Statements After an Arrest Under the Immorality Act, Orange Tree Theatre review - a blast from the past with lessons for today

★★★ STATEMENTS AFTER AN ARREST UNDER THE IMMORALITY ACT, ORANGE TREE THEATRE Timely revival of Athol Fugard's searing indictment of Apartheid

Forty-nine years on, Fugard's anger has lost none of its ferocity

Even if you miss the play’s title and do not recognise the writer’s name with the heft of reputation that comes with it, as soon as you see the black man and the white woman speaking in South African accents, you know that the tension that electrifies the air between them is real. "No normal sport in an abnormal society” was the rally cry of those boycotting the Apartheid regime, but there was no normal love, either – until, incredibly, the mid-80s. Yes, the mid-80s.

Album: Blk Jks - Abantu/Before Humans

★★★ BLK JKS - ABANTU / BEFORE HUMANS Return of the Johannesburg art-rockers

The breathless return of the Johannesburg art-rockers after over a decade away

 “A complete fully translated and transcribed Obsidian Rock Audio Anthology chronicling the ancient spiritual technologies and exploits of prehistoric, post-revolutionary afro bionics and sacred texts from The Great Book On Arcanum by Supernal 5th Dimension Bound 3rd Dynasty young Kushites from Azania.”

Loyiso Gola, Netflix review - South African muses on race, religion and friendship

★★★ LOYISO GOLA, NETFLIX South African muses on race, religion and friendship

Reflections that make you stop and think

Loyiso Gola, twice nominated for Emmy awards for his satire show Late Nite News, has been a big star in South Africa for some years now but this show should help cement his reputation abroad. UK fans will remember his 2018 appearance on Live at the Apollo, where he guyed the audience with his views on the British and Brexit, among other things.

Album: Bheki Mseleku - Beyond The Stars

★★★★ BHEKI MSELEKU - BEYOND THE STARS Essential album from South African 'gentle genius'

Essential album from a South African "gentle genius"

Praise gets heaped on the already well known. And that often leaves others in the shadows. I’m not saying that Abdullah Ibrahim doesn’t deserve the accolades – notably, “our Mozart” from Nelson Mandela – but there have been other genius level South African pianists: one was Moses Molelekwa who died at just 27. The other is the very great Bheki Mseleku (1955-2008).

Zanele Muholi, Tate Modern review - photography as protest

★★★★ ZANELE MUHOLI, TATE MODERN Photography as protest

Pictures so confrontational they knock you sideways

Hail the Dark Lioness (Somnyama Ngonyama in Zulu) is a powerful celebration of black identity. These dramatic assertions of selfhood are more than just striking self portraits, though.

Album: Charles Webster - Decision Time

★★★★★ CHARLES WEBSTER - DECISION TIME An extraordinary comeback

An extraordinary comeback - and hopefully overdue recognition - for a British underground music legend

Charles Webster is one of those connecting figures who make the idea of “the underground” seem quite convincing. Originally from the Peak District but coming of musical age in Nottingham, he was inspired by Chicago house and Detroit techno music from their very genesis in the mid 1980s, and went on to make some of the finest British house music ever.  

Reissue CDs Weekly: Dudu Phukwana and the "Spears"

DUDU PHUKWANA AND THE 'SPEARS' Illuminating reissue of Joe Boyd-produced debut album

Dudu Pukwana’s Joe Boyd-produced debut album reappears, with added Fairport Convention input

Whether explicitly or indirectly, what’s written on a master tape box can tantalise. Revealing part of a picture creates a desire to want to know more. Take the example seen above. It’s for an album by South African alto saxist Dudu Pukwana.

DVD/Blu-ray: Moffie

★★★★ MOFFIE Young love and brutal violence in the theatre of war

Young love and brutal violence in the theatre of war

Characterised by jarring juxtapositions of intense, appalling violence and the serene beauty of South AfricaOliver Hermanus’ fourth feature is the story of a young man coming to terms with his sexuality against the background of apartheid and prejudice.

Moffie review - heart rates will rise with Oliver Hermanus’ powerful war film

★★★★ MOFFIE Heart rates will rise with Oliver Hermanus’ powerful war film

A visceral LGBTQ period piece set against the backdrop of the South African Border War

Oliver Hermanus’ potent fourth feature Moffie certainly has a controversial film title. A homophobic slur, it can be translated from Afrikaans as "faggot". If you were to see buses with film posters emblazoned with the title in translation, there might rightly be cries of outrage.

Album: Shabaka & the Ancestors - We are Sent Here by History

★★★★★ SHAMBAKA & THE ANCESTORS - WE ARE SENT HERE BY HISTORY Struggle and aspiration from the Londoner's South African ensemble

Spiritual and political struggle and aspiration from the Londoner's South African ensemble

Londoner Shabaka Hutchings's other main groups, The Comet Is Coming and Sons Of Kemet, are pretty modernist. They incorporate dub, post-rock, post punk and rhythm patterns that recall London pirate radio sounds into the playing of his ensembles, with thrillingly adrenalised and / or cosmic results.