Things to do in Joburg this weekend: Immersive stargazing and Chester Missing

The Wits Digital Dome, Parktown
A 360° immersive experience for visitors with a variety of shows for young and old. Doors open 30 minutes before the show starts. Please arrive early to access the Wits University security gate and then to park; once the show starts, late entry is strictly not allowed. All the astronomy shows have an interactive live night sky demonstration before the recorded show (The Sky Tonight is an hour-long live show).

Dates: 23 January, 19:00

Tickets: R45-R75 at Webtickets

Address: Wits Anglo American Digital Dome, Yale Road

Femme Fever, The Polished Flamingo, Rosebank
Formerly known as Bar Ber Black Sheep, The Polished Flamingo hosts Femme Fever: a smooth, chilled and cool change of pace in the midst of Joburg’s high-energy nightlife. When you want to have a cute, fun evening but aren’t ready for a full-on rave. Lee-Ann, Hue Maq and Dzaddy T curate sexy, fun, nostalgic sets.

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Dates: Every Thursday 20:00 – 02:00

Tickets: Free

Address: The Polished Flamingo, Rosebank 2 Bolton Road

Sheer City Block Party
Sheer City brings together global and local selectors at the forefront of contemporary electronic music – headlined by Cinthie (GER), Make a Dance (UK), Esa (SA/UK) and SA DJs Lelowhatsgood, Baby Whitz, Tamara Dey and more

Dates: 23 January, 20:00 – 05:00

Tickets: From R150, AirDosh

Address: Club AM and Carfax, 38 Gwi Gwi Mrwebi St, Newtown

The Secret Garden
This week Twins On Deck, Marco the DJ, Liam G, DJ E plus the Garden residents Sash, Stan, Thesh and Ashton are ready to take you on the ultimate journey.

Dates: 23 January

Address: The Greenhouse Bar, 6 Gwen Lane &, Fredman Dr, Sandton

Bookings: 079 502 0621 / 078 364 5232

Conrad Koch and Chester Missing’s Puppet Power
Conrad Koch is South Africa’s double Emmy-nominated ventriloquist, and second most famous puppeteer after Elon Musk. His most famous puppet, Chester Missing, of TV and TikTok fame, resents being a puppet and has a lot to say about it. But we are all someone’s puppet in some way aren’t we? Married people, you know what we mean. This hilarious ensemble includes the likes of Hilton, party ostrich, Gunter, recently divorced German mosquito, Mr Dixon, high school teacher who does not like to be manipulated, DJ Hoodie, the puppet who actually DJs, and newcomer to the show, wannabe celebrity chef and real life rat, Chef Ratsy.

Dates: 24 January, 20:00

Address: Protea Hotel Fire & Ice, Menlyn, 213 Thys Street, Summit Place Precinct

Tickets: From R180, Quicket

Dates: 25 January, 10:30-13:00

Address: a42, 64 8th St, Parkhurst

Tickets: Free entry, RSVP

Silent Movie Organ Improvisation
Renowned composer-organist Franz Danksagmüller, celebrated for his fusion of century-old instruments with cutting-edge live-electronics, will create a live, improvised soundtrack to a silent film The Phantom of the Opera, an American film by Rupert Julian, 1925 — entirely in the moment. He draws not only on his fascination with historic instruments, but also embraces the most modern tools of sound-design.

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Dates: 27 January, 19:30-21:15

Address: St George’s Church, Parktown

Tickets: R230, Quicket

Nobody Told Me
This beautiful play is a tribute to the noble deeds of the writer’s mother, who during World War II fought to save lives in the Warsaw Ghetto. It is a hymn for those who healed others while bleeding unseen; a love song to the stubborn souls who chose duty over self. Nobody Told Me is a requiem of laughter and gunpowder, where devotion and delirium dance beneath the shadow of barbed wire.

Dates: 28 January – 28 February

Address: Theatre On The Square, Corner Sandton Drive and Rivonia Road

Tickets: R180 – R220, Webtickets

Nobody Told Me
(Photo: Supplied)
Sometimes I have to lean in
An interdisciplinary collaboration between Alan Parker and Gerard Bester. It was originally commissioned by the Dance Umbrella in 2018. The work is a sometimes playful, sometimes dark, consideration of the act of leaning. On one level, the performance is a leaning in of two ageing performers, who lean in closer in order to better see and understand each other. On another level, this act of leaning is explored as a metaphor for looking back to where you have come from in order to understand where you are now.

Dates: 29 January – 1 February

Address: P.O.P Art, Parkwood, 59 Dorset Road

Tickets: R180, Pop Art Centre

Marabi
South Africa’s musical theatre classic Marabi returns on a high note. Set in the 1930s in Doornfontein, Johannesburg, the production follows Mabongo as he battles ancestral duty, poverty and the rising tide of change. His daughter Martha falls for Ginger George, a Marabi piano player, defying tradition and igniting family turmoil.

Dates: 29 January – 15 February

Address: The Market Theatre, 138 Lillian Ngoyi Street, Newtown

Tickets: R140 – R275, Webtickets

Joburg ‘Person of the day’
Originally from Bilanyoni village in KZN, where he grew up under the care of his grandmother, artist Siphamandla Ex is now based in the heart of Jozi’s CBD at the Asisebenze Art Atelier in Plein Street.

While he has never received any formal education in visual art, he began drawing as a child, and his passion and talent have led him to giddy heights in the art world. Siphamandla Ex’s work is a celebration of everyday life, steering away from stereotypical narratives focused on poverty and struggle, and showcasing instead, the complexity, vibrancy and resourcefulness of ordinary people.

Celebrating culture, he says, doesn’t need grand gestures. He’s also a music producer and composer as well as a basketball player.

We are re-running Siphamandla Ex’s profile because we used the wrong image last week. We do apologise and will strive to ensure it doesn’t happen again.

(Photo and Text by Bridget Hilton-Barber)
Friyay Guest Essay — Ferial Haffajee

Blue skies, big buildings and broader boulevards encourage walking in Johannesburg. (Photo: Shahdia Johnson)
Take a walk in downtown Joburg and see the impossible made possible
The Johannesburg Inner City Partnership is transforming the downtown area into a ‘walkable city’ with solar lighting, clean streets and vibrant public spaces. ‘You want vibrance. You want people walking around, going to the shops, going to school,’ says CEO David van Niekerk.

My favourite Johannesburg city reporting story (and I do quite a few) starts outside the Rand Club with David van Niekerk, the CEO of Johannesburg Inner City Partnership.

Months before, we met to talk about his plans for making Joburg a “walkable city”, and I thought: “Well, nice idea, but I mean really!” In my job as a city reporter, you always meet urbanists brimming with ideas that often don’t chime with real life.