District Six The musical written by David Kramer & Taliep Petersen 1986

District Six-The Musical (1987)
The destruction of a community by the apartheid regime

October 2002 saw the opening of Kramer and Petersen's District Six, at the Baxter Theatre in Cape Town. This musical first exploded onto South Africa's stages in the late eighties and attracted audiences from all walks of life in their hundreds of thousands to the theatre.
David Kramer and Taliep Petersen spent much of 2001 and 2002 reworking the script and musical arrangements.

This staging of District Six is the first since the final curtain came down in 1990. It played more than 550 performances and was seen by over 350,000 people. For the first time in the history of Cape theatre a huge mixed audience was attracted to the theatre. It launched the careers of many previously disadvantaged actors and was used to highlight the plight of people affected by the then ongoing forced removals.

Despite the fact that some of the songs from District Six were banned by the SABC at the time, the show produced a number of hits, some of which continue to be played on the radio: Broertjie My Bra, Klop Klop, Queen of Hearts, So Long Goodbye.

The 2002/3 production of District Six has been an enormous success. It broke the Baxter Theatre's record for the longest running production by clocking up 203 capacity performances.

Background to District Six
District Six in the 1960s was a place where all kinds of people lived. A place of different religions and races; rich in its diversity; rich in its nineteenth century architecture. A place where music was important. ; where culture and tradition were revered. That it was impoverished and dilapidated, that there was crime and overcrowding, cannot be denied. But what is important, is that it was a place where people had a sense of themselves as a community. The place had spirit. A spirit that made it special. A spirit that is missing in in the sprawling townships and suburban developments of today.

In 1966 the District was declared a white group area by the apartheid government and people who were not white were forced to leave their homes. Shortly afterwards the bulldozing and destruction began and continued for thirteen years until the area was razes. Only a few churches and mosques remain.