One-Woman Play FILLED to Make Debut at Baxter Theatre

In a country where Gender-based Violence has been declared a National Disaster, the question is not whether we need to talk about it, but how. FILLED is an answer to that question. An extraordinary, award-winning one-woman play by one of the freshest new voices on the theatre scene, Tshiamo Moretlwe. Coming to the Baxter Studio from 17-21 November 2026, the production takes on the aftermath of private trauma becoming public - and the maddening, often absurd ways society responds.

This is not another story that asks audiences simply to witness suffering. It is an electrifying reckoning with the world right now.

Written and performed by emerging talent, Tshiamo Moretlwe, and directed by Roshina Ratnam, FILLED follows a woman attempting to make sense of a horrifying event, while navigating a gauntlet of unsolicited advice from a cast of outlandish characters.

Armed with only paper props and a single bench, Moretlwe brings the stage to life with exceptional physical theatre and shrewd wit. The show moves between biting realism and absurdity. From a Strictly Come Dancing-style soundtrack, to echoes of an ancient San story, the special thing about this show is that it manages to grapple with an uncomfortable issue in a captivating way.

FILLED critiques the societal response to GBV, inviting audiences to recognise the absurdity of the expectations placed on survivors. It exposes the cruelty of victim-blaming and the exhausting demand that survivors gracefully shoulder responsibility for what has been inflicted on them. It asks: What happens after violence? What happens if you can’t forgive? What if you want revenge?

Daily Dispatch reviewer Madeleine Chaput described FILLED as “expressive, outrageous at times, and uncomfortably comic”. Moretlwe disarms the audience with humour, moving effortlessly between characters. She uses her voice, body and physical precision to embody an entire cast of people and perspectives. The stage may be sparsely furnished. Moretlwe fills it.

At the heart of FILLED is a performer with the rare ability to command an audience’s attention while making them reconsider what they thought they knew.

A winner of the prestigious Brett Goldin Memorial Prize, Moretlwe is an actress, playwright, voice-over artist and puppeteer whose work combines physical virtuosity with a fearless curiosity about the stories society tells itself. She graduated with distinction from the University of Cape Town’s Theatre and Performance programme and completed playwriting training at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama London.Her stage credits include Janni Younge Productions’ Hamlet, performed at the Baxter Theatre and international tours to Chicago, Budapest and Venezuela. In 2024, she wrote and directed KA-BOOM!, an Ovation Award-winning youth theatre production developed through UNIMA SA’s Puppetry Incubation Programme.

With FILLED, Moretlwe has established herself as a compelling solo performer and playwright, unafraid to tackle difficult questions with refreshing honesty. The production won a Standard Bank Ovation Award at the National Arts Festival and received a Best Script nomination at KKNK 2026, building on a festival run that has earned critical attention from Makhanda to Oudtshoorn.

Netwerk24 praised Moretlwe’s “powerful and intense” presence, noting her ability to use her body to express “profound silence and pain.” This is an artist who can shift from absurd comedy to emotional devastation in a heartbeat - and hold an audience through both.

Directed by Fleur de Cap nominee, Roshina Ratnam, whose credits include Surge, Glimmer and Handspring Puppet Company’s The Life and Times of Michael K, FILLED brings together two distinctive theatrical voices in a production that is as inventive as it is urgent.

For anyone who has ever been told they are overreacting, asked to justify their pain, or made to feel responsible for someone else’s behaviour, the show offers recognition and solidarity. For audiences who want to engage more deeply with South Africa’s GBV crisis, it offers a way into a difficult conversation that is neither simplistic nor sensationalist.

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