Soul-stirring PICTURE INCOMPLETE Will Have POPArt Audiences Laughing Out Loud this April

If life is a cabaret, old chum, what is your show tune? The soul-stirring, foot-stomping, laugh-out-loud PICTURE INCOMPLETE will help audiences find out when it returns to Johannesburg's POPArt Theatre in Maboneng this April. Directed by David Fick, this new production of Trent Armand Kendall and Michael Polese's award-winning solo musical sees Schoeman Smit take on several roles and tackle a moving and challenging contemporary musical theatre score.

Through storytelling and song, PICTURE INCOMPLETE sketches out the portrait of a man's life as he celebrates a rather unusual birthday on which an eviction notice arrives advising him to vacate his apartment. As he clears out his stuff, memories from his past, outrageously nosy neighbours and some poignant chance encounters on the street help him to discover who he truly is. Both hilarious and poignant, this solo theatre piece delves into the human obsession with being perfect and unpacks the boxes we use to define ourselves.

Created by Trent Armand Kendall (book) and Michael Polese (music and lyrics), PICTURE INCOMPLETE debuted in the United States in 2008, going on to play the New York International Fringe Festival in 2010 to great acclaim and winning the Best Musical award at the United Solo Festival the following year. South African musical theatre performer Schoeman Smit (THE BOYS ARE BACK IN TOWN, SWEENEY TODD) produced the South African premiere of PICTURE INCOMPLETE at the POPArt Theatre in Johannesburg in 2014, giving the show its Cape Town premiere last year in a newly conceived production directed by David Fick (YOU BET YOUR LIFE!, SEASONS OF LOVE).

Don't miss this return season of the show that New York's Next Magazine called funky, fierce and fabulous. Performed in English, with some Afrikaans and a little isiXhosa, PICTURE INCOMPLETE runs at POPArt from 20 - 23 April. Bookings are through the POPArt website ( and tickets cost R80 if booked and prepaid online, while tickets will also be available at the door for R100. POPArt is situated at 286 Fox Street in Johannesburg's Maboneng Precinct.

2026 Theater Fans' Choice Awards - Live Stats

Best Ensemble - Top 3

1. The Lost Boys

21% of votes

2. Schmigadoon!

13% of votes

3. Ragtime

11.2% of votes

Vote Now! View Live Stats