Johannesburg's theatres

Map of 6 locations in Johannesburg, South Africa

Johannesburg's stages sit at opposite ends of a long argument about who pays for theatre: a protest-era house in Newtown, three auditoriums now run as one municipal company, and independent rooms that programme what the big houses will not. Collected here with the dates that matter, what each building actually holds, and who owns the lease, because the city's theatre listings change faster than its addresses do.

Places in this collection

  • Victory Theatre — A single-auditorium house that keeps its place on both the In Your Pocket directory and the city's own visit.joburg listings, and is mapped…
  • Theatre on the Square — Sandton's small stage, surrounded by offices rather than a theatre district, which shapes a programme of short runs and lunchtime and early…
  • Soweto Theatre — One of the legacy projects of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, and the first fully equipped theatre built in Soweto. It has been managed under Jobu…
  • POPArt — A small independent room that built its reputation on work the larger houses had no slot for, which is how a 2018 trade piece framed it: fi…
  • Joburg Theatre — Established in 1962 as the Johannesburg Civic Theatre and rebuilt between 1987 and 1992, the Braamfontein complex now holds four auditorium…
  • Market Theatre — Opened in Newtown in 1976, in the old Indian fruit market, and reached its fiftieth year in 2026 with a season that began with Marabi and B…

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