The Fisherman in Johannesburg

Many hearts were touched, and no fish harmed.

Actors Siyabonga Thwala and Warren Masemola superbly interpreted brothers Ben and Obembe, amazingly morphing into many other characters.

The official Market Theater web site says it well:

The Market Theatre production features celebrated and award-winning actors Siyabonga Thwala and Warren Masemola in the playful and stirring story about two brothers who are reunited with another by the river where they used to fish. As they recall the traumatic events that split them up and recreating these memories, the brothers become all the characters that populated their lives.

Chigozie Obioma’s debut novel, 'The Fishermen', which was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2015, is directed for the stage by James Ngcobo in what will certainly go down as one of this year’s most compelling and supreme pieces of theatre.

Adapted from the novel by Gbolahan Obisesan, the scope of Obioma’s layered, complex and slow-burning book is turned into a two-hander concentrating on brothers Ben and Obembe who morph into other people and yet preserve the novel’s haunting atmosphere and dark interest in aspiration and disappointment, violence and vengeance.

The two characters picturesquely depicted the finesse of intertwined family and community relationships, options and causality of actions, as well as the variable agency of the constant of love.

Particularly intriguing was the exploration of fluidities in the feminine and masculine images and character of the roles.

The actors' engaging interplay was warmingly complemented by the vivid and encouraging reactions from the audience.

The stage layout was particularly conducive to the play, as the audience was facing the stage from two opposing sides, which accounts for a special experience and processing of the play.

Simply, the show is a wonderful, rich evening voyage for the soul.

A few words about the splendid Market Theater.

The Market Theatre, 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 Market 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 Market 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 Market Theatre has evolved into a cultural complex for theatre, music, dance and the allied arts. Today, The Market Theatre remains at the forefront of South African theatre, actively encouraging new works that continue to reach international stages.