South Africa launches first Queer Fest at The Market Theatre — Daily Maverick

In South Africa, The Market Theatre has opened its first Queer Fest, a festival dedicated to LGBTQ+ experiences. The event runs from October 21 to 25, 2026, and coincides with the theatre’s 50th anniversary. As Daily Maverick reports, the programme combines theatre productions, music and live performances.

Festival programme

The Market’s artistic director, Greg Homann, said that the festival should be a space for celebration and joy, as well as a platform for activism. The programme opened with a special performance by satirist Pieter-Dirk Uys with the show Evita @ 91. Theatre works also include Guillaume Apollinaire’s The Breasts of Tiresias, Bruce J. Little’s adult comedy-cabaret Bum Stuff: A Cheeky Cabaret, and a physical production by Tamsanqa Tshabalala.

The festival’s music programme features Chris Chameleon, The Luyanda Madope Trio and the Adrian & Emma-Jean duo. These performances complement the festival’s theatre programme.

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Shockwave production

One of the main productions of Queer Fest is Chantal Stanfield’s play Shockwave, which will run until November 8. It is set in Cape Town in the 1980s, during the state of emergency. The production examines life under apartheid, religious conservatism and prejudice, when the ability to speak openly about one’s identity was limited.

In director David Dennis’s production, the characters’ personal stories are combined with the political tension of the time. The sound design recreates the presence of police vehicles, dogs and canister explosions offstage. The production also addresses fear surrounding the HIV/AIDS epidemic and religious exclusion. Renate Stuurman plays Sister Debbie, while Lois du Plessis, Trevor Lynch and Dwayne Behrens also perform in Shockwave.