Event information
This double-bill by multiple-award-winning playwright Mike van Graan brings together two contrasting solo works staged in the function room of a central Cape Town hotel.
Van Graan is one of South Africa's leading contemporary playwrights, with over 41 plays to his name. He is the 2018 recipient of the Hiroshima Prize for Peace and Culture and holds an honorary doctorate from the University of Pretoria. His play When Swallows Cry won three Naledi Theatre Awards in 2017.
The first piece, Helen of Troyeville, is a poetic drama receiving its first Cape Town season after premiering at the National Arts Festival in 2018. Performed by television actress Zolie Markey, best known for her role in the kykNET telenovela Arendsvlei, the work centres on Helen Jennings, a former Black Sash member in her seventies who becomes the victim of an opportunistic crime while attempting an act of goodwill. The script examines the intersections of privilege, power and poverty in post-apartheid South Africa.
The second piece, Pet-Friendly, is a stand-up commentary work performed by Ugandan-born actor Marty Kintu, a UCT-trained performer with credits including The Life and Times of Michael K directed by Lara Foot. Using pet ownership as a lens, the piece extends into broader local and global social commentary. Each work runs 55 to 60 minutes, with a 20-minute interval between them.
No under-13s admitted.