Multi-award-winning theatre company Empatheatre, in partnership with groundWork, is proud to bring their acclaimed theatre production Buyela to Johannesburg from 20 to 21 October 2026.
Buyela, meaning “to return” in isiZulu, is set on the final afternoon of one of Durban's last working landfills. The play centres around two women who meet amid this mountain of discarded things. MaNothemba (played by Mpume Mthombeni) is a waste picker, matriarch and daughter, a woman who has spent 40 years transforming other people's waste into a livelihood, a brick house and support for eight grandchildren. Nokwanda, a journalist (played by Minenhle Sikhosana), arrives claiming to want her story, though she carries a secret she's slow to admit.
What unfolds between them is part detective game, part oral history, part fairy tale, with moments of humour woven throughout. Informed by four years of collaborative research on zero waste and informal work, Buyela weaves together mythology with the very real stories of what it means to live in a world that wastes both things and people. Drawing on the experiences, insights, and expertise of waste pickers and waste reclaimers, this beautifully crafted play asks us to think carefully about what we are willing to throw away and what refuses to disappear: grief, knowledge, solidarity and the circular dance of a living earth.
Buyela is directed by Neil Coppen and Roshina Ratnam and written by Dylan McGarry, Neil Coppen and Mpume Mthombeni, with additional text by Tony Miyambo. Set and puppetry design is by Dylan McGarry, with puppetry direction by Roshina Ratnam and an original score by Ghia Leigh.
After premiering at the University of KwaZulu-Natal Square Space Theatre for a short season, Buyela is now travelling to Johannesburg for two public performances at POPArt Theatre (59 Dorset Road, Greenside East, Johannesburg, 2193). We invite you to join us to collectively explore how, when it comes to our waste, we might choose to live better with the earth and with each other.
Please RSVP by booking below. If you struggle with your booking - please email us directly at popartjhb@gmail.com
