The arts and film
You’ll find a satisfying and easily accessible range of dramatic and musical performances on offer in Cape Town, while the visual arts and design are thriving across the city. Theatres normally have seats available and tickets are a bargain compared to the prices you’d pay in London or New York. You are likely to find something appealing at the two major arts venues, the Baxter and Artscape, be it a play, a classical concert, some opera, contemporary dance or a sample of the burgeoning comedy scene, while the Fugard Theatre is also worth investigating. The city is known for its Cape jazz, developed by local musicians including Dollar Brand (now known as Abdullah Ibrahim), and you can catch jazz in venues and on tours. The best jazz event of the year is the Cape Town International Jazz Festival in late March or early April.
essentials
Listings Social media, websites of venues and ticket retailers, posters tied to street lights and the daily Cape Times and Argus, which carry listings and reviews, are good for discovering what’s on. Listings magazine 021 (
021magazine.co.za), on sale at Vida e Caffè cafés and bookshops, has a comprehensive selection of cultural listings. Cape Town Magazine (capetownmagazine.co.za) is another good source of local knowledge.
Tickets Tickets for most of the venues and performances listed in this chapter are available from Computicket (
0861 915 8000, computicket.com) or Webtickets (086 111 0005, webtickets.co.za). Most ticket prices are very reasonable at R100–200.
Theatre and musicals
Cape Town’s premier physical theatre company, Magnet (magnettheatre.co.za), produces consistently excellent, politically conscious, non-didactic physical theatre. Some productions collaborate with contemporary dance and theatre company Jazzart (jazzart.co.za), which attracts the finest black dancers in town, who have forged a fusion of Western and African dance in their work.
Alexander Bar, Café & Theatre 76 Strand St 021 300 1088, alexanderbar.co.za; map. An intimate 45-seat space which hosts music, comedy, play readings and theatre, many of which are written and performed by local playwrights, actors and artists, giving a real taste of the South African arts scene. From R40.
Artscape D.F. Malan St, Foreshore 021 410 9838, artscape.co.za; map. Cape Town’s most central and largest arts venue, where major productions are staged. Catch contemporary dance, ballet, opera, orchestral music, comedy and musicals, with some adventurous new dramas appearing periodically. Don’t be intimidated by the brutalist 1970s architecture; this is one of the city’s liveliest venues.
Baxter Theatre Centre Main Rd, Rondebosch 021 685 7880, baxter.co.za. This mammoth brick theatre complex is the cultural heart of Cape Town, and its doors remained open to everyone throughout apartheid. Mounting an eclectic programme of innovative plays, comedy festivals, jazz and classical concerts and kids’ theatre, it’s the first place to check out what’s on in Cape Town.
Fugard Theatre Caledon St, East City 021 461 4554, thefugard.com. Named after South Africa’s greatest living playwright (see box below), the Fugard runs a cross-section of interesting productions in the historic Sacks Futeran building, on the east side of central Cape Town in the old District Six. It’s entered through the stylishly renovated Congregational Church Hall, which has a particularly nice ambience for a pre- or post-show drink.
Kalk Bay Theatre 52 Main Rd, Kalk Bay 021 788 7257, kalkbaytheatre.co.za. Stages a lively programme including musicals, comedy, theatre and tribute bands in a converted church, and its restaurant offers dinner-and-a-show deals.
Masque Theatre 37 Main Rd, Muizenberg 021 788 1898, masquetheatre.co.za. Small community theatre offering everything from brow-furrowing modern drama to sparky comedy. Conveniently located next to False Bay Station.
Maynardville Open-Air Theatre Piers/Wolfe St, Wynberg 021 410 9838, maynardville.co.za. Every year from late January to late February, an imaginative production of a Shakespeare play is staged by the cream of Cape Town’s actors and designers under the summer stars in Maynardville Park. Tickets R80–180. Take a picnic and something warm to put on as the evening wears on.
Moyo Cape Town’s branches are at Kirstenbosch gardens & Bloubergstrand beach 021 762 9585, moyo.co.za. These African-themed restaurants offer a theatrical albeit commercial experience, with hand-washing and face-painting ceremonies, colourful costumes, song and dance to accompany your meal. Check the website for details of upcoming acts.
Theatre On The Bay 1 Link St, Camps Bay 021 438 3301, pietertoerien.co.za/venues. Known for adapting headline shows from overseas to the local stage using South African actors, Theatre On The Bay puts on Liberace-esque performances of drama, musicals, comedy, cabaret, music and dance. The bistro and bar make it a pleasant venue for an evening out.
