Time to witness magic on stage as Jefferson Bobs Tshabalala’s popular kasi board game is back at the Market Theatre
By Edward Tsumele, CITYLIFE/ARTS Editor
He has not been on the mainstream theatre stages for a long time, but for the short period that his plays have found their way onto mainstream theatre platforms, they have made a huge impression with audiences. There are of course a number of reasons for that, including that the productions are simply clever and are often well executed by his mainly hand-picked actors that he features and he himself, is also featured in many of them.
However there are other reasons for that, the main one being the fact that hugely talented playwrightJefferson Bobs Tshabalala’s plays reflect ordinary people’s experiences of life as they go about their lives in townships wherever they live. These are not the kind of plays that want one to think academically and try to analyse the structures that make them work. No. These are plays that look at what people experience ordinarily everyday, their fears, their joys, and sometimes their absurdities. The playwright has a way of constructing these experiences on stage in an almost non scripted experiential fashion, which at the end gives one a mosaic of contemporary township life. The point is I know that not everybody can do this and achieve good results on stage, but Tshabalala does this well, and the theatre sector has not only started noticing his potential as a thespian to watch out for in the near future, but he is now getting the accolades he in fact has long deserved. He is simply good at theatre improvisation and the audience just love what they witness on stage and can easily connect with the issues being highlighted..
Now those who love his style of theatre will be pleased to know that the multi-award winning game show, Location Lekeyshini Lokasieby this cultural maverick and Standard Bank Young Artist for Theatre (2020/21), Jefferson,has now been designed into the freshest township themed board game.
Tshabalala launches his new kasi board game, by re-staging his kasi game show, and the proceeds of this season will go towards a bursary project called The Ub’Dope Bhazari. The Ub’Dope Bhazari season of the Location Lekeyshini Lokasie experience will take place at the Market Theatre’s Ramolao Makhene Theatre from1 – 6 February 2022 at 19:30 with 15:00 matinees on Saturday and Sunday.
The Ub’Dope Bhazari is an initiative founded in 2018 by Tshabalala, in partnership with Vus’umuzi Phakathi and Rethabile Mothobi, that looks at ensuring that tuition for a student at the Market Theatre Laboratory is paid in full for the calendar year of their study. The Ub’Dope Bhazari is allocated to a student going into their final year (2nd Year); this helps with identifying a learner who is going to become part of the illustrious Market Laboratory alumni, and who selectors feel shows great promise as an artist. Thus far three recipients have graduated and became Market Laboratory alumni.
J.Bobs takes to the stage as the host of this dynamic showcase, and he is joined by an ensemble of great talent in Simpho Mathenjwa and Titus Mekgwe. Under the expert directorial eye of Daisy Maphathe, this explosion of Lokasie prowess is an enchanting experience of Lokishimenjik merged with Lekeyshini flare; a board game meets game show hybrid.
Speaking about the show Tshabalala states, “The board game looks like, sounds like and operates like the lokishi, just like the recipient of the Ub’Dope Bhazari, Qha! This experience is a step towards making sure that the artist chosen focuses on schooling and not the burden of paying fees.”
He continues to say, “There are other ways of helping us, over and above the money! Journalists, please write about this initiative extensively. Philanthropists, please donate to it as generously as you can. Established artists, please offer Master Classes and Mentorship to recipients. Food Stores, please sponsor groceries and vouchers. Cooperates, teachers, trainers, everyone, whatever you can pledge to make a student’s year really special would be greatly appreciated.”