The Daddies of Sugar
*** BACK BY AUDIENCE DEMAND FOR ONE PERFORMANCE ONLY ****
In 2014, J.Bobs Tshabalala and an ensemble of 5 actors premiered Secret Ballot, with a cast of five Black males who became affectionately known as the ‘Daddies of Sugar’.
In 2017, the source text of Secret Ballot which was a play titled ‘Khongolose Khommanding Khommisars’ was staged with MoMo Matsunyane as the director and an ensemble of five Black women actors; they too were the ‘ Daddies of Sugar’, regardless of being women.
In 2018, in collaboration with Monageng Motshabi of diartskonageng, J.Bobs independently co-published both these works in one book. On the back cover of the book, Tshabalala states that “I am here, to offer this work for it to be read, performed, directed, translated, adapted, questioned, reimagined, challenged and to even be used as a provokation for new ideas...”
A challenge that was set to others has now been taken by the challenge-maker himself. There has been a male director, directing 5 males, there has been a female director, directing 4 females, now in 2019, one male director directs one female actor in ‘The Daddies of Sugar’ performed by Thuto Gaasenwe from 20 – 23 February 2020 at Pop Art Theatre in Maboneng.
Thuto Gaasenwe plays all the Daddies in the latest directorial offering by Standard Bank Young Artist of the year for theatre, J. Bobs Tshabalala