The students sing in their school uniforms, and then the soldiers come. Sarafina!, a musical about young people in Soweto during the 1976 uprising, turned one of the darkest moments in South African history into a story told through song and dance. In 1988, while apartheid still stood, it opened on Broadway.
Mbongeni Ngema and the story
The musical was created by Mbongeni Ngema, a South African playwright, director and composer. Ngema had earlier co-written Woza Albert!, a celebrated anti-apartheid play. Sarafina is a schoolgirl in Soweto inspired by an imprisoned Nelson Mandela and a teacher who encourages her students to think freely. As the students protest against apartheid education, they face violence from the security forces.
Soweto 1976 on Broadway
On 16 June 1976, students in Soweto marched against the use of Afrikaans as a language of instruction. Police opened fire, killing many young people, including 13-year-old Hector Pieterson. The uprising spread across South Africa.
The musical’s score drew on mbaqanga, the township music of South Africa, with energetic singing and dancing. Music by Ngema and Hugh Masekela gave it a powerful sound. Sarafina! opened at the Market Theatre in Johannesburg before transferring to New York. It opened on Broadway in January 1988 and ran for more than 1,500 performances, earning several Tony nominations.
Leleti Khumalo, the film and the scandal
The title role was played by Leleti Khumalo, who received a Tony nomination. She later starred in the film version. In 1992, the musical became a film starring Leleti Khumalo, Whoopi Goldberg as the teacher Mary Masombuka, and Miriam Makeba as Sarafina’s mother. In the 1990s, a sequel about HIV/AIDS, funded by South Africa’s health department, became a political scandal over its cost.
Sarafina! brought the story of South Africa’s student protesters to international audiences and remains a key work of South African theatre.
The young cast and Hector Pieterson
Many of the original performers were young South Africans from the townships who had never performed abroad. Touring with the show took them from Soweto to New York, and several went on to careers in theatre and music. The photograph of the dying Hector Pieterson being carried by a fellow student, taken by Sam Nzima, became one of the defining images of apartheid. A museum and memorial in Soweto now honour him and the students of 1976.
The students of Soweto marched with placards in 1976. Twelve years later, a musical made Broadway audiences sing their story.
