Classic musical ‘Sarafina!’ pulls young and old to theatre

Extension of the show’s possible due to demand

Mbongeni Ngema’s Broadway hit musical Sarafina! continues to be a hit 29 years on.

The classic production, currently on at Pretoria’s State Theatre, is raking in audiences – a mixture of old and new fans – in the seven weeks of its run inthe1 300-seatertheatre.

According to State Theatre’s artistic director Aubrey Sekhabi, the return of Sarafina! has boosted theatre audiences.

“Sarafina! has been doing well and it has helped us to start the year on a high note,” said Sekhabi.

“We are happy that the black audience that we have been complaining about is coming to watch our shows.

“After seven weeks running, it is still going strong. We are pleased as the theatre to have such a show.”

Sekhabi said the last time they had such a large audience was during Marikana – The Musical in 2015.

He said the theatre had 70% to 80% attendance almost every day, just like Sarafina!.

The audience includes children from as young as 10, parents, adults and pupils.

Sekhabi said on the opening night the theatre was overbooked by 17 seats.

He said in the first four weeks they had school buses bringing pupils to see the show about what Sekhabi decsribes as “a classic story”.

“If you look at Sarafina! it is still relevant because it tackles the issue of education, which is still a problem.”

Sekhabi added there was a possibility the show might extend past its April 30 closure date into May.

● The next big musical at theState Theatre is Sophiatown, which runs from April 24 to May 14.