Short Fuse Podcast #85: Oarabile Ditsele — Reimagining Theater for Gen Z
By Elizabeth Howard
Episode Summary
In this Short Fuse episode Elizabeth Howard talks with Oarabile Ditsele, a South African actor, filmmaker, writer, and multidisciplinary creative artist. 2026 marks the Market Theatre’s 50 anniversary in Johannesburg, founded by Mannie Manim and the late Barney Simon, to amplify stories that gave a voice to the voiceless and made a point of achieving artistic excellence.
In the conversation Oarabile traces South Africa’s protest theatre tradition – from apartheid defiance to its vital present – and ponders how to channel today’s upheavals into plays that ignite the interest of young audiences so that they will be excited to come to the theatre and say “Dude, I’m going to leave my house tonight and pay 250 rand and I’m going to watch something I feel.”
Episode Notes
Oarabile Ditsele
Oarabile Ditsele is a multidisciplinary creative force whose work spans writing, acting, producing, and socially driven arts innovation. He is a graduate of University of Cape Town, majoring in drama.
Ditsele gained international attention in 2016 as a writer-performer of the award-winning theatre production, The Fall, produced by the Baxter Theatre. The play toured globally to critical acclaim, with notable runs at the Royal Court Theatre in London and St. Ann’s Warehouse in New York.
Ditsele’s transition into film began in 2021 with Blood Is Black, a project he both wrote and produced. Currently, he is expanding his impact across the continent by establishing a film distribution partnership with Uganda. His first export to the African diaspora will be Some Mothers’ Son, an award-winning film adapted from Mike Van Graan’s acclaimed play Some Mothers’ Sons.
In 2023, Ditsele produced, wrote, and performed in Rapela: Speaking to the Unknown, which enjoyed a sold-out run at the Jo’ burg Theatre. By 2025, he appeared in Paul Slabolepszy’s Bitter Winter (directed by Lesedi Job) while simultaneously directing and producing the short-film adaptation of Speaking to the Unknown, slated for release in 2026.
Beyond his creative work, Ditsele is a committed social entrepreneur who leverages the arts as a catalyst for employment and community development. He founded annual visual-arts initiatives in the Free State, creating sustainable opportunities for young artists in marginalized communities.
Ditsele has a growing body of internationally recognized work, a strong storytelling voice, and a deep sense of how the arts are shaping our world.
The Market Theatre, founded in Johannesburg in 1976 by Mannie Manim and the late Barney Simon, was constructed out of Johannesburg’s Indian Fruit Market – built in 1913. The theatre went on to become internationally renowned as South Africa’s “Theatre of the Struggle”.
The Market Theatre challenged the apartheid regime, armed with little more than the conviction that culture can change society. The strength and truth of that conviction was acknowledged in 1995 when the theatre received the American Jujamcyn Award. In providing a voice to the voiceless, The Market Theatre did not forego artistic excellence, but, rather, made a point of it. Its twenty-one international and over three hundred South African theatre awards bear eloquent testimony to the courage and artistic quality of its work.
Barney Simon (13 April 1932 – 30 June 1995) was a South African writer, playwright and director. He was the founder of the Market Theatre in Johannesburg
A South African lawyer, activist, writer, and former judge appointed to the first Constitutional Court of South Africa by Nelson Mandela.
On 7 April 1988, Sachs opened the door to his car and it exploded.Sachs lost his right arm and vision in his left eye, and a passerby was killed. He was stabilized in Mozambique, then flown to London to recover. There, he received a letter promising he would be avenged. Sachs decided to seek not revenge but “soft vengeance” which would take the form of getting freedom in a new non-racial and democratic South Africa based on human rights and the rule of law.
The Short Fuse Podcast is hosted by Elizabeth Howard. She talks with artists, writers, musicians, and others whose art reveals our communities through their lens and stirs us to seek change through their art, music, ideas, and performances. James Baldwin reminds us that “artists are here to disturb the peace.” Her articles related to communication and marketing have appeared in European Communications, Investor Relations, Law Firm Marketing & Profit Report, Communication World, The Strategist, and the New York Law Journal, among others. Her books include Queen Anne’s Lace and Wild Blackberry Pie, (Thornwillow Press, 2011), A Day with Bonefish Joe (David Godine, 2015), and Ned O’Gorman: A Glance Back (Easton Studio Press, 2016). @elizh24 on Instagram
Gerald Kent is the producer and editor of the Short Fuse. Based in Cape Town, South Africa. He is a talented musician and audio engineer who has been releasing his own music independently since 2021. Alongside his artistry, he’s built up experience working with multiple clients in the podcasting space, from editing to full-scale production.
Hannah Brueske manages social media and marketing for the Short Fuse. She is a senior journalism student at Emerson College, with a special interest in feature stories, arts reporting, and documentary filmmaking. She is active in campus publications as a reporter for The Berkeley Beacon, Emerson’s only independent student newspaper, and the editor-in-chief of The Independent, an arts magazine that covers independent art.
Evelyn Rosenthal copy edits the Short Fuse. She is a singer specializing in jazz and Brazilian music, a freelance editor, and the former editor in chief and head of publications at the Harvard Art Museums. She writes about music for the Arts Fuse and copy edits the magazine.
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