Past Productions

Set in a tea room in Port Elizabeth on a dreary, wet afternoon in 1950, Master Harold…and the Boys is a poignant coming of age story and exploration of a friendship between a young white boy (Hally), and the two adult black men he has grown up around (Sam and Willy), against the backdrop of the oppressive, divisive apartheid laws of the time.

Statements After An Arrest Under The Immorality Act centres around two lovers, a coloured man and a white woman, who meet in the library where she works. Sitting naked in the dark, their love is threatened not only by the fear of being discovered but also by the tensions between them. Everything falls apart when a neighbour reports them to the police, and they are arrested under the universally pilloried Immorality Act.

Having reluctantly inherited a failing shoe factory from his father, Charlie Price struggles to live up to his father’s legacy and save his family business. He finds inspiration from within an unlikely partnership with cabaret performer and drag queen Lola to produce a line of high-heeled boots and save the business. In the process, Charlie and Lola discover that they are not so different after all.

Twenty-five years since the first post-apartheid democratic elections, two men from contrasting walks of life are thrust together to reflect on a quarter century of change. Jack Morris (Antony Sher) is a celebrated classical actor who’s just been given both a career-defining role and a life-changing diagnosis. Besides his age, Jack has seemingly little in common with his at-home nurse Lunga Kunene (John Kani), but the two men soon discover their shared passion for Shakespeare.

Following a whirlwind long weekend over New Year’s, Bree Street-crossed lovers Lee-André and Dan find themselves in bed together after a disappointing boozy night out and unexpectedly bump into each other the next day. What follows is the audience playing witness to their hidden flaws coming out to play as their relationship rollercoasters in the space of 5 days.

Set in 1965 at the Canterbury Hotel in District Six, Langarm is a musical that revolves around the story of Jeff and Angelina, two star-crossed lovers who are forbidden to be together under the Laws of Apartheid. Risking arrest and defying the law, she asks him to partner her in The Swaziland Ballroom Championships, and as their love defiantly blossoms others are forced to confront the secrets of their pasts.

A struggling female college student engages with her male professor in a heated discussion about the content of his lessons and of teaching style. As their conversation intensifies further, their interactions quickly take a turn for the worst after he has a complaint of sexual harassment laid against him by the student. This unpredictable drama explores issues of power, political correctness, sexual harassment, and more.

Significant Other follows Jordan, a single, young professional with a close group of female friends who slowly drift away as they each get married while he searches for his own “Mr. Right.” As the singles’ nights turn into bachelorette parties, Jordan discovers that the only thing harder than finding love is supporting the loved ones around you when they do.

It’s wedding season and the wine lands are abuzz with travellers who come to celebrate the nuptials of friends and family. But when the wedding party gets trapped in a haunted cabin in the middle of a dilapidated wine farm, a carefree weekend turns into a nightmare when the spirit of an ancient demon possesses a newlywed and wreaks havoc on her friends. The Demon Bride has one simple message: `With this ring I thee DEAD!’.

Inspired by Helen Martins, who lived in Nieu-Bethesda and created the now-famous The Owl House – The Road to Mecca is the story of a woman’s desire for personal and artistic freedom within the narrow confines of a conservative and highly religious community in the Karoo in early seventies apartheid South Africa by transforming her world with light, colour and texture.

Shakespeare In Love follows a young William Shakespeare who is suffering from writer’s block and is facing a looming deadline for his new play. In desperate need of inspiration, he finds it in the form of Viola. This beautiful young woman is Will’s biggest admirer and will stop at nothing (including breaking the law) to star in his next play.

Originally billed as an “all African jazz opera” – the legendary South African musical King Kong tells the story of the rise and fall of heavyweight fifties boxing champion Ezekiel Dlamini whose self-appointed ring name was King Kong. With his quick fists and fiery temper, he became a township sensation, but things fell apart as he struggled to keep his cool outside the ring.

The world media has descended on a small town to wait for a great statesman to die. Audrey, a flash-in-the-pan author, Zee, an ambitious researcher, and Harris, a correspondent for an American radio station, find themselves holed up in a room around the corner from the dying man’s family home, and as the truth emerges, the inevitability of losing a person who represents hope becomes an unbearable burden

Set in New York around WWI, Funny Girl is the story of the life of American actress Fanny Brice, and her relationship with gambler Nick Arnstein. Featuring Iconic songs such as “People” and “Don’t Rain On My Parade” it follows her as a driven young comedic singer, as she carves out a career for herself with Ziegfeld Follies flair, even though she may not have been the quintessential pretty starlet.

Anne was always happiest when her children were young and she could devote herself entirely to the needs of her family. Now she thinks that life has cheated her and that her husband, Peter is cheating in their marriage. But Anne’s real problem is depression following the departure of her grown-up son from the family home.

Now 80 years old, André was once a tap dancer. He lives with his daughter, Anne, and her husband, Antoine. Or was André an engineer, whose daughter Anne lives in London with her new lover, Pierre? The thing is, he is still wearing his pyjamas, and he can’t find his watch. He is starting to wonder if he’s losing control.

