Morena, Come Now: Woza Albert! Is Still Asking South Africa to Look at Itself

Through the impeccable performances of Hamilton Dhlamini and Thulani Mtshweni, Woza Albert! returns not simply as a historical work, but as a living confrontation with power, memory and the unfinished promises of freedom. Behind its transformations is technical stage manager Phumeza Damane, helping to protect a production that has survived stages, borders and generations.

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Some theatre productions entertain us for an evening. Others follow us out of the building.

Woza Albert! belongs to the latter.

The production is exceptionally well realised, but its power does not come from spectacle for spectacle’s sake. It comes from the complete commitment of its performers, the precision of its physical language and its refusal to soften the history it carries.

Hamilton Dhlamini and Thulani Mtshweni embody their characters impeccably. They do not merely move from one role to another; they appear to reconstruct entire lives in front of the audience. A change in posture, voice, expression or rhythm is enough to introduce another person, another location and another reality.

Together, they create a world inhabited by workers, prisoners, officials, ordinary families and people trying to preserve their dignity beneath an inhumane system. Characters appear and disappear within seconds, yet each is given a recognisable humanity.

The stage may be sparse, but the world built upon it is enormous.

Morena Is Coming

First created and staged at the Market Theatre in 1981 by Percy Mtwa, Mbongeni Ngema and Barney Simon, Woza Albert! imagines what would happen if Morena—the Lord—returned to apartheid South Africa. In its present production, Dhlamini, who also directs, and Mtshweni transform between characters to expose the daily realities, contradictions and brutalities of apartheid.

The premise is both simple and devastating.

What would happen if Jesus Christ arrived in a country whose government claimed Christian authority while systematically denying Black South Africans their freedom, dignity and humanity?

Would Morena be welcomed?

Would he be interrogated?

Would he be forced to produce documentation?

Would he stand with those in power, or would he be found among the workers, prisoners, dispossessed and oppressed?

These questions produce some of the play’s most humorous moments, but the laughter is never empty. It is the laughter of recognition—the kind that arrives when an injustice is so absurd that humour becomes one of the few ways to confront it.

Then, almost without warning, the humour gives way to pain.

The audience is reminded that behind the ridiculous regulations, administrative cruelty and racist language were real people whose lives were controlled, divided and diminished. The production does not conceal this reality or make it more comfortable for a contemporary audience. It presents apartheid’s violence bluntly and allows the silence, gasps and discomfort in the theatre to become part of the performance.

“Morena!” becomes more than an exclamation.

It is a prayer, a warning and a demand for intervention.

It is also a question directed at the present: after everything that was sacrificed to build a democratic South Africa, what have we done with the freedom for which so many people fought?

The Bodies Carry the Story

The physical achievement of the production is extraordinary.

Dhlamini and Mtshweni use their bodies as scenery, costume, sound and memory. They generate movement, crowds, machinery and entire environments with remarkably few resources. Their performances demonstrate the principles upon which Woza Albert! was originally developed: theatre in which the actor’s body, rather than elaborate decoration, creates the spectacle.

This approach demands absolute trust between the performers.

Their timing must be exact, but it can never appear mechanical. Every exchange must feel spontaneous even when it has been rehearsed repeatedly. Their transitions are swift without becoming careless, and their humour is controlled without losing warmth.

Most importantly, they never allow the technical difficulty of their work to overshadow the people they are portraying.

Beneath the theatrical virtuosity is a deeply human production about survival: the ways people laughed, dreamed, prayed, worked and continued living in circumstances designed to break them.

The Woman Protecting the World Behind the Performance

Behind the movement, timing, costumes, props and transformations is Phumeza Damane, the production’s technical stage manager.

Before the audience enters, Damane has already begun constructing the conditions necessary for the story to live.

“Depending on the venue, I check the set, props and costumes,” she explains. “I check whether the stage is clean, go through the lighting cues if it is a properly equipped theatre, and make sure the cast has enough water.”

These responsibilities may appear practical, but in a production as physically demanding and technically precise as Woza Albert!, they are integral to its storytelling.

For Damane, the costumes and props are particularly important because the production has frequently travelled to spaces without the facilities of a conventional theatre.

“We have performed in places where there was no proper stage or lighting,” she says. “The actors can still go on without those things, but with the costumes and props, I feel the story can be properly told and received.”

Her work requires more than following a fixed technical plan. Every venue presents a new set of conditions, limitations and possibilities. Before a performance, she assesses the available space and communicates any necessary adjustments to Dhlamini and Mtshweni.

“I check the space and tell the cast what will work and what might not,” she says. “I explain my plan to them so that whatever I do will not be a surprise during the performance.”

That communication protects the consistency of the production while giving its performers the freedom to remain responsive and alive on stage.

A Production That Can Live Anywhere

Some of Damane’s greatest challenges have also demonstrated the production’s resilience.

“In eSwatini, I had only six LED lights to light the show, without a lighting console,” she recalls. “The same thing happened in Lesotho. At another performance in Limpopo, we did not have a stage, and we still managed to perform.”

These experiences reveal something essential about Woza Albert!.

The production does not depend on a technologically advanced venue to retain its force. Its greatest resources are the performers, the story and the team’s ability to adapt.

