Our South Africa Critics
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BWW Review: Rainbow Tour of EVITA at Artscape a Qualified Yes, with a Magnificent Eva in Emma Kingston
It is an incredibly fascinating experience watching EVITA in South Africa at this time, particularly given the events that have transpired in Zimbabwe over the last month. This musical will speak to the world for as long as the struggle against colonialism and its legacy of inequality continues....
BWW Review: Wildly Entertaining KIDCASINO is All Kinds of Fabulous at the Alexander Upstairs
As hilarious as it is unsettling, KIDCASINO is a candid exploration of some of the ideas that have taken hold in contemporary popular culture. Perhaps the reality of what it means to take gamble will come as no surprise to you. No matter, you will still be tickled pink by this show. You can bet on i...
BWW Review: Resourceful Prinsloo Brings Life to Naskrif's Poetic MOEDERTAAL at The Fugard Studio
MOEDERTAAL is the latest in a welcome series of Afrikaans theatre productions in The Fugard Theatre's annual line-up, with Naskrif Produksies presenting this poetic meditation on life, love and loss at the popular venue in the Mother City through the beginning of December....
BWW Review: Theatrerocket's DIE REUK VAN APPELS is Unforgettable, First Rate South African Theatre at The Fugard Studio
In many ways, it comes as something of a surprise that DIE REUK VAN APPELS has not made its way to the stage until now. Theatrerocket's presentation of DIE REUK VAN APPELS is top class South African theatre, not only a reminder of our painful collective past but also a recognition of our current col...
BWW Review: Polished SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE at The Fugard Theatre An Artful Posture of The Film That Inspired It
'I - will have poetry in my life. And adventure. And love. Love above all,' says Viola de Lesseps, the woman who is destined in SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE to win the titular Bard's heart. 'Not the artful postures of love,' she continues, 'but love that overthrows life.' In this most memorable of quotations...
BWW Review: Extraordinary Talent Onstage in THE MANY VOICES OF CHRISTINA BIANCO at Gate69
An extraordinary talent is currently onstage at Gate69, Cape Town's 'Purple Palace', which continues to deliver on its aim of being a complete sensory experience and South Africa's premiere cabaret theatre. This time, Cathy and her Trolley Dollies present the phenomenal Christina Bianco....
BWW Review: Stuart Lightbody Himself is the Most Magical of His UNIQUE WONDERS
Stuart Lightbody's UNIQUE WONDERS closes today after a dream season at the Alexander Bar, Theatre and Cafe. The popular Capetonian sleight of hand artist and psychological illusionist's newest show has been a sold-out smash success, with bookings filling up far in advance of the nightly performances...
BWW Review: Revival of KING KONG at The Fugard Theatre as Complex as it is Thrilling
Watching KING KONG, the Fugard Theatre's latest musical theatre production, is as complex an experience as it is a thrilling one. The first revival of a legendary South African jazz opera, as it was called when first performed in 1959, KING KONG is at once a historical document, a contemporary reima...
BWW Review: Remarkable Richards Lands Skilful Comedy in STATE FRACTURE at the Baxter - But Is It Satire?
South Africa, says the note in the programme of STATE FRACTURE, is 'a country that keeps on giving as far as satirical material is concerned.' What a pity, then, that the humour in STATE FRACTURE never transcends the comic to become satire....
BWW Review: IN WHOREFISH BLOOMERS Has the Potential to Be the Battle Cry it Sets Out to Be
Imagine a late-night German television programme like MANN, SIEBER! filtered through the pop culture aesthetic of an American variety show like SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE, and you might know what to expect from IN WHOREFISH BLOOMERS: THE WAITRESSES' LAMENT, which is more a 'kabarett' than what South Africa...
BWW Review: Derivative Meme-style Show THINGPHONY Needs a Directorial Hand
THINGPHONY takes as its theme the philosophical question of whether order is intrinsic in the universe, or whether it is human beings that give order to the phenomena they experience. Performer Philip Southey discusses a wide array of topics in the show, including colour, physics, music and sex....
BWW Review: Aimée Goldsmith the Heart of Passionate War Drama CHEERS TO SARAJEVO
For as long as prejudice exists in the world, people will tell stories of star-crossed lovers. The plot of CHEERS TO SARAJEVO places a Serbian Romeo opposite a Bosnian Juliet, but this iteration of the archetypal story makes them live through the conflict in which they find themselves....
BWW Review: Thunder Rumbles in Paul Slabolepszy's SUDDENLY THE STORM at the Baxter Theatre
The Market Theatre production of Paul Slabolepszy's SUDDENLY THE STORM is currently in the middle of its Cape Town season at the Baxter Theatre. Having opened just two days after the Naledi Theatre Awards presented the play and its production with three awards, SUDDENLY THE STORM arrived in Cape Tow...
BWW Review: Viljoen Places Observers and the Media In Camera in Philosophical THE EULOGISTS at The Fugard
People often forget is that hubris walks hand-in-hand with nemesis, and Louis Viljoen shines a spotlight on this particularly damning walk of shame in his latest play, THE EULOGISTS, which features a top-notch performance by Emily Child....