UCT Drama Department Hiddingh Campus, 31–37 Orange St 021 650 7121, drama.uct.ac.za. The University of Cape Town’s drama faculty has a few performance spaces on its campus near the Company’s Garden. The 75-seat Intimate Theatre (facebook.com/TheIntimateTheatre), the 240-seat Little Theatre (facebook.com/UCTLittleTheatre), and the smaller, more experimental Arena Theatre nurture the local student theatre scene, with productions by UCT groups and others. Check also “UCT Drama” on Facebook.
V&A Waterfront waterfront.co.za/events/overview. There’s always something going on at the Amphitheatre, from buskers to dance troupes – part of the Waterfront’s lively programme of outdoor entertainment.
Cape Town’s finest
Athol Fugard is historically the best known of South African playwrights internationally, continuing to produce a steady trickle of innovative plays. Concerned with forging a new African or fusion theatre, Fugard’s powerful and nuanced plays evolved from didactic protest theatre; his critically acclaimed, anti-apartheid work includes Boesman and Lena (1969) and “Master Harold” and the Boys (1982). Director Gavin Hood turned Fugard’s novel Tsotsi (1980) into the Oscar-winning film of the same name (2005).
More visceral is the brilliant Brett Bailey, who creates electrifying, chaotic visual and physical theatre with his company Third World Bunfight (thirdworldbunfight.co.za). The company does theatre productions, installations, house music shows and opera, mostly concerned with the post-colonial landscape of Africa. You’re as likely to catch his works in Europe as you are in Cape Town. The city’s most famous son is Cape Town-born Royal Shakespeare Company actor Sir Antony Sher, who regularly returns to the Mother City to appear in fabulous productions.
David Kramer and the late Taliep Petersen produced several hit musicals, including District Six – The Musical (1987). Kramer (davidkramer.co.za) is well known for his show Karoo Kitaar Blues (2001), presenting the unique finger picking and guitar tunings of marginalized people in the South African hinterland; pick up the soundtrack or DVD from takealot.com or the African Music Store. His recent work includes an adaptation of Willy Russell’s Liverpool-set hit Blood Brothers.
Comedy
Comedy has a well-established following, particularly among coloured Capetonians, making the mix of Afrikaans slang and cultural references educating, if potentially bewildering, for outsiders. A great place to see a few is the Baxter Theatre from late July to late August, when Jive Cape Town Funny Festival hosts local and international comedians. The genre’s star is Trevor Noah, the lovable coloured boy from Soweto who was “born a crime” under apartheid and, in 2015, succeeded Jon Stewart as host of American news satire programme The Daily Show. If you can get a seat at one of his sold-out home-coming shows, the 35-year-old remains one of South Africa’s funniest stand-ups, whose leading themes are often political and centred around his mixed-race heritage.
Another renowned stage satirist is Pieter-Dirk Uys, whose character Evita Bezuidenhout, South Africa’s answer to Dame Edna Everidge, has relentlessly roasted South African society since apartheid days. He often performs in Cape Town, though the best place to catch him is his venue in Darling, 85km north of the city (see below). New-generation comedians to look out for include Marc Lottering, a coloured Capetonian who derives his material from his own community; Nik Rabinowitz, an irreverent middle-class Jewish boy who uses his fluency in Xhosa to poke fun at cultural stereotypes; Riaad Moosa, a Muslim doctor-turned-comedian; and Loyiso Gola, anchor of the e.tv news satire show Late Nite News with Loyiso Gola.
In addition to the following, many of the venues listed under Theatre and Musicals host comedy.
Cape Town Comedy Club The Pumphouse, 6 Dock Rd, V&A Waterfront 021 418 8880, capetowncomedy.com. The city’s only major dedicated comedy venue, run by comedian Kurt Skoonraad, the former Jou Ma Se Comedy Club features up-and-coming South African comedians as well as established acts like Rob van Vuuren. If you like irreverent puppets, look out for Conrad Koch and Chester Missing. The stone-walled nineteenth-century building with a full restaurant menu available makes for a great evening out.
Evita se Perron Old Darling Station, 8 Arcadia St, Darling 022 492 2831, evita.co.za. Just over an hour’s drive north of Cape Town, the town of Darling is well worth visiting for its camply converted train station, which plays host to the satirical shows of Tannie Evita aka Pieter-Dirk Uys. It makes for a fantastic day out, and is a notable highlight of a stay in Cape Town. Since performances are dependent on Uys’s schedule, check the website for dates.
ImproGuise 072 939 3351, facebook.com/ImproGuise. Going for two decades, the city’s oldest and best-loved improvisational comedy group regularly performs its TheatreSports show (akin to Whose Line is it Anyway?) at venues including the Waterfront’s Galloway Theatre.
Obviouzly Armchair 135 Lower Main Rd, Observatory 021 460 0458, facebook.com/pg/armchaircomedy. The backpackers and pub hosts the Armchair Sundays comedy night from 8pm on Sunday.
