ALL MY EX-LOVERS ARE DEAD Comes to Masambe Theatre

‘all my ex-lovers are dead’ will open at Masambe Theatre on Tuesday the 10th of December with a short run ending on Saturday the 14th of February. Created by award-winning writer-director Dara Beth and performed by the powerhouse of South African theatre that is Qondiswa James, ‘all my ex-lovers are dead’ is an all-too-honest mostly-autobiographical reflection on love, desire, poor life choices, and how many cups of tea it takes to wake up and smell the coffee.

Witty and honest, ‘all my ex-lovers are dead’ is a fresh exploration of love and relationships. Meet the hopeful and wide-eyed Echo: Echo hasn’t had the best run, romantically speaking. Though, honestly, who has? But that won’t stop Echo from telling us about E.E. Cummings, and how not to confess your undying love via voice note. Stay up until the sun rises as Echo weaves tales of vulnerability, longing, and what we do with the love we have left over when the lovers are gone.

With soundscapes designed by internationally acclaimed Denise Onen and videography by Corné van Rensburg, the production melds storytelling with sound and projections to toy with the bittersweet taste of memory, tease out the tangible ways we hold onto the feelings of others, and tinker with the sensations that bring their breath rushing back to our necks.

A selected text for Artscape’s New Voices Programme (2021) and STAND Foundation’s Pen To Paper Programme in association with NATi and Vrystaat Kunstefees (2022) where it was awarded a fully-funded run at Toyota SU Woordfees 2023, “all my ex-lovers are dead” was most recently staged at the National Arts Festival’s as part of the Curated Programme and at the inaugural Heat Festival earlier this year.

This story has been a long time coming–written slowly, over six years, pieced together from scrap paper prose scribbled at the edges of receipts, woven together with unfinished voice memos saved on and downloaded from multiple phones, and laced with more internal monologues than any single person should allow themselves to indulge in.