Estate agents, property influencers and neighbourhood watch groups get the full satirical treatment in a show that is silly, strange and gleefully committed. It is the kind of comedy that leaves you almost beside yourself, with a gentle sting about the way we sell and buy the South African dream.
Two sisters, one bathtub and a birthday cake burning in the oven. Ladies of Lavare turns an absurd predicament into a warm, funny and surprisingly moving look at growing older. Part comedy, part journey through memory, it meets our fears about ageing with grace and leaves plenty of room for joy.
A comedian best known for turning domestic chaos into punchlines goes somewhere braver this time, sitting with grief and loss without ever losing the laughs. It runs quieter than his usual pace, but that restraint is exactly what makes it land. A recognisable, relieving hour for anyone whose life hasn't quite gone to plan.
A veteran teacher sits suspended, awaiting her fate, in a solo show that finds the comedy and the quiet dread lurking in modern education. It's a funny, sharply observed hour that lands hardest for anyone who's ever sat on either side of a parent-teacher meeting. Expect real laughs, a few uncomfortable ones, and a lot of recognition.
Twenty-eight solo shows in, Alan Committie remains one of the great constants of South African comedy, and his latest, AV-A-LAUGH-TA, is exactly the kind of warm, wordplay-filled evening the moment calls for. It may not reinvent the wheel, but it spins it with tremendous affection and considerable skill. Right now, that is more than enough.
What does it cost a person to be truly extraordinary? The Opera Singer explores that question with sharp wit, genuine warmth, and a fearlessness that is rare in new South African writing.
Stuart Taylor's Odd Man Out celebrates the courage it takes to exist authentically in a world that demands we fit neatly into boxes. With clever comedy, unexpected magic tricks, and genuine warmth, Taylor reminds us that the places where we feel like outsiders might actually be the most interesting parts of who we are.
In Becoming Benno, Ben Voss transforms the theatre into an immigration holding room where dreams hang in the balance and delivers a story that feels like a warm embrace even as it explores the cold realities of modern migration.
Micaela Jade Tucker's 'A Doll's Life' brilliantly transforms the chaos of quarter-life crisis into an hour of raw, hilarious, and surprisingly profound theatre.
My review of Alan Committie’s rip-roaring show: ‘Comedy Gold’.
