Festive Season in Full Swing at the Baxter Theatre

The festive season is in full swing at the Baxter Theatre Centre, ready to bring a smile and laughter to local and visiting audiences, with three comedy productions by some of the Mother City's top funny men dominating the summer line-up during December and January, as well as a brand-new children's show and a New Year's Eve party to herald in 2015.

Spoilt for choice with comedy, there's JOE BARBER VI - LIFE, THIS IS CAPTAIN LOTTERING SPEAKING and Rob van Vuuren's WHATWHAT. The festive fun will culminate in the highly popular New Year's Eve party which takes place after the performances on 31 December, when audiences will converge on the Baxter's foyers to sing, dance and party in the New Year with their favourite stars. All the shows will start later on the night and ticket prices will be varied to include the show, a complimentary glass of bubbly or orange juice, a spectacular balloon drop and a live band called Kinky Afro.

Following their sold-out national tour to Port Elizabeth, East London and Johannesburg, the inimitable Joe Barber boys are back by popular demand, with JOE BARBER VI - LIFE, celebrating the show's 15th birthday at the Baxter Theatre until 10 January at 8pm nightly. Starring Oscar Petersen and David Isaacs, directed by Heinrich Reisenhofer, it is also widely regarded as one of the city's most successful and longest-running local comedy shows. Since its inaugural season in 1999, Joe Barber has become a Cape Town institution, delighting local audiences with its charming and hilarious brand of Cape Flats characters and humour. As usual, all the gossip and complaints end up in the barbershop for Boeta Joe to deal with.

"We would like to invite audiences to be part of our 15th birthday celebrations and share their memories with us. We have made some exciting changes and updates to the show and we really want to use this season as our way of thanking audiences for their loyalty and support over the years," explains director Reisenhofer.

Tickets for JOE BARBER VI - LIFE cost R95 Tuesdays to Thursdays and R130 on Fridays and Saturdays, and performances are at 8pm nightly with an age restriction of 13 years. Tickets for New Year's Eve are R180 and the show starts at 9.15pm.

Marc Lottering's THIS IS CAPTAIN LOTTERING SPEAKING is in full flight in the Baxter Concert Hall at 8.15pm until 10 January, fresh from his runs in Johannesburg and the Soho Theatre in London before that. Aside from his sharp and side-splitting stand-up comedy, the show will also feature the hugely popular characters that have made him a household name in South Africa - from Aunty Merle Abrahams and Galatia Geduldt to Pastor Brandon, Colleen the cashier and Smiley, the taxi 'gaarjtie'. Lottering is one of South Africa's top award-winning comedians who has been in the funny business for 16 years and continues to play to packed houses wherever he performs. Tickets for THIS IS CAPTAIN LOTTERING SPEAKING, which is not suitable for children under 16 years, range from R85 - R120, with tickets for the New Year's Eve performance costing R180, when the show commences at 10pm. There are no performances on 16, 24, 25 and 26 December or on 1 and 2 January.

In the Baxter's Golden Arrow Studio, popular comedian and actor Rob van Vuuren brings Cape Town audiences the chance to catch his award-winning comedy WHATWHAT from 1 December until 10 January on Mondays to Saturdays at 8.15pm. Rob has wowed theatre audiences with his hilarious role as Twakkie in THE MOST AMAZING SHOW as well as in the international tour of the acclaimed production, THE THREE LITTLE PIGS, while also performing on television (SA'S GOT TALENT, STRICTLY COME DANCING) and in films like COPPOSITES and MANDELA: LONG WALK TO FREEDOM. Winner of a 2013 Standard Bank Silver Ovation award, WHATWHAT is written and performed by van Vuuren, directed by Tara Notcutt with a score by Gary Thomas, and produced by Siv Ngesi. It is a high-energy, hilarious and epic celebration of a hidden gem in the South African lexicon as Van Vuuren manages to tie love, life, death, koala bears, adoption, firepools, gay slang, dancing and so much more into the linguistic stranglehold that is "WhatWhat". There is an age restriction of 13 years. Tickets cost R130 (Mondays to Thursdays), R150 on Fridays and Saturdays and R215 on New Year's Eve, when the show starts at 10.15pm.

Families and young children between the ages of 6-12 years are in for a treat with the brand-new play MY FOREVER FRIEND at the Baxter Flipside, with two shows daily at 10:00 and 12:00 on Mondays through Saturdays until 10 January. Based on the children's book by Jeremy Daniel, this funny, moving and interactive audience experience, which shows young people how to 'be their own best friends', is directed and adapted for the stage by Joanna Evans, starring Tarryn Wyngaard and Nieke Lombard, with design by Merryn Carver and music by Aron Turest-Swartz. Entertaining, off-beat and uplifting, MY FOREVER FRIEND uses music, story and the magic of mirrors to teach children about friendship and the power of believing in themselves, and is perfectly pitched as a fantastical adventure for the summer holidays.

Booking for all of these exciting shows is though Computicket (0861 915 8000) or at any Shoprite Checkers outlet. For discounted corporate, schools or block-bookings, charities or fundraisers, contact Sharon Ward on 021 680 3962 or Carmen Kearns on 021 680 3993.

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