GONE CAMPING Plays Alexander Upstairs from 14 - 19 September

Jason Potgieter's new play, a light comedy going by the moniker GONE CAMPING, will play the Alexander Bar and Café's Upstairs Theatre this September. The 65-minute piece will be performed by Potgieter himself.

GONE CAMPING is set in the 90s. The new South Africa is a toddler playing in the global sand pit with bucket and spade, building castles, making mud pies and learning to share her toys, while her now liberated people run through sprinkler-rainbows looking for pots of shiny gold. Ideas of change and social rebirth fly through the nation like a flock of drunk ducks looking for a decent Martini and while some would-be-pillow-stuffers run for their guns with one eye on the sky, others chuck breadcrumbs out on the lawn and keep the dog inside. Somewhere up the West Coast, on a camp site formerly known as Volmaansig, three white okes, a ghost called Polla and a Staffie with a bone to pick get chatty around the campfire. They remember, they theorise, they consider and they criticise, - but most of the time they just like to laugh and tell stories, because roasting marshies and having someone to talk to is a good way to pass the time and fend off "the worry".

A fireside storybook, GONE CAMPING is a new theatrical work and is based on events experienced by playwright and performer Potgieter in Cape Town, South Africa, between 1990 and 1996. Similar in style to his previous work, THE THINGS YOU LEFT BEHIND, Potgieter has crafted five humorous monologues borne from his love of people-watching and performs characters from different social backgrounds, age-groups and even species, all brought together by a place where the struggles and worries of everyday life are discarded in favour of flimsy tents, mosquito repellent, midnight skinny dipping and the great outdoors.

Potgieter calls his new piece "a splurge of ideas and reactions to growing up in the 90s, seeing the world change from ordinary people's perspectives." He continues, "It's very character driven - I find the voice and the embodiment of the character and just let them speak about what's on their minds."

Presented under the banner of the Instant Arts Collective, GONE CAMPING runs from 14 - 19 September at the Alexander Upstairs Theatre at 7pm nightly. Tickets range from R70 - R90 and can be booked online at the Alexander Bar website or purchased in person at the bar at any time during its regular opening hours. Under 18s must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian. Alexander Bar & Café is situated at 76 Strand Street in the Cape Town city centre and can be followed onFacebook and Twitter.

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