Durban's Stable Theatre plays host to the Phambili Festival

'Phambili' means 'Let’s Go Forward' but it is also the command a rider might give to a horse to urge it forward with energy. This title, the first of what is hoped to be an annual festival, reflects the continued energetic way forward for Stable Theatre. It also makes reference to horses and the reason why Stable Theatre is so named.

In the mid-1970s Stable Theatre’s founder, Kessie Govender, discovered that the municipal authorities of the time allocated more money to the building of a stable than it did to the dwellings built for those relocated from Mkhumbane by the forced removals under the Group Areas Act. Hence his first play was called Stable Expense and his theatre company became the Stable Theatre Company.

The festival will be sponsored by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Department of Arts and Culture KZN, Ethekwini Municipality and Business and Arts SA. More information from Stable Theatre on 031 309 2513 or e-mail [email protected].