Mr. Duiker Sang the Blues

Dyondzo Kwinika, winner of the inaugural 2025 DALRO Can Themba Merit Award, gears up for his theatrical debut with his new play, Mr Duiker Sang the Blues. Originally written as a short story and now adapted for stage, the production will run from 13 Sept – 4 Oct 2026 at The Market Theatre.
Through the fictional life of an exceptional Soweto-born jazz pianist named Themba, Mr. Duiker Sang the Blues reveals how broken pasts between his family and those closest to him often reproduce themselves—first as artistic brilliance and then as personal destruction. Through Kwinika’s exceptional use of language, the work spotlights mental health challenges in the life of a musician in a poignantly relatable way.

The competition attracted more than 250 submissions from different parts of South Africa, all inspired by the enduring legacy of Can Themba. An anthology featuring the top ten shortlisted stories, including Kwinika’s Mr. Duiker Sang the Blues, was published by the Wits University Press, edited by Neil Coppen. The adaptation of this winning short story now reaches a broader audience in this premiere production of the work.