Freedom musical to premiere at SA State Theatre

Featuring a cast of 47 members, the musical tells the story of Phindile (Simphiwe Ndlovu), a Tshwane University of Technology student and leader of the Fees Must Fall movement whose life takes a sharp turn when she leads a group of students to protest at the Union Buildings in Pretoria. Freedom is a testament of her determination to succeed irrespective of the odds stacked against her.

“In 2016 we were commemorating 40 years of Youth Month. I requested Bonafide, a musical director and composer of Freedom, to compose a song for me titled ‘Phambile’," Sekhabi told Music In Africa. "The song was just to commemorate 16 June."

“Then I thought we could actually make and direct a musical out of the song because it talks about student challenges. In the midst of it all, Fees Must Fall was also happening and intensifying. I wanted to fortify the script not to be just about the fees. I then looked deep in communities and found crime, women abuse and sexual violence and corruption and I realised we had a story to work on.”

Sekhabi, who also directed Marikana the Musical also spoke about the significance of music in theatrical settings.

“We are telling the story through music. I always try to be current and relevant, and this is a story of young people even though it appeals to a wider audience. It was designed to tell the story in a form or genre that today’s generation can relate to.”

Asked what message he was sending with the musical, Sekhabi said: “We are saying there’s a lot of unemployment, poverty and plenty of social ills in our communities. And until these are sorted out, until our mothers and sisters can walk the streets freely, we can never say we are free. We have to be strong and keep fighting until we’re free”.

Sekhabi is optimistic that Freedom will lure a big audience. “We hope it attracts more people than Marikana the Musical. Whenever we do work we want to make it as good as possible so it attracts people.”

He said musicals played a big role in shaping communities by capturing their mood, rhythm and time. Sekhabi also said musicals raised awareness by dealing with the issues people were often afraid to talk about.

The musical features songs such as 'Turn Up Yangempela', 'Phambili' and 'Foreigner'. 

Tickets to the Freedom premiere are available here.