District Six: The Musical is a musical composed by David Kramer and Taliep Petersen. It tells the story of the people of District Six in Cape Town, South Africa who were forcibly removed from the area during apartheid. It opened at the Baxter Theatre in April 1987 [2] and ran until 1990 with more than 550 performances. It also toured internationally and was reprised at the Baxter in 2002. [3] [4] [5]
Cape Coloureds are a South African ethnic classification consisted primarily of persons of mixed race African, Asian & European descent. Although Coloureds form a minority group within South Africa, they are the predominant population group in the Western Cape.
The Cape Flats is an expansive, low-lying, flat area situated to the southeast of the central business district of Cape Town. The Cape Flats is also the name of an administrative region of the City of Cape Town, which lies within the larger geographical area.
Abdullah Ibrahim is a South African pianist and composer. His music reflects many of the musical influences of his childhood in the multicultural port areas of Cape Town, ranging from traditional African songs to the gospel of the AME Church and Ragas, to more modern jazz and other Western styles. Ibrahim is considered the leading figure in the subgenre of Cape jazz. Within jazz, his music particularly reflects the influence of Thelonious Monk and Duke Ellington. He is known especially for "Mannenberg", a jazz piece that became a notable anti-apartheid anthem.
Cape Malays also known as Cape Muslims or Malays, are a Muslim community or ethnic group in South Africa. They are the descendants of enslaved and free Muslims from different parts of the world who lived at the Cape during Dutch and British rule.
District Six is a former inner-city residential area in Cape Town, South Africa. Over 60,000 of its inhabitants were forcibly removed during the 1970s by the apartheid regime.
The Kaapse Klopse, formerly known as the Coon Carnival and officially called Cape Town Minstrel Carnival, is a Cape coloured minstrel festival that takes place annually on 2 January in Cape Town, South Africa. It is also referred to as Tweede Nuwe jaar. As many as 13,000 minstrels take to the streets garbed in bright colours, either carrying colourful umbrellas or playing an array of musical instruments. The minstrels are self-organised into klopse. The custom has been preserved since the mid-19th century.
Apartheid was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was characterised by an authoritarian political culture based on baasskap, which ensured that South Africa was dominated politically, socially, and economically through minoritarianism by the nation's dominant minority white population. According to this system of social stratification, white citizens had the highest status, followed by Indians and Coloureds, then Black Africans. The economic legacy and social effects of apartheid continue to the present day, particularly inequality.
The United Democratic Front (UDF) was a South African popular front that existed from 1983 to 1991. The UDF comprised more than 400 public organizations including trade unions, students' unions, women's and parachurch organizations. The UDF's goal was to establish a "non-racial, united South Africa in which segregation is abolished and in which society is freed from institutional and systematic racism." Its slogan was "UDF Unites, Apartheid Divides." The Front was established in 1983 to oppose the introduction of the Tricameral Parliament by the white-dominated National Party government, and dissolved in 1991 during the early stages of the transition to democracy.
Gugulethu is a township in the Western Cape, South Africa and is 15 km from Cape Town. Its name is a contraction of igugu lethu, which is Xhosa for our pride. The township was established along with Nyanga in the 1960s.
Mitchells Plain is a large township located within the City of Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa and situated about 28 km (17 mi) from the Cape Town city centre. It is one of South Africa's largest residential areas and contains multiple smaller suburbs. It is located on the Cape Flats on the False Bay coast between Muizenberg and Khayelitsha. Conceived of as a "model suburb" by the apartheid government, it was built during the 1970s to provide housing for Coloured victims of forced removal due to the implementation of the Group Areas Act.
Taliep Petersen was a South African singer, composer and director of a number of popular musicals. He worked most notably with David Kramer, with whom he won an Olivier Award.
David Kramer is a South African singer, songwriter, playwright and director, notable for his musicals about the Cape Coloured communities, and for his early opposition to apartheid.
Kat and the Kings is a South African musical with a book and lyrics by David Kramer and music by Taliep Petersen.
Darryl Andrews is a South African jazz guitarist, composer, arranger and conductor. He has a BMus (Hon) degree from the University of Cape Town (UCT). He worked as a musical director/conductor at the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) for four years, and has composed a body of jazz works that were later performed by the acclaimed concert group MJ9. Since 1977, he has directed the Darryl Andrews Big Band which is a 13-piece Latin ensemble of South African young and established jazz musicians. He has arranged and conducted music for many singers, musicals and concerts at venues such as the Baxter Theatre and the Nico in Cape Town.
Nadia Davids is a South African playwright, novelist, and author of short stories and screenplays. Her work has been published, produced, and performed in Southern Africa, Europe, and the United States. She was a Philip Leverhulme Prize winner in 2013. Her play What Remains won five Fleur du Cap Theatre Awards.
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa, is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by 2,798 kilometres (1,739 mi) of coastline that stretches along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countries of Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe; and to the east and northeast by Mozambique and Eswatini. It also completely enclaves the country Lesotho. It is the southernmost country on the mainland of the Old World, and the second-most populous country located entirely south of the equator, after Tanzania. South Africa is a biodiversity hotspot, with unique biomes, plant and animal life. With over 60 million people, the country is the world's 24th-most populous nation and covers an area of 1,221,037 square kilometres. Pretoria is the administrative capital, while Cape Town, as the seat of Parliament, is the legislative capital. Bloemfontein has traditionally been regarded as the judicial capital. The largest city, and site of highest court is Johannesburg.
Richard Moore Rive was a South African writer and academic, who was from Cape Town.
Trafalgar High School is a public English medium co-educational secondary school in District Six of Cape Town in South Africa. It was the first school built in Cape Town for coloured and black students. The school took a leading role in protesting against apartheid policies. It celebrated its centenary in 2012 and is still running.
Harold Cressy High School is a secondary school in District Six of Cape Town in South Africa. It was founded in January 1951 as the Cape Town Secondary School. The school has played a substantial role in South African history during the apartheid period and the building is identified as an important landmark.
Celeste Mitzi Karin Matthews is a South African actress, playwright, and City of Cape Town local government official elected to the City Council in 2021. She is best known for her roles as Gertie Cupido in kykNET & kie's Arendsvlei and Auntie Hester in David Kramer and Taliep Petersen's award-winning 2002 revival of District Six: The Musical (1987). Vincent Colby of the District Six Museum cites the musical play as the material which steered a pivotal discussion held in 1994 at the 'old church hall' in former District Six to establish a dedicated museum.