*Winner of 2022 Standard Bank Standing Ovation Silver Award at the National Arts Festival.

First performed in 1988, Award winning Asinamali is back with an exciting twist to Mbongeni Ngema’s play – it is performed by an all-women cast.

Set against the backdrop of Robben Island, the play follows the lives of five black prisoners in 1983. It was inspired by the events that took place in the township of Lamontville in an apartheid era. Led by the martyred activist Msizi Dube, a strike occurred in the township, in which the rallying cry Asinamali! (is Zulu for ‘We have no money’) was word on the street.

"A simply staged but powerful and enormously energetic piece of wonderfully synchronized improvisational theatre, utilizing sounds, narrative, mime, and physical action in exciting ways to explore the backgrounds of the various characters and their experiences of life under apartheid."

Asinamali was written by South African Legend and multi-award winner Dr. Mbongeni Ngema. The production was staged in Potchefstroom and has successfully achieved the required standard of professional theatre. The 90% of performers, were on their first time on stage.