The Market Theatre’s artistic focus on parental relationships continues as it eagerly welcomes freshly baked work, ‘Gabo Legwala’, which generally translates into a coward’s home. The exceptionally crafted poetic theatre piece with music will run on the Mannie Manim stage from 17 September – 12 October 2025, following its explosive debut at the National Arts Festival.
‘Gabo Legwala’ is written and performed by Modise Sekgothe, who is only the second artist to be honoured with the Standard Bank Young Artist Award for Poetry, after Koleka Putuma. It is directed by TheatreDuo’s Mahlatsi Mokgonyana, himself a joint recipient of the 2022 Standard Bank Young Artist Award for Theatre. Multi-instrumentalist, Yogin Sullaphen, is behind the live scoring alongside vocalist, Phumla Siyobi.
Through the memoirs of a boy anxiously journeying towards manhood unsupervised by the very man he needs, ‘Gabo Legwala’ takes the audience into the psychology of children growing up without present fathers. Set in the township of Soweto, the script further refutes the burden of performative heroism placed on boys, asserting that bullies invite sorrow to their loved ones, while peace reigns in the home of the coward…as peaceful as the chaos of township life allows.
A fusion of textual boldness and narrative vulnerability, ‘Gabo Legwala’ makes a compelling argument for restraint as an equally active response to provocation.
“A little boy’s life is lived constantly on the brink of war. A persistent pushing, prodding and testing for weakness. Shoving, shocking and shaking for meekness…I was taught that conflict avoidance is virtue, that violence is vice,” the script reads.
With an exceptionally poetic delivery, Modise narrates different moments of his life and the figures that shaped the model man he’s perpetually in pursuit of, like his mother, sisters and the ever-present shadow of his late, absent father. As he wrestles his father’s lingering spectre, he offers an exploration of loss, grief and generational legacy.
“At its core, this is a meditation on what it means to be a man when manhood is inherited in fragments; from soccer fields, kung fu movies, playground fights, bullying and boyish bravado. As we watch the speaker wrestle with bullying, belonging, and the ghosts of the men who failed him, the play dares to ask: What wounds do men carry when they’re raised without their fathers? What does healing look like when you’ve never seen it modeled? When is walking away an act of mere cowardice? When is it wisdom?” Modise shares.
However, the work itself is not an indulgence in despair. Rather, it’s as much an admonition of dead-beat behaviour as it is a celebration of the women who are left to raise children on their own. As a result, Modise aims to present this work in honour of his mother and sisters, who created the memorable rituals that underpin the script.
‘Gabo Legwala’ is a call to hope: to have faith in men’s potential to avoid violent conflict in a nation with alarming abuse and intimate partner murder rates; to assure the boy-child that avoidance, too, is conflict resolution; to pray in the song of Simphiwe Dana that “sizophum’ elokishini”. Afterall, long and abundant life awaits all “magwala” – the fearful ones – who, like Modise, heeded their elders’ persistent calls when they said, “Ba tlogele, gabo legwala a golliwe!”
As The Market Theatre rolls out its artistic programme with a significant focus on issues relating to father figures, ‘Gabo Legwala’ will join Zwakala Festival-winning play, ‘Fatherhood’, as well as the beautifully crafted Naledi-nominated dance-theatre piece, ‘Father & I’. Later on, the internationally acclaimed play, ‘Barber Shop Chronicles’, which also leans into black masculinities and brotherhood, will have its debut on the African continent to carry the conversation forward.
According to Greg Homann, Artistic Director at The Market Theatre Foundation, it’s an honour to stage work by yet another recipient of the 2025 Standard Bank Young Artist, having already completed a critically successful run with Calvin Ratladi (2025 Standard Bank Young Artist for Theatre) and preparing to host Asanda Ruda (2025 Standard Bank Young Artist for Dance) as part of the upcoming JOMBA @ The Market. This, adds Homann, reaffirms The Market Theatre as a space where bold young artists and culture-shifting voices find expression and support.
Tickets are available on Webtickets from R140, with special discounts for the preview performances and all Wednesdays at half-price.
Affordable, safe and secure underground parking is available at the Newtown Junction.
Also see: Leleti Khumalo honoured with Golden Elephant Award at Market theatre
