Partners, venue and city

The Market Theatre Foundation, founded in Johannesburg in 1976 by Mannie Manim and the late Barney Simon, was constructed out of Johannesburg’s Indian Fruit Market – built in 1913. The Theatre went on to become internationally renowned as South Africa’s “Theatre of the Struggle”. The Theatre challenged the apartheid regime, armed with little more than the conviction that culture can change society. The strength and truth of that conviction was acknowledged in 1995 when the theatre received the American Jujamcyn Award. In providing a voice to the voiceless, the Theatre did not forego artistic excellence, but, rather, made a point of it. Its twenty-one international and over three hundred South African theatre awards bears eloquent testimony to the courage and artistic quality of its work. During the past four decades, the Theatre has evolved into a cultural complex for theatre, music, dance and the allied arts. Today, the Market Theatre Foundation remains at the forefront of South African theatre, actively encouraging new works that continue to reach international stages. The vision of the Market Theatre Foundation is to create an authentic South African cultural experience which is committed to providing the highest level of artistic excellence in all aspects of the performing and visual arts in which the education and development of a diverse community of artists, audiences and technicians is assured.

Through advancing excellence in research, teaching and learning, the Wits School of Arts, University of the Witwatersrand Johannesburg combines critical inquiry with artistic practice which engages in transformative ways with the contemporary urban, African and global contexts. Situated in the vibrant hub of Braamfontein in the heart of the dynamic creative city of Johannesburg, they offer programmes in Digital Arts, Fine Arts, Film and Television, History of Art, Music, Theatre and Performance, Applied Theatre and Drama Therapies (Drama for Life) and Cultural Policy Management to students at undergraduate, graduate and doctoral levels. 

Johannesburg, more commonly known as Jo’burg or Jozi, is a rapidly changing city and the vibrant heart of South Africa. Despite still existing wealth inequalities, in last years the city knew a huge urban renewal process, of which the hipster-friendly neighborhood of Maboneng is considered one of the most successful examples in the world. Moreover, Johannesburg’s Central Business District continues to evolve, with an ongoing urban and cultural regeneration programme breathing new life into the city. Jo’burg is an incredibly friendly, unstuffy city with a lot of attractions, from sobering reminders of the country’s recent past at the Apartheid Museum to the progressive streets of Melville. Nightlife is also extremely rich and cosmopolitan and offers a large choice of different kind of entertainment.