STATE THEATRE
Musical strikes a note for fallists
Gritty Freedom production goes to the heart of the pain and violence of the #FeesMust Fall movement, writes Edward Tsumele
Freedom, a musical that depicts recent student protests on campuses around the country, takes audiences into the heart of the pain and violence that defined those events. When the #FeesMust Fall movement exploded on campuses in 2015 as university students took to the streets to highlight the cost of education and the poverty they faced, it caught the authorities by surprise. Many citizens were also surprised by this strife, which spread to most campuses like wildfire. It later emerged that students had been bottling up their frustration for many years. Students who are dubbed the missing middle — whose parents earned too much to qualify for the government’s student aid — erupted with anger at former historically white universities, where libraries and art were destroyed by arsonists. Others complained about the so-called black tax, where graduating black students are burdened for years by the expectation that they will financially support their extended families. Violence quickly be...
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