For a theatre-maker, Jefferson Tshabalala has some harsh words for his industry.
“Two years ago I decided to stop watching theatre. It was dull, it was absolutely dire, it was boring — even in the other venues with the more contemporary guys. Before it looked risky and cutting edge but it had become low-budget mediocrity.”
As a writer, performer and director, Tshabalala felt his own creative juices being sucked dry by watching what he calls a dying genre. It was a drastic decision, but his theatrical detox triggered his most successful period.
“I saved myself a lot of hours of ‘what am I doing here?’ and I started consuming things that I want the theatre to be like. I started going to concerts and comedy shows and game shows that attract my demographic with high audiences that pay a lot of money. I let that influence the theatre I make. I’m two years clean now and the work I have made has been my best because of that detox.”
Tshabalala’s goal is to persuade young black people in the townships to make theatre a regular part of their lives. Which is tricky when most schools don’t teach drama, and TV is far more affordable than a theatre seat. His answer is to approach it from a different angle; first by changing the idea of what theatre is, and then by finding the audience, instead of hoping they’ll find him. Those innovations and his increasing importance in the theatrical community have earned him the Standard Bank Young Artist for Theatre Award for 2020.
... the theatre doesn’t need to only exist in a mainstream theatre. We’ve had to come up with innovative and intriguing ways of getting it to people
— Jefferson Tshabalala
Tshabalala, also known as J Bobs, is the co-owner of Kiri Pink Knob, which takes plays, comedy, poetry slams and game shows to other venues around the country. They often play at PopArt in Johannesburg’s funky Maboneng district, and the TX Theatre in Tembisa.
Refreshed and raring to go, he is now in the interesting position of holding a residency at Johannesburg’s Market Theatre. Strangely, this 43-year-old venue has slowly morphed from an icon that challenged the status quo into a venerated but almost staid institution itself, no longer the place for kick-ass disrupters.
Tshabalala has formed a new company, Ubdope Designs (slang for brilliant) to revitalise it and create opportunities for independent artists to access conventional, mainstream spaces. The idea was thrashed out with the theatre’s CEO Ismail Mahomed, with Ubdope invited to revive the dormant Kippies jazz club venue.
“We’ve brought in music shows, poetry readings and free classes for actors every morning. Then every Wednesday there’s a yoga class, so we’ve got a routine going,” he says.
The experiment will result in what can be achieved once “other” artists are attached to a formal, mainstream institution. They’ll gain access to the stages, technical equipment and publicity teams to support their events, and could learn skills they don’t currently possess.
“It’s not a one-way thing with me as the token hand-me-down,” he says. “There’s a really deep value we are contributing with a big injection of energy and making it more accessible. It’s reactivating the entire Market Theatre brand to a clientele that otherwise wouldn’t think of it as a venue of choice. Young artists were looking for other venues and now they’re considering taking their work to the Market if we are there.”
The project will only succeed if Tshabalala delivers on his promise of attracting his target audience despite the “vulgar assumption that black people aren’t interested in the theatre”, he says.
“It’s hard to get them to have it as their weekend plan of choice, but we have managed to become a feature in their calendars. We’ve done that by saying the theatre doesn’t need to only exist in a mainstream theatre. We’ve even taken it into people’s living rooms and performed in their houses. We’ve had to come up with innovative and intriguing ways of getting it to people.”
His own material is often written in Scamtho and Ringas, two township lingoes that meld the words of many different languages into one. Ekasi Lam — An Ode to Kwaito was written in Scamtho and premiered at the 2019 National Arts Festival, while Kiri Goes Kasi was performed in several townships, going out to find an audience instead of waiting to be found.
Tshabalala recalls that one magazine didn’t print a review of the show because the writer disliked it.
“I was furious,” he says, frothing again at the memory. “That’s the one to publish. There’s no worse way to tear someone down than to continuously praise them. You need people who are able to say you’re repeating something here or you’re being lazy there. That’s what you need to hear to move things forward.”
He is also moving things forward with bursaries for drama students to study at the Market Theatre Laboratory. In 2019 his company sponsored one student, and next year it will support two.
Seeing Tshabalala mixing things up at the Market sparks a debate about what exactly “mainstream” theatre is. Mainstream should no longer mean classic, orthodox theatre playing to small audiences at nice venues, he argues. Selling out the TX Theatre or Makukhanye Art Room in Khayelitsha must count as mainstream because they are drawing larger numbers and bringing back shows by popular demand.
“We have been kicking against it, but mainstream isn’t a swear word to us. Game shows are going mainstream, township venues are becoming mainstream and people are beginning to earn decent livings from what’s currently known as the margin,” he says.
“Alternative doesn’t mean less money — we’re not interested in that!”
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.