A Steady Rain focuses on two Chicago policemen who inadvertently return a Vietnamese boy to a cannibalistic serial killer who claims to be the child’s uncle. When he later becomes the man’s latest victim, the lifelong friendship of the two men is threatened when it becomes clear someone must bear responsibility for their failure to assess the situation accurately.

Aging farm labourer Nukain has spent his life transforming the rocks at Revolver Creek into a vibrant garden of painted flowers. Now, the final unpainted rock, as well as his young companion Bokkie, has forced Nukain to confront his legacy as a painter, a person and a black man in 1980s South Africa. When the landowner’s wife arrives with demands about the painting, the profound rifts of a country hurtling toward the end of apartheid are laid bare.

In 1959, Russ and Bev are moving out to the suburbs after the tragic death of their son. Inadvertently, they have sold their house to the neighbourhood’s first black family. Fifty years later, the roles are reversed when a young white couple buys the lot in what is now a black neighbourhood, signalling a new wave of gentrification. In both cases, a community showdown takes place, pitting race against real estate with this home as the battleground.

Ben meets Skinn for a night out. But the party is interrupted by the police. Ben, a young student who doesn`t know his own history, is accused of a crime he didn`t commit. And Officer Buthelezi, a former freedom fighter, can`t let it go. “I don`t need your sorries white boy. Yes, you heard right. You know white people think we’re the same? We both look black. But only one of us is black.”

The Kingmakers follows a group of opposition-party strategists as they attempt to place a neutral party member in contention for leadership. After an internal power struggle leaves them out in the cold, they come up with a plan to shape a seemingly ambition-less, but well-respected politician into a leader. With the help of a rising corporation seeking political clout and possible government contracts, the stage is set for a merciless power grab.

On the 11th February 1966 District Six was declared a white group area. Over 60,000 people were relocated. A way of life was destroyed. Fifty years have passed and hardly anything remains of what was once a thriving, densely populated, multi-ethnic and multi-cultural community. David Kramer celebrates the vibrant musical culture that was to be found in the streets, halls, hotels, clubs and bioscopes of 1960’s District Six.

The night after their grandfather’s funeral, three cousins engage in a verbal battle royale over a treasured piece of jewellery that he succeeded in hiding from the Nazis during the Holocaust. In one corner is the unstoppable and self-assured force of “Super Jew” Daphna. In the other, the immovable and entitled object of her secular cousin Liam. And in the middle is Liam’s brother Jonah, trying to stay out of the fray.

The tale is set in the Upper West Side neighbourhood in New York City in the mid-1950s. The musical explores the rivalry between the Jets and the Sharks, two street gangs of different backgrounds. Tony, a former member of the Jets, falls in love with Maria, the sister of Bernardo, the leader of the Sharks. The iconic music and the focus on social conflict marked a turning point in American musical theatre.

The Pervert Laura is an uncomfortable journey into the dark heart of one woman’s past and what awaits her in the darkness will reveal itself to be more monstrous than she ever thought. What starts off as a study of a woman disassembling her life soon becomes a horrific odyssey through the landscape of the past and the demons that await her there.

Set in the heart of Berlin, pre-World War II, at steamy nightlife venue the Kit Kat Klub, where cabaret performer Sally Bowles, the club’s emcee and others encourage patrons to come forget about their troubles by tantalising their senses. However, the political climate is changing and the future looks bleak for Germany and, of course, its nightlife scene too. What ensues is a tale about following your heart even amidst chaos.

Orpheus McAdoo, the free-born son of a slave and school teacher turned performer and singer, toured the world with his very own musical performance group called The McAdoo Virginia Jubilee Singers. The band descends on the Cape Colony in the 1890s and brings their unique style of musical performance and minstrel showmanship to South African audiences. This musical follows the trials and triumphs of the group as they navigate a tumultuous racially prejudiced society.

In The Shadow of The Hummingbird, Athol Fugard takes on the role of Oupa, a retired South African teacher living in self-imposed exile in Southern California, and is joined his grandson, Boba. During the course of one afternoon spent together, Oupa and Boba leap across a generational divide to teach and be taught, and to be reminded that the transient beauty of the world is seen too briefly through unassuming eyes.

Blood Brothers is the story of two brothers separated at birth, brought together again through a chance meeting. However, their familial relationship is concealed by their guardians who strive to keep them apart. Despite relocating, their lives continue to intertwine, although the divisions between the privileged life of Edward and Mickey’s poverty-stricken existence are apparent. As they try to conquer the social divisions which hinder their friendship, they must deal with the harsh realities of class consciousness.

Eugene de Kock was a paid white political assassin nick-named “Prime Evil” for his crimes against anti-apartheid activists. While serving his two life sentences, black psychologist Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela went to interview him hoping to seek humanity and forgiveness within the government-sanctioned monster. The thought-provoking interogation moves from clinical to intimate in a cell where fear and compassion coexist.

