John Kani and Zakes Mda team up to present new theatre play

South African theatre heavyweights Zakes Mda and John Kani have teamed up for their first ever collaboration in their illustrious careers to present a new theatre play.

Titled The Dying Screams of the Moon, the play forms part of the 40th anniversary celebrations for the Market Theatre and will be staged in the newly renamed Mannie Manim at the Joburg-based theatre.

The production, which was written by Zakes and directed by John, consists of an-all female crew and features rising stars Masasa Mbangeni and Tinarie van Wyk Loots, as well as Ezbie Moilwa as the organ player and music director.

The play, set in the Free State, is about two women who meet at church, a place of solace, where they seek inner peace from their troubles of the past. Set in post-apartheid South Africa, it reveals the struggles for land ownership that are still relevant today.

According to a press statement by the Market Theatre, "this piece is fundamentally about their yearning for the howling of jackals that once filled the village at night, the dying screams of the moon!"

"Mda was ahead of his time in writing a piece about South Africa after the dark days, which no one could envisage. This is a celebration of women coming together under the stewardship of the legendary director to create a memorable event that will appropriately play for much of Women’s Month," the theatre added.