Recognition at last for veteran Soweto born internationally travelled theatre stage manager Dickson Malele

By Edward Tsumele, CITYLIFE/ARTS editor

Here is the thing: You might not have heard  about this great theatre man called Dickson Malele, even If you are in the arts. If that is so, you are excused for that crime of omission, for his contribution in theatre is not the kind of thing that attracts public acknowledgement by the powers that be.

He plays a background role to some of the magic that you see on stage, both as a stage manager and as a dramaturge working on some of the most iconic shows you might have seen here in South Africa and abroad.  But one thing for sure, you may have seen him, at the Market Theatre, State Theatre, Playhouse, Arts Cape, or for the lucky ones over decades, Broadway, or other important theatres in the world.

He is South Africa’s first theatre stage manager to travel abroad with  a mainstream show,  and that happened donkey years ago when he accompanied Percy Mtwa, Mbongeni Ngema and Barney Simon when they took protest theatrical piece Woza Albert to the US. 

And here we are talking decades ago, when South Africa was a pariah state because of apartheid, when ordinary people, black and white, were not supposed to do ordinary things that people often do in a free country across race lines,, such as becoming friends, falling in love and out of love, have sex  with whomever they  wanted to, and play ordinary games together such as football, cricket, rugby and so forth and so on. He Dickson of Diepkloof, Soweto, was there.

He who was part of the Gibson Kente ensemble, and which some people now call a school. He Dickson who saw Percy and Mbongeni when they started their careers in Dube, Soweto, where Bra Gib’s home was based. He Bra Dickie who after Woza Alber, again traveled to the US with Sarafina in the 80s, when Ngema as a fully fledged thespian, took that  iconic anti-apartheid theatrical thriller there, with he Bra Dickson as stage manager.

It is people like Bra Dickie and how the industry for some unfathomable reasons seems not to notice them that makes one wonder whether  we actually have an industry that honours its most talented sons and daugeters based on merit and merit alone, and not some currency based on who talks a lot and who is seen with whom at what function.

If not so, how do you explain a situation that developed last week Sunday, at the closing of the musical thriller Marangrang at Soweto Theatre. There,  Bra Dickie on Sunday, February 6, 2022, received his  first ever theatrical recognition when One Step Productions, with playwright Bogosi Bolokwe at its helm, and Soweto Theatre , gave Bra Dickie a certificate of recognion for his contribution to the theatre industry in South Africa. 

Tis is his first recognition since he started in the industry donkey years ago, after mentoring so many in the sector. Bolokwe is the writer and author of Marangrang, and the idea to honour Bra Dickie was first suggested by Soweto Theatre’s Technical Director Lebogang Mnisi, a suggestion to which the director of Marangrang  Bolokwe agreed to immediately.

Of course Bolokwe would not have held a different opinion to such a suggestion, because for several years now, apart from the time that Bra Dickie is working with Ngema on his productions, he increasingly plays the role of dramaturge to Bolokwe’s plays, fine tuning the actors before Bolokwe takes over to direct.

Till the very end of the Marangrang on Sunday last week, the orgainsers of this deserved honour for Bra Dickie, kept it a secret until the curtain went down on Marangrang after a weekend of a thrilling experience for the audience who gave this production a thumps up when the curtains closed, a standing ovation for a job well done by the cast.

Then Bra Dickie with his iconic cap on his heads, was called on stage, and Bolokwe with a piece of paper, a certificate of appreciation from Soweto Theatre and One Ste Production, handed over the certificate and the house went silence, and then a roaring applause for Bra Dickie. It was a well desvered honour for many years of dedication to the arts.

“For me it was important that a person like Bra Dicke gest recognized  by his own, because often such people get overlooked by the theatre establishment, even as they know every well their contribution. Often people mistakenly refer to Bra Dickie as only a stage manager, but the reality is he is more than that. He is a dramaturge appreciate immensely by many artists who have come through his hands over the years, artists who are now big names,” Bolokwe says.

“I think it is important to understand the role the arts could play in society, especially when it comes to transforming the society for the better, in the same way that the arts were for example, important in the liberation of the country.

Personally I feel that the big eyes of the industry do not see people like me, and it is the small people who see the important work that we do, and therefore, I am lost for words. I do not know how to thank the Soweto Theatre and Bogosi Bolokwe for this recognition. There are many people like me in the arts sector that the big eyes of the sector do not see, and we need more small people to see us, and the work we do in society. The big eyes do not see us,” Bra Dickie told CITYLIFE/ARTS in an interview.