Premium Comedy Premium Sports Bar, Westridge, Mitchells Plain 072 399 3338, facebook.com/pg/PremiumComedyAtPremiumSportsBar. It doesn’t get much more authentically local than this comedy night at a sports bar in the coloured area of Mitchells Plain on the Cape Flats. It takes place on Tuesday nights, once or twice a month.
Classical and jazz music
Classical music is thriving, albeit for small and elite audiences, and one of the best things you could see on a visit to Cape Town is an opera. As in all areas of the arts, there is a quest for fusion, which has given rise to some fascinating performances, usually with a black cast boasting some of the most superb voices in the country: a great statement about opera crossing cultural barriers and centuries. Cape Town Opera (capetownopera.co.za) and the century-old Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra (cpo.org.za) are both based at the Artscape. The latter regularly performs symphony concerts at the City Hall, while UCT Symphony Orchestra, based at the university’s South African College of Music (SACM; Woolsack Dr, UCT Lower Campus, Rondebosch 021 650 2626, music.uct.ac.za), appears at the Baxter Theatre. Free lunchtime concerts, showcasing the work of SACM students and staff, take place on Thursdays during term time in the Baxter’s Concert Hall or nearby in the college’s Chisholm Recital Room. The 40min concerts start at 1pm. You can also watch performers’ classes in either venue on Wednesdays at 2pm, as well as examination recitals.
Recitals by visiting soloists and chamber ensembles are put on by an organization called Cape Town Concert Series (ctconcerts.co.za), and there are excellent performances in churches by Cape Town’s only baroque ensemble, Camerata Tinta Barocca. Check their Facebook page (bit.ly/CamerataTintaBarocca) for upcoming concerts.
Jazz was the soundtrack to the struggle against apartheid, with dissenters listening all night in illegal clubs and stars like Miriam Makeba going into exile. Jazz-themed township tours run by the likes of Coffeebeans Routes tell this story and include performances in musicians’ homes. Try to catch a concert by a local jazz legend such as Abdullah Ibrahim or Hugh Masekela. Popular jazz venues are The Crypt Jazz Restaurant (1 Wale St; 079 683 4658, thecryptjazz.com), atmospherically located in the crypt beneath St George’s Cathedral, and The Piano Bar (cnr Napier and Jarvis sts, De Waterkant 021 418 1096, thepianobar.co.za).
On Sunday evenings from November to April, Kirstenbosch Summer Concerts are an unmissable experience, offering live music of all styles with a backdrop of Table Mountain. Bring a picnic and a bottle of Cape bubbly to enjoy during the show, and arrive a couple of hours early to get a spot of lawn with a good view.
Cinema
With its low production costs compared with the likes of L.A. and London, Cape Town is booming as a filmmaking centre, having appeared in everything from Homeland season four (doubling for Islamabad) to the Ryan Reynolds movie Safe House. On the N2 to Somerset West and the Cape Winelands, you’ll spot the pirate ship from the series Black Sails outside Cape Town Film Studios. Sadly, local feature films remain scarce, but some excellent documentaries are produced. There are several film festivals of note: Cape Town International Animation Festival (ctiaf.com) screens animations from far and wide in March; each June, South Africa’s leading film school shows short films by students at the AFDA Experimental Film Festival (afda.co.za); the Encounters South African International Documentary Festival (encounters.co.za) in June or July features riveting South African documentaries as well as award-winning international films; the Tri Continental Film Festival (tcff.org.za) in October has a strong sociopolitical emphasis on the developing world; and you can catch screenings of around thirty new South African short films and documentaries at the Cape Town & Winelands International Film Festival (films-for-africa.co.za) in November.
Open air cinemaS
Galileo Open Air Cinema 071 471 8728, thegalileo.co.za. Catch an all-time classic under the stars at locations from the Castle of Good Hope to the Cape Winelands. Sunset over the Kirstenbosch gardens or Waterfront is a pretty spectacular backdrop. Tickets cost R80–160. Nov–April.
Pink Flamingo Grand Daddy Hotel, 38 Long St 021 424 7247, granddaddy.co.za. The urban rooftop setting, complete with vintage Airstream trailers, makes this a memorable option for open-air cinema, with tickets from R125. Grab a drink from the adjoining Sky Bar. Mondays at sunset.
Labia 68 Orange St, Gardens 021 424 5927, thelabia.co.za. The retro Labia (Lah-bia) shows an intelligent mix of art-house films, mainstream features and cult classics, and is Cape Town’s only independent cinema. Tickets cost R50. Check the website for excellent movie-and-a-meal deals at local restaurants.
Ster-Kinekor Nouveau Victoria Wharf, Waterfront 086 166 8473, sterkinekor.co.za. One of two cinemas in the Victoria Wharf mall, this reliable art-house cinema shows films throughout the day (tickets R65–90).
