The Blue Album will open at Theatre Arts on Youth Day, Tuesday, June 16, featuring acclaimed performer Vuyelwa Maluleke in an autobiographical one-woman production that confronts the violence of corrective rape within the community and its lasting impact.
The production is directed by Johannesburg-based movement director and choreographer Ernest “Ginger” Baleni, who was nominated for a Naledi Theatre Award in 2026.
According to a statement from Theatre Arts, the production is set in the township of Makaleng and follows the story of a young black lesbian woman who returns home after being forced into exile. Called back by her father's illness, she is confronted by the community and family structures that enabled the violence that drove her away.
Combining monologue and movement, The Blue Album interrogates the realities and consequences of corrective rape, offering audiences a deeply personal and thought-provoking theatrical experience.
Maluleke said in a statement that more than fifty years after the 1976 youth uprisings, the production reflects on the unfinished work of freedom in a country where hate crimes such as corrective rape, gender-based violence and homophobia continue to shape everyday life.
Maluleke, who wrote and performs the work, has received widespread recognition for her performance. She won the Outstanding Performer award at the 2025 Kippies Fringe Awards and was nominated for Best Performance in a Fringe Theatre Production at the 2025 Naledi Theatre Awards.
Following its run at Theatre Arts, The Blue Album will make its debut at the 2026 National Arts Festival in Makhanda.
Performances will take place at Theatre Arts, located at the Methodist Church Hall on the corner of Milton Road and Wesley Street in Observatory, from Tuesday, June 16 to Friday, June 19, from 7pm.
Tickets cost R120 per person and can be booked through Theatre Arts.
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