E85- Oarabile Ditsele: Reimagining Theatre Through Gen Z

A conversation with Oarabile Ditsele

In this Short Fuse episode Elizabeth Howard talks with Oarabile Ditsele, a South African actor, filmmaker and multi-disciplinary creative artist and writer. 2026 marks the Market Theatre's 50 anniversary in Johannesburg, founded by Mannie Manim and the late Barney Simon, to amplify stories that gave a voice to the voiceless and made a point of achieving artistic excellence.

In the conversation Oarabile traces South Africa's protest theatre tradition - from apartheid defiance to its vital present - and ponders how to channel today's upheavals into plays that ignite the interest of young audiences, and that will make them excited to come to the theatre, so they will say, “Dude, I'm going to leave my house tonight and pay 250 rand and I'm going to watch something I feel."

The Short Fuse Podcast  hosted by Elizabeth Howard, are conversations with artists, writers, musicians, and others who have a lens on contemporary thought and stir us to seek change. Through their art, music, performances, and singular vision they lead us through the social and environmental transformations sweeping across the globe. Gerald Kent, a musician and audio engineer based in Cape Town, South Africa, is the producer of the Short Fuse..

“Artists are here to disturb the peace.” James Baldwin.

The Short Fuse is distributed through the Arts Fuse, a journal of arts criticism and commentary.