UPCOMING SHOWS : BROWSE & BOOK

“...for the first time in my life... I had to contend with a feeling which gradually assumed, to my dismay, the dread name of love…”

First Love is a short story by Samuel Beckett, In it a man, who now spends his time ‘taking the air’ in graveyards, recounts an episode in his life, when having been expelled from his family home upon the death of his father, he met a woman, one evening, on a bench. From this meeting, his developing and tormenting infatuation leads him to moving into her home, where their unexpected union results in dire consequences.

The monologue brims with Beckett’s distinct black humor and balances spite, humanity and pathos. Regarded as one of the best short stories ever written, First Love is a perfect blend of tragedy and comedy. As Beckett said “Nothing is funnier than unhappiness”. A love story, like only Beckett could conceive

Image by:Egon Schiele

Join us for an evening of Silly and Frivolous fun with the Causing a Scene improv crew. 

Be entertained and awed as the players make up a series of songs and scenes before your very eyes! 
Players include Tshepang Khunou, Jess Taylor, Martin Grendele, Hayleigh Evans, Ncumisa Ndimeni and Nidaa Hussain with the inimitable Tony Bentel on keys... 

It's time for another official 30 DAY VUKA ACTOR CHALLENGE!

In the official challenge, POPArt - together with our awesome facilitation partners - provide a specialised 30 DAY programme to kick start your Vuka Actor Best Life. 

This January, we are theming facilitations around reconnecting with your best actor self! Let's start the year by re-centring together. 

HOW DOES THIS WORK??? 
Every day for 30 days, you will receive a Vuka Actor Exercise, instruction or class via a daily email. These may be acting or vocal exercises, fitness classes or an instruction (that you can keep forever), and at least twice a week, there will be a live class taking place at POPArt or one of our partner spaces. 

Facilitators include :  Zikka Zimba, Awande Dube, Dintshitile Masile, Qondiswa James, Ncumisa Ndimeni and more... 
Vuka Actors also get access benefits and discounts to shows, events, classes throughout the month of January!

Once you sign up for the programme, we will send you the full overview of the 30 days for you will receive the full programme overview so you can plan your month. 

It is essential to book in order to sign up and receive your Vuka Actor Comms. 
Sign ups for the programme are allowed until 7 January (DAY 7 of the programme)`
Drop ins allowed at R 120 per class. FULL programme costs R 300. 

PS - we are going National with our friends at the Theatre Arts Admin Collective - so tell your Cape Town friends to WAKE UP!

"It’s all fun and games until we have to lean in and face the ugly truth" - Sarah Roberson, the Critter

“Sometimes I have to lean in...” is an interdisciplinary collaboration between choreographer-performer Alan Parker and director-performer Gerard Bester. It was originally commissioned by the Dance Umbrella in 2018, specifically for the 30th anniversary of the festival, and has since been restaged for the Live Art Festival in Cape Town and, most recently, for the 2024 National Arts Festival in Makhanda, for their 50th anniversary. 

The work is a sometimes playful, sometimes dark, consideration of the act of leaning. On one level, the performance is a leaning in of two ageing performers, who lean in closer in order to better see and understand each other. On another level, thisact of leaning is explored as a metaphor for looking back to where you have come from in order to understand where you are now.

It strikes a delicate balance between humour and light-hearted reminiscing, alongside more poignant interrogations of what the passing of time means for us, as humans in the world, as we influence, support, encourage, knock down and ultimately transform each other. “Sometimes I have to lean in…” has been described by critics as “a sheer gem of a work” (Robyn Sassen, My View), “a moment of triumph” (Mike Loewe, Daily Dispatch), and “highly recommended” (Sarah Roberson, The Critter).

Production Credits
Choreographer & Performer: Alan Parker
Director & Performer: Gerard Bester
Dramaturg: Gavin Krastin
Text ("Wallflower"): Gwydion Beynon

Age restriction: 14+ Strong language