Backstage: Making his mark

A Thespian version of Smaug, the mythical dragon from JRR Tolkien's The Hobbit, James Ngcobo is breathing new fire into The Market Theatre.

This year he is hoping his latest production, A Coloured Museum, written by George C Wolfe, will be the catalyst that reignites one of Johannesburg's most iconic theatres. The theatre's new artistic director tells us about the play, memory and his plans for the theatre.

Tell us about 'A Coloured Museum'

It's an amazing satire on slavery and the black experience that hones in on black stereotypes in the US. What was quite amazing for me is that what the Americans were looking for in the 1960s is in a sense very similar to what we were looking for after 1994. There was a sense of redefining ourselves and needing to find our own space. In a way it's a historical document that touches on historical stations that we all know. Also it's a fun play. You don't feel like you're being hit by a historical lecture at all.

Do you think the ghosts of slavery still linger?

Definitely. Look what is happening in America right now. There is a sudden re-emergence of movies and theatre that tackle the issues around slavery and black experience.

When people ask why we are telling these old stories, I say we tell them because there is a generation of audiences that have never heard them, and a generation of actors that have never played in them. We are doing this piece not from an angry point of view, but at a time when the whole world is introspecting about those moments of degradation that people have experienced all over the world.

I am hoping we will get a lot of young people to watch the piece.

Why do you think it is important that young people come to see this piece?

We don't tell our kids where we've been. That's why it's very muddy where we're going. Those who know me will know I keep going on and on about memory. We need to have memory because it's the best thing to walk with. The most successful nations in the world have memory.

What are your plans for the Market Theatre?

We've got a number of great pieces coming up. We've got a beautiful piece written by Zakes Mda called the Mother of All Eating and a piece called The View from Cape Town inspired by a homophobic priest from the US.

We've revived Live at The Market so that when we have a gap between plays, we can have live music events. We want to keep with the times and host the hottest acts.

We want to bring everybody here. Theatre can no longer afford to be elite. Theatre needs to be very visible and accessible.

• 'A Coloured Museum' is currently showing at The Market Theatre and will run until February 23. For more information contact 011-832-1641/2/3