If you only do one thing in Johannesburg this weekend, make it this.
The sell-out musical celebrating the extraordinary life of anti-apartheid and gay rights activist Simon Nkoli, Nkoli: A Fierce and Fabulous Life, is back in the city for three performances only before it makes its European premiere at the prestigious Theater der Welt Festival in Germany.
Once it leaves, it leaves. And judging by what happened at the Market Theatre in 2023 and the Baxter Theatre in Cape Town in 2024, tickets won’t hang around.
The man behind the name
For those who haven’t encountered it yet: Nkoli is a full-blown theatrical event built around the life of Simon Nkoli, a young Black gay man from Sebokeng who became one of the most fearless activists of South Africa’s most turbulent decade. He stood trial for treason in the Delmas Treason Trial in the 1980s, campaigned internationally for gay rights at a time when that was genuinely dangerous, and did all of it with a joy and defiance that made him singular.
The show doesn’t tell his story in a conventional way. It unfolds on a ramp in the style of a vogue ball; woven together through music, song, rap, dance, video, lip-syncing, and archive material. It is theatrical, political, celebratory, and completely alive.
Why this weekend matters
Nkoli has consistently attracted young, diverse audiences across its runs, which says something both about the show’s energy and about how urgently this story resonates right now. It’s the kind of production that attracts people who didn’t know Simon Nkoli’s name when they walked in, and leaves them wondering why the world doesn’t talk about him more.
This is your last chance to see it on home soil during international Pride Month before it represents South Africa on the international stage.
The details
Venue: Keorapetse William Kgositsile Theatre, Kingsway Campus, UJ Arts & Culture, Johannesburg
Dates and times:
- Friday, 12 June at 7pm
- Saturday, 13 June at 2pm and 7pm
Tickets: Available via Quicket.
Don’t wait. This one sells out.
