Sophiatown was the 'Chicago of South Africa', a vibrant community that produced not only gangsters and shebeen queens but leading journalists, writers, musicians and politicians, and gave urban African culture its rhythm and style. This play, based on the life history of Sophiatown, opened at the Market Theatre in Johannesburg in February 1986 to great acclaim. The play won the AA Life Vita Award for Playwright of the Year 1985/86. This new edition of the play includes an introduction which sets the work in its historical context.
Malcolm Purkey is a South African writer and director. He co-founded the founded Junction Avenue Theatre Company in 1976. Among many other awards for his work, he has won the Breytenbach Epathlon for Best Director of the Year (1978), the AA Vita Award for best play (1986, 2000),and the Fleur du Cap award for Best Director (2011).
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