(NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ) -- Crossroads Theatre Company presents Sizwe Bansi Is Dead from May 19 - June 14, 2026 at the New Brunswick Performing Arts Center. This is a powerful, funny, and deeply moving story about identity, survival, and the extraordinary ingenuity of ordinary people navigating an unjust system.
Set during South Africa’s apartheid era, the play follows a man faced with an impossible choice: disappear under the weight of an oppressive system—or reinvent himself in order to survive. What unfolds is a story filled with wit, humanity, and resilience, revealing the profound ways Black people have always found dignity, humor, and hope even in the harshest circumstances.
The production will be directed by Co-Founder and Artistic Director Ricardo Khan, in collaboration with John Kani (Black Panther, Mufasa: The Lion King).
The cast features Atandwa Kani (Black Panther, Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom), a celebrated film and theater actor, in the role of Buntu/Styles—a role made iconic by his father, John Kani. Kelcey Watson (Days of Wine and Roses), a classically trained stage and screen actor, joins as Sizwe Banzi.
Tickets are available for purchase online. The New Brunswick Performing Arts Center (NBPAC) is located at 11 Livingston Avenue in New Brunswick, New Jersey.
This creative team includes Ricardo Khan and creative collaborator, Tony Award® winner John Kani. Beowulf Boritt (New York, New York Act One, Flying Over Sunset), Tony®, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle Awards is the production's scenic designer and returning to Crossroads is costume designer, Helen Hayes nominee Mika Eubanks (The MONSTERS; Twelfth Night); Obie Award Winner Victor En Yu Tan is lighting designer, Tony® Nominee and Grammy winner, Justin Ellington is sound designer; Stefania Bulbarella, a Tony®, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle Award nominee is projection designer; Andrea Zertuche (The Space Between, Past Lives), is projection associate and programmer ; Anya Kutner is prop supervisor (Titus Andronicus; Meet the Cartozians); Norman Anthony Small, is production stage manager (American Buffalo; Leopoldstadt; The Shark is Broken), the assistant stage manager is Scott Yezzi, (Straight Forward, Girlboss ), and Crossroads Managing Director Ezra Ezzard is a producer.
Written by Athol Fugard, John Kani, and Winston Ntshona, Sizwe Banzi Is Dead became a landmark in global theatre. In 1975, Kani and Ntshona made history when they won Tony Awards for their performances in the Broadway production, bringing international attention to the realities of apartheid through the power of storytelling.
Today, this timeless work continues to resonate with audiences around the world.
Crossroads Theatre Company is honored to present this new production in collaboration with Tony Award–winner John Kani (Black Panther, Mufasa: The Lion King), the last surviving member of the play’s original creative team. His enduring artistic legacy and commitment to truth-telling continue to inspire generations of artists and audiences alike.
The Crossroads Theatre Company (CTC) was founded in 1978 by Ricardo Khan (Founding Artistic Director) and L. Kenneth Richardson. Initial funding was provided by the CETA Program, Johnson & Johnson, the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, NJ State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts. The vision of its founders was based on the belief that Black Theater is intended for a broad base diverse audience; a mission which was fulfilled.
As a major force in the development of new ideas and the introduction of formally marginalized writers, Crossroads brought works that challenged thee notion that only one class or group of people could be represented on the American stage. Prior to the company’s emergence in 1978, rarely could there have been found dignified opportunities for artists of color to explore and practice their craft in the professional theater.
In recognition of its success Crossroads was presented with the prestigious Tony Award in 1999 as the “outstanding regional theatre in America.” This marked the first time that a predominantly black theater company had earned this award. Crossroads remains to only culturally specific regional theater to have this honor.
Though founded with the intention to explore the African Diaspora it was eventually realized that Crossroads had become central to the depiction of global interaction with the other cultures in the world. As such the “new” Crossroads sought to reach beyond the borders of face and geography, to a place where theatrical enterprise could mine the rich aesthetics and folklores of the world stage.
