District Six – The Musical

District Six – The Musical is a musical play by David Kramer and Taliep Petersen.

The original text

A sensationally popular and award-winning musical play lamenting life in, and destruction of, the Cape Town suburb called District Six, it was co-written by Kramer and Petersen.

The text is unpublished.

Translations and adaptations

An indirect spin-off of the play is District Six - Kanala[1] by David Kramer, written and produced as a tribute to the people and artists of the suburb. It opened in the Fugard Theatre, Cape Town, on 11 February 2016, precisely 50 years after the district had been declared a white group area on 11 February 1966.

Performance history in South Africa

1987: First performed in the Baxter Theatre from 11 April, under the direction of Fred Abrahamse, presented by The Baxter Theatre and Blik Productions, and had a number of runs there. Musical direction by Taliep Petersen.

1988: The play toured the country (e.g. playing at The Market Theatre in February and the Edinburgh Festival Edinburgh Festival).

1990: The play finished its first run at the Joseph Stone Theatre, Cape Town.

2002: Revived at the Baxter Theatre by Kramer in 2002, winning the authors a Fleur du Cap Award for Best Contribution to a Musical or Revue.

2017: Performed by The National Theatre of Namibia (NTN) under its Premier Project in 3 and 4 March. Directed by Tanya Terblanche.