The Windybrow Theatre has undergone renovations during the past two years, and is now bringing life back to Hillbrow, writes Edward Tsumele.
The imposing Windybrow Heritage House on Nugget Street, in Joburg, stands self-consciously in a neighbourhood that has gone through several transformations over the years.
The area's night life is vibrant but, at the same time, scary. The scary part affects mainly visitors as alongside its colourful character, one notices a state of decay, an odd homeless person rummaging through as yet uncollected dustbins.
Some of the buildings, several of them actually, are in a state of neglect, smelling of urine, and broken bottles form part of the unsightly reception of some of the apartment blocks of Hillbrow, a result of the previous weekend’s indulgence by residents. There are also traces of blood on some entrance steps, suggesting that violence unfortunately is a part of the area’s daily life.
And, of course, we talk in hushed tones about this place among friends and advise that this is an area to avoid if one can, as danger is said to lurk in dark alleys.
I have my own fears about Hillbrow, as it's certainly different from the Hillbrow I once called home about 24 years ago.
It was much cleaner then and its residents were much wealthier compared to the current occupants, a mix of a working-class community and a middle class from the rest of the African continent.
It's for this reason that when Market Theatre publicist Lusanda Zokufa offered to accompany me through the streets for this assignment, the answer was an emphatic "no".
I feared for her safety, but are these streets really unsafe as most of us who, unlike the residents of this area, don't have to walk there daily assume?
The answer is complex. It's dangerous actually, especially if you aren't familiar with its dark corners, and no-go spots.
And yet this isn't the whole story about this suburb. Its life is more intriguing and nuanced than the usual, repeated narrative of a no-go area full of tsotsis and unsavoury characters.
The Hillbrow story is a fascinating tale of what happens to a suburb that is constantly in transition, assuming new identities each time it changes its complexion.
It's actually a story of a transforming society; a suburb that the well-off middle class once called home, mainly white immigrants in the 1980s. They later shared it with the new black middle classes that left the townships for the then-fashionable apartments in the belly of Joburg, along with the then-returning exiles in the 1990s.
Today Hillbrow is completely different, and surely different to what it was when a DA leader and Western Cape premier used to walk these streets as a young child.
Helen Zille was born here in 1951, to German parents who had fled their homeland in the 1930s to avoid Nazi persecution. The Hillbrow of today, just as in the past, is a favourite with recent immigrants.
But unlike the immigrants of yesteryear, who were predominantly white, these days the suburb is predominantly African, with the sight of a white face in the streets a rarity.
The whites you will see are those who are clearly having it tough, pensioners who cannot afford to move out, or those that have fallen victim to drugs.
Yet there is a sense of contentment in the air among residents, some of whom are actually well-to-do and making a good living as shop owners, hair stylists, internet café owners and club owners.
These are clearly middle-class people, judging by the luxury cars parked in the streets, and yet they have chosen to call Hillbrow home, instead of moving to posh suburbs further north of Joburg.
And as fate would have it, tourists, particularly those from overseas, are increasingly attracted to this place and its colourful character.
A popular backpacker based in Maboneng, east of Joburg, Curiosity, regularly takes tourists on walking tours of Hillbrow, ironically while the wealthier local classes shun the suburb, citing safety reasons.
What better way to experience this suburb than to take a walk in its streets, enjoy a drink in its various bars, try some Nigerian food in some of its scattered eateries, and have a ball in this supposedly dangerous area?
I could not resist scouring this suburb, just to inspect some of the places I used to frequent when I lived there years ago.
My first port of call was the famous Pretoria Street. It used to host gems of the suburb in its glory days, such as the popular coffee shop, Three Sisters.
In Hillbrow’s heyday, the business was popular with coffee lovers and the arty types. Now, in its place, is a McDonald’s.
The street also boasted the popular bookstore chain Exclusive Books, but now there is no sign of it. Another popular hangout was the music shop Look & Listen, but there is no sign of it either.
All is not lost, though. The Market Theatre, under new chief executive Ismail Mahomed, has been handed the responsibility of running the Windybrow Theatre by the Department of Arts and Culture.
It has undergone renovations during the past two years, and is now upbeat, bringing life back to the area, the vibrant culture that once defined the whole of Hillbrow.
The theatre management is currently looking for someone who can lure residents back to the Windybrow.
The theatre has advertised for someone to head it, with applications to close on February 3. It won't be easy by the look of things. The post was re-advertised this month as those who had applied previously failed to convince the management that they were up to the demanding responsibility.
The stakes for this post are so high that they have been asked politely not to apply again.
The problem seems to be that although the area is densely populated - a potential audience for engaging theatrical productions - the residents are so diverse that you'll find almost the whole of Africa here, and their cultures and artistic tastes don't necessarily converge.
Instead of being a tight-knit community, Hillbrow consists of separate communities. So, how will the theatre ensure that the shows that it plans to put on once it's up and running will be attractive to such a diverse community, with different cultural tastes - comprising west Africans, east Africans, north Africans and southern Africans?
The residents' cultures are as diverse as the countries they come from. Even the adopted colonial languages that they speak are diverse - you'll find French, English and Portuguese mixed with indigenous languages from their home countries such as Lingala (the Democratic Republic of the Congo), isiNdebele and Shona (Zimbabwe), Swahili (Kenya and Uganda) and many others.
It's a complex mix of languages and cultures on the streets of Hillbrow, making programming for an arts centre such as Windybrow a nightmare.
* The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Media.