BWW Review: CATHY AND THE TROLLEY DOLLIES a Blast for Both Frequent Flyers and First-Timers at Gate69
There is something indescribable about returning to Gate69, the glitzy dinner theatre venue that opened less than a year ago in central Cape Town. It is that ineffable feeling of coming home, of belonging. CATHY AND THE TROLLEY DOLLIES, one of the venue's current offerings, is a blast for everyone -...
BWW Review: Beautifully profound, HEMELRUIM is a Soul-stirring Journey through the Heavens and Humanity
HEMELRUIM is a deeply personal and moving piece of theatre. The Afrikaans translation of Nick Payne's CONSTELLATIONS, created through the theatrical mastery of Nico Scheepers, is performed by Tinarie van Wyk Loots and Paul du Toit....
BWW Review: The Fugard's FUNNY GIRL - with Ashleigh Harvey as a Powerhouse Fanny Brice - a Valentine to Gentler and Jollier Times
The Fugard's first new musical production of 2017 puts FUNNY GIRL on South African stages, and the results are delightful - with a powerhouse performance from Ashleigh Harvey as Fanny Brice, the stage, radio and film personality around whom everyone and everything in the show revolves....
BWW Review: Steyn, Hopkins and Rebelo Riveting in Howard Barker's Fascinating SCENES FROM AN EXECUTION
Although it is about the process of creating art, SCENES FROM AN EXECUTION will appeal to audiences wider that those with direct links to the arts. We all love a good intrigue, and we all love a good behind-the-scenes expose....
BWW Review: Lebogang Mogashoa's THE REAL DIRT Filled with Humanity and Compassion
There is an almost overwhelming sense of humanity in Lebogang Mogashoa's THE REAL DIRT, which is currently enjoying a week-long season at the Alexander Bar's cosy Upstairs Theatre. David Fick reviews the show, which he says is proof that theatre can heal what many other things cannot....
BWW Review: This RENT is Spent, and Passion is Not Enough to Pay the Piper at the Artscape Arena
David Fick reviews The Stephan Fourie Theatre Company production of RENT at the Artscape Arena, a production filled with passion - but which leaves a great deal to be desired. SPOILER ALERT: There is a spoiler about the plot of RENT in the first paragraph of this review....
BWW Review: Pinteresque THE MOTHER an Utterly Arresting Ordeal on The Fugard Studio Stage
Following the South African premiere of Florian Zeller's THE FATHER last year, the same playwright's companion piece, THE MOTHER, made its bow last week at The Fugard Studio. David Fick reviews....
BWW Review: Return Season of BAD JEWS at The Fugard a Timely Warning of the Dangers of a Post-Truth Society
This return season of BAD JEWS comes hot on the heels of the announcement of "post-truth" as Oxford's word of the year, giving audiences a moment to pause and reflect on the way we handle our lives in a post-truth society and us to consider what we destroy in our quest to be right....
BWW Review: OH BABY, I'M A WILD ONE Offers a Deeply Cynical View of Contemporary Morality at the Alexander Upstairs
Louis Viljoen's OH BABY, I'M A WILD ONE is a character study of a first-year teacher trying to sift through the psychological debris that a confluence of key events has bulldozed into her life. It is theatre that offers some food for thought about how society constructs morality and how individuals ...
BWW Review: HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH a Perfect Opener for Mother City's Stylish Gate69
HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH at Gate69 not only celebrates its queerness but also reminds us that we have our own Hedwigs to celebrate and our own Berlin Walls to conquer. It is the perfect choice to open this stylish new venue in the Mother City....
BWW Review: THE FINKELSTEINS ARE COMING FOR DINNER – and There is Sweet Love and Comic Domesticity on the Menu
Richard Kaplan's debut as a produced playwright with THE FINKELSTEINS ARE COMING FOR DINNER offers an evening of solid entertainment. For its pivotal love scene alone, it is worth going to see what is being cooked up for the Finkelsteins' visit....
Videos
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MAMMA MIA! Artscape Opera House (9/03-10/11) |
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PRETTY WOMAN: The Musical Teatro at Montecasino (4/24-5/31) |
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MAMMA MIA! The Musical! Artscape Opera House (9/03-10/11) |
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MAMMA MIA! Artscape Theatre (9/03-10/11) |
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MAMMA MIA! The Musical! Teatro at Montecasino (10/16-11/22) |
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MAMMA MIA! Teatro at Montecasino (10/16-11/22) |
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MAMMA MIA! The Musical! Artscape Theatre (9/03-10/11) |
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Enrico Brignano - Bello di Mamma 2026 Piazza del Duomo di Pistoia (7/06-7/06) |
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Broadway to Blockbuster City Hall (6/12-6/13) |
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Enrico Brignano - Bello di Mamma 2026 Mapo Club (9/01-9/01) |
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