From Nina Hastie’s razor-sharp comedy to iconic musicals — your Joburg theatre week sorted

While new shows are thin on the ground this week, this is the perfect opportunity to catch up on two critically-acclaimed musicals: "CATS" and "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat". Both are definitely worth seeing if you haven't already.

Meanwhile, fans of award-winning comedian Nina Hastie will be delighted to know that she’s returning to the stage with a new one-hander, “TANGENTS”.

It’s certainly been a minute since we got to see her doing what comes naturally: tickle the funnybone. 

A keen observer of the modern world's rapid, spiraling evolution, she offers an unsparing critique. She focuses on the challenges of keeping pace, which has essentially become a relentless marathon.

"I wanted to make people laugh hard, feel seen, and leave thinking, 'Oh good, it's not just me’," Hastie explained.

As such, her material explores ADHD detours, romantic misadventures, identity crises, family drama, bad decisions, worse decisions, and all the delightful nonsense of living in South Africa. 

One moment she is dissecting anxiety, the next she is oversharing about romance, and somehow it all ties together. Or it does not. That is the point. 

Hastie's comedy is a delightful journey through the nonsensical realities of living in South Africa, tackling everything from ADHD detours and romantic misadventures to family drama and identity crises, all fueled by bad and worse decisions.

Her set fluidly moves from dissecting anxiety to oversharing about romance, and though it might not always connect in a conventional way, that's precisely the charm.

Expect razor-sharp punchlines, genuinely unexpected emotional honesty, and Nina's unique talent for making audiences feel understood while they're doubled over with laughter. It's storytelling that follows no straight line - a blend of comedy with heart and humour with depth.

Where: Theatre on the Square. 

When: February 16 to 17, 7.30pm.

Marabi

For a performance rich in cultural and historical depth, consider seeing "Marabi”.

Set in Doornfontein during the 1930s, this musical theatre production, it explores themes of love, legacy and the enduring power of music against a backdrop of sweeping change.

The story follows Mabongo as he grapples with ancestral duty, poverty, and the rising tide of modernity. Family turmoil ignites when his daughter, Martha, defies tradition by falling for Ginger George, a Marabi piano player. 

As war looms with false promises and recorded music threatens the survival of live performance, “Marabi” asks a compelling question: "When the ancestors call, who dares to sing a different song?" The rhythms of life, it suggests, refuse to be silenced.

Prepare for a theatrical experience that fosters social cohesion and preserves history and culture. 

Where: John Kani, Market Theatre.

When: Runs until February 15, 7pm. Weekend times differ.

Nobody Told Me

Luc Albinski's play serves as a moving tribute to his mother, honouring her efforts to save lives within the Warsaw Ghetto during World War II.

Directed by Ilina Perianova, it stars Aimee Mika Komorowsky, Damon Berry, Liezl de Kock, Andile Mgeyi, Ngwedi Ramphele, Khuthadzo Ndou, Dihan Keun, Jade Scheepers, Mamodibe Ramodibe and Andre Lotter.

“This is not a play… it is a hymn for those who healed others while bleeding unseen; a love song to the stubborn souls who chose duty over self. ‘Nobody Told Me’ is a requiem of laughter and gunpowder, where devotion and delirium dance beneath the shadow of barbed wire. 

This is a show that poignant theatregoers will thoroughly enjoy.

Where: Theatre on the Square.  

When: Runs until February 7, 7.30pm.