Sophiatown

Sophiatown was the ‘Chicago of South Africa’, a vibrant community that produced not only gangsters and shebeen queens but leading journalists, writers, musicians and politicians, and gave urban African culture its rhythm and style. This play, based on the life history of Sophiatown, opened at the Market Theatre in Johannesburg in February 1986 to great acclaim. The play won the AA Life Vita Award for Playwright of the Year 1985/86. This new edition of the play includes an introduction which sets the work in its historical context.

Junction Avenue Theatre Company was formed in 1976 in an effort to create historically informed plays about South African society. The company performed plays, short stories and scripted many of their own productions. The company was awarded the AA Life Vita Award for playwright of the year for Sophiatown in 1986 Angus Gibson is a South African filmmaker. He was a founding member of Free Filmmakers; a co-operative established in 1985 to create a relevant South African cinema and is a director of The Bomb Shelter film company. Ruth Jacobson co-edited Sophiatown Speaks (1986) with Pippa Stein. Liz Johannson was part of the team at Junction Avenue Theatre Company that workshopped Sophiatown in 1986. William Kentridge is a South African artist best known for his work in film and drawing. He was a member of Junction Avenue Theatre Company. Siphiwe Khumalo was a South African actor and director. He was a member of Workshop 71 and Junction Avenue Theatre Company. He directed Love Child (1998) and a number of musicals Doreen Mazibuko’s first major role was creating and performing the original ‘Lulu’ in Sophiatown by Junction Avenue Theatre Company. Arthur Molepo is a South African actor and sculptor involved in theatre, film and television. He is best known for his role as Busang in Generations. Gladys Mothlale’s first major role was creating and performing the original ‘Mamariti’ in Sophiatown by Junction Avenue Theatre Company. Ramolao Makhene was a South African actor and theatre administrator. He appeared in Taxi to Soweto (1991) and Cry, the Beloved Country (1995). He received the Olive Schreiner award for Drama in 1984 and the Naledi Award for Lifetime Achievement (posthumously) in 2004. Malcolm Purkey is a South African writer and director. He co-founded the founded Junction Avenue Theatre Company in 1976. Among many other awards for his work, he has won the Breytenbach Epathlon for Best Director of the Year (1978), the AA Vita Award for best play (1986, 2000),and the Fleur du Cap award for Best Director (2011). Sarah Roberts is a South African designer. She workshopped the original set and costumes for Sophiatown with William Kentridge. She won the Naledi Award for Best Costume Design (2005). Minky Schlesinger is a South African actress, writer and director. She directed the award-winning Gugu and Andile (2008), an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Tessa Spargo was part of the team at Junction Avenue Theatre Company that workshopped Sophiatown in 1986. Pippa Stein was an author and academic at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg in applied English language studies. She was a key member of Junction Avenue Theatre Company and she co-edited Sophiatown Speaks (1986).