The Market Theatre
Converted early twentieth century produce market turned non-racial theatre that defied apartheid segregation laws.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to the Market Theatre in Johannesburg opens in 1976, when director Barney Simon and technician Mannie Manim found an old fruit market in Newtown and a loophole in its zoning that put it outside the country's segregation laws. You'll hear about the defiant opening night, Chekhov and Miller performed to a mixed audience as police helicopters passed overhead toward Soweto, and about attendees like Bernadette Mosala who came anyway. Stand beneath the same nineteenth-century roof, in view of the old police headquarters, as you listen.
This audio guide was created using AI.
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