelwa (Publicist at The Market Theatre Foundation) at bongiwep@markettheatre.co.za or (011) 832 1641.
For reduced price block bookings of 10 or more and school groups, contact Anthony Ezeoke (Audience Development Specialist at The Market Theatre Foundation) at anthonye@markettheatre.co.za or 083 246 4950.
NOTES TO EDITORS:
About Siphumeze Khundayi:
Siphumeze Khundayi is an art-maker, photographer and facilitator interested in creative ways of bringing together dialogue and artistic practice in relation to African Queer
identity. This links to the work they do as artistic director of HOLAAfrica! a digital archive of African Queer sexualities. With which they were able to do a TedXCapeTown Women: A
History Of Coochie Conversations and Ted Talk: How to have a healthier, positive relationship to sex. As a performer they have featured various solo and collaborative performance works within theatre spaces such as The Artscape in Cape Town, as well as in a number of festivals including National Arts Festival, Sex Actually festival, GIPCA Live Art, Cape Town Fringe, Infecting the City, and Assitej Cradle of Creativity and Japanese international children’s festival Ricca Ricca. Most of her work however tends to use unconventional performance spaces.
They directed two Naledi nominated productions in 2017 and 2018 for the National Children’s Theatre. They directed two independent shows that won a Standard Bank Ovation award at the National Arts Festival in 2020 and 2021. Siphumeze has a background in arts therapy being a company member of Drama for Life Playback Theatre, which uses artistic practices for therapeutic interventions. They also worked for Zakheni, an Arts Therapy organization. This arts therapy background forms the foundation of their facilitation work which they have taken around the Continent holding workshops for queer folx in Ghana, Uganda, Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, Zambia, Botswana and Lesotho.
About The Market Theatre Lab:
Homed under the umbrella of The Market Theatre Foundation, The Market Theatre Lab is a multi-award-winning arts incubator, with a reputation for facilitating the development of exceptional young theatre-makers, facilitators, actors, writers and directors, and for creating innovative and relevant new plays. With multiple local, African and global partners, the Lab strives to create enriching experiences that contribute to the personal and artistic growth of each person who participates in our programmes. When The Market Theatre Laboratory opened its doors in 1989, the intention of its founders, Vanessa Cooke; Dr John Kani and Barney Simon, was to provide opportunities to talented youth from disadvantaged backgrounds who would not otherwise be able to pursue their passion for the arts or study further. This remains an integral part of The Lab’s purpose, along with a determination to assist young artists to build sustainable careers, and to create space and visibility for subaltern experiences, voices and identities.
