Prayers, this year’s winner of the Market Theatre’s annual Zwakala Festival, will enjoy a two-week run starting from 25 September 2024 in the Barney Simon Theatre.
Prayers is an edgy play written and directed by Solly Ramatswi that tells the story of a young man who is forced to self-reflect amid the expectations of society on the youth. He is conflicted between conforming to the socialisation of boys and fighting his unbridled sexual urges. The crux of the brave and bold play is the navigation of this maze. The inciting question that the play grapples with is, “Can one find light from within, even in the darkest corners of the soul?”
The staging of Prayers in the Barney Simon Theatre, named after the founder and first artistic director of the Market Theatre, bears profound symbolism. Barney Simon was a champion of creating opportunities for community-based theatre-makers to showcase their works on big stages. His mode of enabling the stories of ordinary South Africans resonates with the spirit of the Zwakala Festival, a platform on which Prayers was discovered in January this year.
Writer and director, Solly Ramatswi, gives the play its purposeful direction, which leaves the audience empathising with the dilemma faced by the protagonist, portrayed by Vusi Nkwenkwezi. The Limpopo-born Ramatswi shares that his storytelling techniques are inspired by his grandmother. His theatre-making approach is to incorporate imagery, music and movement.
Ramatswi has won several poetry slam championships and has used sign language in poetry performances to raise awareness about disability.
As a Zwakala Festival winner, Prayers went through further development and mentorship in preparation for its two-week run, guided by award-winning playwright, J. Bobs Tshabalala. Tshabalala will be familiar to audiences as he is the writer of Poet-O-Type and Khongolose Khommanding Khommissars, both of which have enjoyed successful seasons recently at The Market Theatre. He has scooped the Standard Bank Young Artist Award for Theatre, a Naledi Theatre Award and other recognitions. He worked alongside Ramatswi to further sharpen the script and direction in preparation for the play’s upcoming run.
The star of the show is Mpumalanga-born and Gauteng-raised Vusi Nkwenkwezi, who won the Most Outstanding Performance Award at this year’s Zwakala Festival. Nkwenkwezi is an award-winning actor, creative director, mentor, teacher and director of SHRAC 11 Community Development. He will be recognised by TV viewers for his role in the KFC commercial, “Streetwise Bozza”, as a too-timing gang honcho. He is also an alumnus of the Market Theatre Lab, where he completed his drama studies in 2017.
Come immerse yourself in this captivating and relatable play that shines the light on a young man’s path to self-identity in the jungle of contradictions and expectations. Tickets for the show range from R100 as part of the Market Theatre’s half-price special on a Wednesday to R200, with bookings of 4 or more at only R120 via Webtickets.
