■ The popular book Love, Loss, and What I Wore by Ilene Beckerman, a collection of stories that uses clothing, accessories and the memories they trigger to tell funny, intimate and often poignant tales, was adapted for the stage by sisters Nora and Delia Ephron. It is playing at the Westside Theatre in New York, where it opened in 2009, as well as in Paris and Sydney.
Pieter Toerien presents the South African production under the direction of Moira Blumenthal. The five women who recall defining moments in their lives and the clothes they were wearing are played by Kate Normington, Rika Sennett, Anne Power, Christel Mutombo and Sharon Spiegel-Wagner. Some of South Africa’s finest fashion designers, including Marianne Fassler and JJ Schoeman, have combined their talents to create the costumes for the show.
Opens June 15 and runs until July 2 at Theatre on the Bay, 1A Link Street, Camps Bay. Book at Computicket. Tel: 021 438 3301. Website: www.theatreonthebay.co.za .
■ Stuart Taylor’s Intimate Comedy sessions continue with Klass Struggle, directed by Riaad Moosa. One of the few female comedians when she started with the Cape Comedy Collective more than a decade ago, Tracy Klass wages her own ‘klass struggle”, making fun of hurtling towards middle age and battling to feed a family on last year’s income while fighting to remain thin, calm and alluring. Grist for her mill includes petrol and electicity prices, failing service delivery and the cost of school fees and food. As a parent, Klass deals with school then and now, mondelinge (orals), school lunches in a nut-free environment and run-ins with sports coaches.
From June 15 to July 2 at On Broadway, 44 Long Street, Cape Town. Tel: 021 424 1194. Website: www.onbroadway.co.za.
■ This year’s Vodacom Funny Festival, the seventh, is hosted by master of ceremonies Alan Committie. Constable Carl is back to police the audience and make sure the evening runs smoothly. The line-up includes top South African and international talent: Carl Wastie, Good Hope FM’s afternoon-drive sports anchor; Kalki Henenberg, leading hula-hoop artist (Australia); Miss Ro, magician and quick-change artist (Korea); and Kev Orkian, comic pianist (United Kingdom). There are two acts outside the stand-up realm: Full House from Switzerland, a husband-and-wife piano cabaret duo (June 13 to 27), and The Boy with Tape on his Face from New Zealand, a physical show that promises to be ‘so different and so brilliant” (June 28 to July 10).
From June 13 to July 10 in the Concert Hall, Baxter Theatre, Main Road, Rosebank. Book at Computicket. Tel: 021 685 7880. Website: www.baxter.co.za.