From Hanover Street: celebrating 60 Years of District Six's Legacy through music and song
FROM Hanover Street, a concert commemorating 60 years since the forced removals of District Six, will take place at the Artscape Theatre in Cape Town from 10 to 15 February 2026, bringing together, for the first time, the original performers who portrayed the role of “Broetjie” in District Six: The Musical now reunited as producers.
The newly revealed Broetjie My Bra Collective consists of Jody Abrahams, Loukmaan Adams, Alistair Izobell and Emo Adams, alongside the man behind the original idea, David Kramer.
The production marks a rare full-circle moment in South African theatre history, with the original cast members returning four decades later to steward the work that shaped their lives and careers.
The timing of the concert is deeply symbolic. In 2026, South Africa marks 60 years since more than 60 000 residents were forcibly removed from District Six on 11 February 1966, one of the most traumatic acts of apartheid-era displacement in Cape Town’s history.
The production deliberately centres around this anniversary, ensuring that 11 February 2026 remains inseparable from the memory and legacy of District Six.
“This is beyond a watershed moment for the five of us,” said well-known South African singer and entertainer Alistair Izobell.
“Forty years ago, none of us realised that this was preordained that this moment was already written. It was a God moment before we even met.”
Originally cast as children, Izobell, Abrahams and the Adams brothers came from impoverished backgrounds, unaware that their participation in District Six: The Musical would create a bond and a responsibility that would last a lifetime.
“Where we came from, none of us knew there would be a melting of our souls and journeys that would last for decades,” Izobell said. “To now come together as producers, telling and celebrating a healing story, is incredibly humbling.”
The concert also coincides with another profound milestone — 20 years since the passing of the late Dr Taliep Petersen, whose creative partnership with David Kramer transformed South African musical theatre and gave voice to communities rendered invisible by apartheid.
“Taliep’s spirit and his footprint can never be removed,” Izobell said. “Everything about this work carries the fibre of what he wrote with David. His soul is very much in the nucleus of this production.”
Audiences attending From Hanover Street can expect the beloved songs of District Six to be presented on a scale larger than ever before, performed by an almost 30-strong cast. Izobell, who serves as head of music, said the score itself remains untouched in its power.
“The music already has a full engine,” he said.
“My job is simply to steer it and put the audience in the car with us.”
Beyond the performance, the production carries a heavy historical responsibility. Izobell stressed that District Six was not only a site of trauma, but a living example of unity across race, religion and class, something apartheid actively sought to dismantle.
“We will remember. We will tell our children. We will make sure society never forgets what happened there,” he said.
“That barren land we still drive past today exists because of oppression and that can never happen again.”
He also highlighted the lasting economic damage caused by forced removals, noting that families were stripped of generational wealth through the loss of property in what is now prime land.
For the Broetjie My Bra Collective, From Hanover Street represents a once-in-a-lifetime moment.
“This is the last time, in our lifetimes, that all of us myself, Loukmaan, Emo, Jody and David will be able to celebrate District Six together in this way,” Izobell said.
At its heart, he believes, the concert endures because of its music a Creole sound born of the Cape that transcends difference.
“Music is the common language of mankind,” Izobell said.
“Through pain comes joy, and through joy comes acceptance. This story will always matter.”
tracy-lynn.ruiters@inl.co.za