19:45, Tue 28th October – Sat 1st November 2014 at ADC Theatre
Michaelmas Week 3

"It's only history if you steal something really large - like a country, then it's history". In 1950's west-central Johannesburg, artists, activists and illegal bars make up the freehold township of Sophiatown, the beating heart of culture in apartheid South Africa. Home to Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu, Lewis Nkosi and Mariam Makeba, when the Government decides to racially and geographically segregate the population, Sophiatown finds its very existence threatened. Enter the politically charged household of local shebeen owner Mamariti; home to Jewish tenant Ruth Golden, political journalist Jakes, local gangster Mingus, his truanting teenage-sister Lulu, socialite girlfriend Princess, shoe-loving henchman Charlie and local politician-cum-mystic Fafhee and you have an explosive cast of diverse characters battling for recognition amongst class warfare, racism and political rebellion. An evocative piece of political-musical theatre, Sophiatown is a history lesson that won't be easily forgotten.