“Woza Albert! can be performed everywhere,” Damane says. “It really depends on what kind of team you have.”

Ndlondlo Productions’ Woza Albert! team consists of only three people: Dhlamini as producer, director and performer; Mtshweni as performer; and Damane as technician.

The smallness of the company makes the scale of what they accomplish even more remarkable.

“We make a pretty great team,” she says. “We now consider ourselves family. We have been through it all, travelled the world and done it together.”

When working in established theatres, Damane collaborates with the venue’s technicians, plotting and running the production while adapting its established language to a new technical environment.

When the facilities are limited, the team relies upon one another.

Either way, the story continues.

What the Audience Never Sees

The mark of effective stage management is often that the audience remains unaware of it.

When something goes wrong, the team addresses it without allowing the disruption to become the story.

“Whatever misfortune happens on stage or backstage, we are the only ones who know what went wrong,” Damane says. “We fix it for the next show.”

Occasionally, the audience itself becomes a variable.

In some venues, spectators have been so excited or overwhelmed by the performers that their reactions begin to affect the rhythm of the production. The team then makes careful decisions about pacing and presentation to accommodate that energy without losing the play’s meaning.

This balance is especially important in Woza Albert!, where laughter, shock, participation and silence exist beside one another.

Audiences are not passive witnesses. Their responses complete the production.

Carrying a Theatrical Legacy

For Damane, working on Woza Albert! carries a responsibility that extends beyond the immediate performance.

“It is really an honour to be part of this historical piece,” she says. “I have met the original stage manager, Dixon Malele, and I am proud to carry on with the legacy. I hope that one day I will also transfer the same skills to someone else.”

Her words speak to the often-unseen continuity that allows important theatre to survive.

A production’s legacy is not preserved only by playwrights, directors and actors. It is also protected by the technicians, stage managers, dressers and crew members who understand how its world must be assembled, maintained and passed forward.

“It is a beautiful piece that needs to be kept alive and protected,” Damane says.

The current production returned to the Market Theatre as part of the institution’s 50th-anniversary celebrations, bringing the work back to the theatre where it was first staged. Its run at the Barney Simon Theatre continues until 2 August 2026.

The homecoming is significant.

The Market Theatre was shaped by artists who created work across the racial barriers imposed by apartheid, often while facing censorship, raids and personal danger. Woza Albert! became one of the defining productions in that history, eventually travelling internationally and influencing generations of South African theatre-makers.

But this return does not feel like the placement of an old work inside a museum.

The play is still breathing.

Young Audiences, Old Wounds

Damane has witnessed the production connect with audiences across generations.

“The audience loves the piece, young and old,” she says. “The younger ones love it because it is part of their school curriculum, while the mature audience is reminded of where we come from as South Africans.”

For older spectators, the production can awaken lived memories. For younger viewers born after apartheid, it gives physical and emotional form to a history that may otherwise be encountered only through textbooks and examinations.

“The piece is so blunt and does not conceal anything,” Damane says. “You hear how the audience gasps throughout the performance.”

She did not experience apartheid herself, but working closely with the production has forced her to confront its realities.

“Looking at the piece, it is heartbreaking to see how people were treated back then.”

This is one of the production’s most important achievements. It prevents apartheid from becoming abstract.

It returns history to the human body.

We see exhaustion, fear, humiliation and anger—but also wit, imagination, resistance and an insistence upon dignity.

The Story Is Not Finished

Damane hopes audiences leave the theatre recognising how far South Africa has travelled, while understanding the responsibility that comes with remembering.

“I hope they see how far we have come as a country to be where we are today,” she says. “We must never repeat what happened in the past, but keep working towards being the beautiful and loving rainbow nation we are meant to be.”

Her greatest lesson from the production is expressed simply:

“We are here to tell stories, no matter how uncomfortable they are.”

That may also be the reason Woza Albert! remains necessary.

It does not allow South Africa to celebrate progress without remembering its cost. It does not permit history to be reduced to dates, slogans or ceremonial speeches. It reminds us that freedom was imagined, demanded and fought for by people who were repeatedly told that their lives mattered less.

The production is funny, heartbreaking and masterfully performed. Yet its most enduring achievement may be the question it leaves behind.

If Morena came to South Africa today, what would he find?

Would he see a country honouring the sacrifices of its past?

Would he find justice, dignity and accountable leadership?

Or would he once again be called upon to stand beside those still waiting for the promises of freedom to reach them?

Woza Albert! does not offer an easy answer.

Instead, it raises its voice.

Morena!

Reporting basis: Based on Viranova’s viewing of the production, interview material with technical stage manager Phumeza Damane, Market Theatre information on the 2026 run, Webtickets event details, LitNet production-credit context, ESAT archival history of Woza Albert! and Viranova editorial analysis of theatre, memory and post-apartheid reflection.

Reporting & Standards

Human-written · Editor-reviewed · Corrections open

Written by Viranova Spotlight Desk · Theatre, Performance & Cultural Memory Desk · More from Viranova Spotlight Desk

Filed by Viranova Spotlight Desk for the Entertainment desk · Newtown, Johannesburg, South Africa. Published 31 Jul 2026.

Further reading and references

• Primary source — markettheatre.co.za

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