DESIGN ON THE EDGE OF AFRICA
Winning the World Design Capital 2014 award (www.wdccapetown2014.com) confirmed Cape Town’s status at the forefront of South African contemporary design. The twelve-month stint and its legacy projects injected a new enthusiasm for design and its potential for social improvements, with highlights ranging from sustainable development projects to graphics.
To get a feel for Cape Town design, head to Woodstock, with its design-orientated shopping complexes and art galleries, and stop for a coffee at the Field Office cafés (34 Salisbury Rd and Woodstock Exchange, 66 Albert Rd fieldoffice.co.za) owned by local designers Pedersen + Lennard. Closer to the centre, check out Southern Guild (Shop 5B, Silo 5, V&A Waterfront southernguild.co.za), which showcases high-end South African design in the Waterfront’s new Silo District, also home to the Zeitz MOCAA.
Another place to check out is the East City, the area southwest of the Castle of Good Hope, roughly bordered by Darling, Roeland, Buitenkant and Canterbury streets. Between 2009 and 2013, the area was promoted as The Fringe (thefringe.org.za), a hub for creativity, entrepreneurship and innovation created by organizations including the Cape Town Partnership (capetownpartnership.co.za). Based on an “urban science park” model, the area is home to a host of design studios and institutes working to put Cape Town on the global design map.
Shops and galleries in the East City and the city centre open late until 9pm on the first Thursday of the month, during First Thursdays (first-thursdays.co.za/cape-town). Started in a bid to get people walking around at night, the free event has helped to rejuvenate areas such as Bree and Harrington streets. If you’re in Cape Town in March, keep an eye out for the ever-growing Design Indaba (designindaba.com), which hosts international and local speakers, music, film, exhibitions and more. Another design festival to look out for is Open Design (opendesignct.com), held over twelve days in mid-August.
modern and contemporary Art GALLERIES
Most of South Africa’s substantial collections of modern and contemporary art can be seen in private galleries and corporate environments. From serious commercial players dealing at the highest level, to small galleries showcasing urban pop art, Cape Town has a small but passionate community of curators, auction houses and art lovers. Both the local scene and art across the continent are attracting a greater share of the international limelight thanks to the opening of the Waterfront’s major Zeitz MOCAA). The city’s calendar of annual art events includes the Cape Town Art Fair (capetownartfair.co.za) in February.
Erdmann Contemporary and The Photographers Gallery 84 Kloof St 021 422 2762, erdmanncontemporary.co.za. Committed to promoting contemporary South African photography and fine art, with past exhibitions showing the likes of Walter Battiss. Visits by appointment.
Everard Read 3 Portswood Rd, V&A Waterfront everard-read-capetown.co.za. First opened as a bric-a-brac shop in Johannesburg in 1913, before opening in Cape Town in 1996, this is one of the country’s oldest and most prestigious galleries. It contains the work of international and local artists in a range of media including sculpture, painting, lithography, multimedia, craft and photography. Mon–Fri 9am–6pm, Sat 9am–1pm.
Goodman Gallery 176 Sir Lowry Rd, Woodstock goodman-gallery.com. Housed in an old textile factory, this industrial-chic gallery is at the forefront of contemporary art in South Africa. It houses an A-list of local artists, including William Kentridge, Willem Boshoff and photographer David Goldblatt, alongside emerging artists engaging with African issues. Tues–Fri 9.30am–5.30pm, Sat 9.30am–4pm.
Johans Borman Fine Art 16 Kildare Rd, Newlands johansborman.co.za. A satisfying collection of works by South African old masters like Sydney Kumalo and Neville Lewis, as well as contemporary artists, housed in a smart suburban home. Mon–Fri 9.30am–5.30pm, Sat 10am–1pm.
The South African Print Gallery 109 Sir Lowry Rd, Woodstock printgallery.co.za. This small gallery is the only one that focuses solely on South African printmaking, with a thousand-plus prints by artists including Alice Goldin, Joshua Miles and Anton Kannemeyer. Mon–Fri 9am–4.30pm, Sat 9am–1pm.
Stevenson 160 Sir Lowry Rd, Woodstock stevenson.info. With a focus on conceptual art and photography, Stevenson hosts solo and group exhibitions, featuring the likes of internationally acclaimed photographers Pieter Hugo and Jo Ractliffe. Mon–Fri 9am–5pm, Sat 10am–1pm.
Whatiftheworld 1 Argyle St, Woodstock whatiftheworld.com. This tiny gallery has been gaining a reputation as a platform for a new generation of emerging artists, hosting group and solo exhibitions and publishing catalogues and monographs. Watch out for Athi-Patra Ruga, Cameron Platter and Julia Rosa Clark to name a few. Tues–Fri 9.30am–5pm, Sat 9.30am–2pm.