It is Old Years Eve in 1990 when Gideon le Roux, an ex-national serviceman who is slightly inebriated, meets Martinus Zoeloe at a fairground in the country. Martinus is the security guard at the fair, and an ex-Swapo fighter. His dark secrets were securely locked away, or at least this is what he thought.

The cult hit musical Rocky Horror Show tells the story of a newly engaged couple getting caught in a storm and coming to the home of a mad transvestite scientist, Dr Frank-N-Furter, unveiling his new creation, a sort of Frankenstein-style monster in the form of an artificially made, fully grown, physically perfect muscle man named Rocky, complete “with blond hair and a tan”.

Three actors, scraping the bottom of the barrel while working as children entertainers in a mall, find themselves struggling to hold on to their jobs and what little dignity they have left when they encounter a child hell-bent on making their day worse than it already is. They enter into a battle and set in motion a series of events that will not necessarily change their lives, but perhaps make the day a little more interesting.

Set in a tea room in Port Elizabeth on a dreary, wet afternoon in 1950, “Master Harold”…and the Boys is a poignant coming of age story and exploration of a friendship between a young white boy (Hally), and the two adult black men he has grown up around (Sam and Willy), against the backdrop of the oppressive, divisive apartheid laws of the time.

Die Laaste Karretjiegraf is a story about the Karretjie People. Sarah returns to the Karoo to visit the Geduld family whom she studied in her post- graduate field work. Here she finds them in dire circumstances, living in “Tamatie Straat. Despite her pleading and rationalising with Koot, Sarah cannot convince him or his family to even attempt to better their lot. The chasms between her world and theirs cannot be breached.

This tender story revolves around the gradual disintegration of a marriage through misunderstanding, neglect and disappointment, the reminiscences and regrets of a widower farmer Robert Hannay and the sadness of a secret deep in the heart of his loyal farm worker, companion, Rita. The piece examines very finely the pain of missed opportunity and emotional misinterpretation, touching us all where we are most vulnerable. It is Fugard at his most honest, gentle and introspective.

Set in late-1950s, Kat Diamond believes he’s the best singer and dancer in District Six. With his friends Ballie, Magoo, Bingo, and Lucy, he forms the a cappella group the Cavalla Kings, and the quintet – emulating the American doo wop and rock and roll they adore – becomes a sensation, graduating from street corners to “whites only” nightclubs and a recording contract.

Statements After An Arrest Under The Immorality Act centres around two lovers, a coloured man and a white woman, who meet in the library where she works. Sitting naked in the dark, their love is threatened not only by the fear of being discovered but also by the tensions between them. Everything falls apart when a neighbour reports them to the police, and they are arrested under the universally pilloried Immorality Act.

Stella and Rosa seem to have nothing in common, apart from living in the same block of flats in Sea Point and their loneliness. A burglary at Stella’s dank room brings down Rosa who attempts to help and take care of Stella, beginning the life changing relationship of two people who have both been isolated. Piecing together a series of snapshot moments that glimpse into their personal lives, they create a humorous and enriching tale of survival.

Caryl Churchill’s A Number is a play that explores the issue of human cloning through the relationships between a father and his three sons. A tight two-hander taking place in a not-too-far off future, Churchill’s play is a philosophical investigation into free will and the question of nature versus nurture.

Garth and Lenny are sitting under a umGwenya tree. Somewhere in the banter, it transpires that a third friend Rosalyn wants to bring about a dramatic change in Garth’s life, thereby challenging the ties that have kept this friendship triangle bound for so long. Jump forward in time, the tree now a pitiful stump, a older Garth greets the audience and he is in search of the word that will best describe the unique journey upon which his life has taken him

Set in Brooklyn in 1938, Sylvia Gellburg is afflicted by a mysterious paralysis of the legs. It is unclear if her illness is the consequence of her identification with the Jews currently being persecuted by Nazi thugs in Hitler’s Germany, Or if it to do with the withdrawal of physical affection by her husband, Phillip, and his ambivalent attitude to his own Jewishness. The case is investigated by a worldly doctor who starts to fall in love with his patient.

Die Kaptein se Tier (The Captain’s Tiger) is the story of a young sailor who begins to pen his first novel onboard the SS Graigaur with the help of his muse – a picture of his mother – and his friend, the ship’s mechanic. The play is described to be one of Athol Fugard’s most personal, and is an autobiographical reflection of his attempts to come to terms with conflicting emotions over memories of his brave mother and flawed father.

Vladimir and Estragon are waiting for the arrival of Godot, who continually sends word that he will appear but who never does. They encounter Lucky and Pozzo, they discuss their miseries and their lots in life, they consider hanging themselves, and yet they wait. Vladimir and Estragon do not know why they were put on earth; they make the tenuous assumption that there must be some point to their existence, and they look to Godot for enlightenment.

The Train Driver is set in an Eastern Cape graveyard outside Motherwell. Rudolf Visagie, an emotionally disturbed train driver wandering into the graveyard of a desolate squatter camp near Port Elizabeth, is trying to find the grave of a nameless woman and child. He meets a gravedigger who buries the nameless dead.