A compelling account of community theatre in Soweto through the work of playwrights Gibson Kente, Matsemela Manaka and Maishe Maponya, from the turbulent resistance years of the 1980s through the transition to democracy in 1994. Xaba demonstrates how each of these theatre makers developed a distinctive theatrical language that combined urgent political critique with innovative performance aesthetics, forging a powerful connection between art and activism and influencing the trajectory of contemporary South African theatre.