Woza Albert! reels them in at the Soweto Theatre

13 February 2017

 

Woza Albert! is back and as riveting as ever. The exhilarating anti-apartheid satire, written by distinguished South African playwrights Percy Mtwa, Mbongeni Ngema and Barney Simon, has been playing to full houses at the Soweto Theatre since its opening night on Wednesday February 8.

 

Starring veteran actors Hamilton Dhlamini and Bheki Mkhwane, the play has the audience in stitches throughout the show. Mkhwane is best-known to television viewers for his role as Samson in the Mzansi Magic telenovela-turned-soap-opera Isibaya, whereas Dhlamini is famous for his television characters as businessman Korea in the SABC1 sitcom Mzee wa Two Six and as Prosper in SABC1’s drama series, Mzansi.

Woza Albert! will be staged at the Soweto Theatre’s Red Theatre until February 22. In it Mkhwane and Dhlamini play the roles of a vendor, barber, domestic worker, manual labourer and soldier.

Set in the 1980s, the production – a prescribed set work for Gauteng schools – is about Morena (Jesus Christ), who arrives in South Africa at the height of apartheid, when blacks were treated like second-class citizens and had their movements restricted by pass laws.

Although written more than three decades ago, it is still as relevant as it was then. The two theatre veterans make it fresh and easy for audiences to relate it to the new South Africa, in which people are still desperate for a better life, despite their political freedom.

The play portrays so much truth and clarifies a simple approach to the human condition. Performances are staged on Tuesdays at 11am, Wednesdays and Thursdays at 3pm, Fridays at 11am and 8pm, Saturdays at 8pm and Sundays at 3pm.

Tickets cost R70 a person and are available by visiting www.sowetotheatre.com or calling 0861 670 670, as well as through Webtickets. For group bookings of 10 or more people, contact the theatre on (011) 930-7461/2/3.
Pensioners qualify for special discounts.