Oarabile Ditsele Oarabile Ditsele is a multidisciplinary creative force whose work spans writing, acting, producing, and socially driven arts Innovation. He is a graduate of University of Cape Town, majoring in drama. Ditsele gained international attention in 2016 as a writer-performer of the award-winning theatre production, The Fall, produced by the Baxter Theatre. The play toured globally to critical acclaim, with notable runs at the Royal Court Theatre in London and St. Ann’s Warehouse in New York. Ditsele’s transition into film began in 2021 with Blood Is Black, a project he both wrote and produced. In 2022, he continued expanding his performance repertoire by starring in the internationally acclaimed In 2023, Ditsele produced, wrote, and performed in Rapela: Speaking to the Unknown, which enjoyed a sold-out run at the Jo' burg Theatre. By 2025, he appeared in Paul Slabolepszy’s Bitter Winter (directed by Lesedi Job) while simultaneously directing and producing the short-film adaptation of Speaking to the Unknown, slated for release in 2026. Beyond his creative work, Ditsele is a committed social entrepreneur who leverages the arts as a catalyst for employment and community development. He founded annual visual-arts initiatives in the Free State, creating sustainable opportunities for young artists in marginalized communities. Currently, Ditsele is expanding his impact across the continent by establishing a film distribution partnership with Uganda. His first export to the African diaspora will be Some Mothers Son, an award-winning film adapted from Mike Van Graan’s acclaimed play Some Mothers Sons. Ditsele has a growing body of internationally recognized work, a strong storytelling voice, and a deep sense of the arts of the arts is shaping our world. Market Theatre The Market Theatre, founded in Johannesburg in 1976 by Mannie Manim and the late Barney Simon, was constructed out of Johannesburg’s Indian Fruit Market – built in 1913. The theatre went on to become internationally renowned as South Africa’s “Theatre of the Struggle”. The Market Theatre challenged the apartheid regime, armed with little more than the conviction that culture can change society. The strength and truth of that conviction was acknowledged in 1995 when the theatre received the American Jujamcyn Award. In providing a voice to the voiceless, The Market Theatre did not forego artistic excellence, but, rather, made a point of it. Its twenty-one international and over three hundred South African theatre awards bears eloquent testimony to the courage and artistic quality of its work. Barney Simon Barney Simon (13 April 1932 – 30 June 1995) was a South African writer, playwright and director. He was the founder of the Market Theatre in Johannesburg Albie Sachs A South African lawyer, activist, writer, and former judge appointed to the first Constitutional Court of South Africa by Nelson Mandela. On 7 April 1988, Sachs opened the door to his car and it exploded.Sachs lost his right arm and vision in his left eye, and a passerby was killed. He was stabilized in Mozambique, then flown to London to recover. There, he received a letter promising he would be avenged. Sachs decided to seek not revenge but "soft vengeance" which would take the form of getting freedom in a new non-racial and democratic South Africa based on human rights and the rule of law. The Short Fuse Podcast is hosted by Elizabeth Howard. She talks with artists, writers, musicians, and others whose art reveals our communities through their lens and stirs us to seek change through their art, music, ideas, and performances. James Baldwin reminds us that "artists are here to disturb the peace." Her articles related to communication and marketing have appeared in European Communications, Investor Relations, Law Firm Marketing & Profit Report, Communication World, The Strategist, and the New York Law Journal, among others. Her books include Queen Anne’s Lace and Wild Blackberry Pie, (Thornwillow Press, 2011), A Day with Bonefish Joe (David Godine, 2015) and Ned O’Gorman: A Glance Back (Easton Studio Press, 2016). @elizh24 on Instagram Gerald Kent is the producer and editor of the Short Fuse. Based in Cape Town, South Africa. Gerald is a talented musician and audio engineer who has been releasing his own music independently since 2021. Alongside his artistry, he’s built up experience working with multiple clients in the podcasting space, from editing through full-scale production. Hannah Brueske, manages social media and marketing for the Short Fuse. She is a senior journalism student at Emerson College, with a special interest in feature stories, arts reporting, and documentary filmmaking. She is active in campus publications as a reporter for The Berkeley Beacon, Emerson’s only independent student newspaper, and the editor in chief of The Independent, an arts magazine that covers independent art. Evelyn Rosenthal, copy edits the Short Fuse. She is a singer specializing in jazz and Brazilian music, a freelance editor, and the former editor in chief and head of publications at the Harvard Art Museums. She writes about music for the Arts Fuse and copy edits the magazine The Arts Fuse Bill Marx, is the editor in chief of The Arts Fuse. For over four decades, he has written about arts and culture for print, broadcast, and online. He has regularly reviewed theater for National Public Radio Station WBUR and The Boston Globe.He created and edited WBUR Online Arts, a cultural webzine that in 2004 won an Online Journalism Award for Specialty Journalism. In 2007 he created The Arts Fuse, an online magazine dedicated to covering arts and culture in Boston and throughout New England The Arts Fuse was established in June, 2007 as a curated, independent online arts magazine dedicated to publishing in-depth criticism, along with high quality previews, interviews, and commentaries. The publication’s over 70 freelance critics (many of them with decades of experience) cover dance, film, food, literature, music, television, theater, video games, and visual arts. There is a robust readership for arts coverage that believes that culture matters. The goal of The Arts Fuse is to treat the arts seriously, to write about them in the same way that other publications cover politics, sports, and business — with professionalism, thoughtfulness, and considerable attitude. The magazine’s motto, from Jonathan Swift, sums up our editorial stance: “Use the point of your pen … not the feather.” The Arts Fuse has published over 10, 000 articles and receives 80,000+ visits a month. This year the magazine is celebrating its 18th birthday - a milestone for a small, independent magazine dedicated to covering the arts. Assist Arts Fuse in its mission: keep arts and culture hale and hearty through dialogue, and not just marketing. Serious criticism, by talking about the strengths, weaknesses, and contributions of the arts, plays an indispensable role in the cultural ecology. Smaller, newer organizations need a response. When they are ignored as they are by the mainstream media, they fail to gain an audience. And without an audience, they fold, further weakening the entire ecosystem. SUBSCRIBE to the weekly e-newsletter LIKE The Arts Fuse on Facebook, FOLLOW on Twitter HELP The Arts Fuse thrive by providing underwriting for the magazine. Even better — make a tax deductible donation.
