THE PLAY
“The moon on the wane proves fortuitous for a killer wanting to darken the night... She enjoys the night and it enjoys her. He anticipates the moment he can introduce her to the true night, his night, him."
– MRS MITCHELL COMES TO TOWN
Award winning writer and director Louis Viljoen joins forces with the stars of stage and screen, Jenny Stead and Aidan Scott, to treat audiences to his latest thriller.
A killer is on the loose. The city is a powder keg. A rising-star politician is weighing the cost of betrayal. A mother searches for her son in a bloody netherworld. All of hell's bells toll when Mrs. Mitchell Comes To Town.
WARNING: This play contains explicit language and scenes of a sexual nature. No under 18s.
THE PLAYWRIGHT
Louis Viljoen - Writer/Director
Louis Viljoen is a Cape Town based playwright and director.
Recently described as “one of South Africa’s most exciting playwrights”, Viljoen’s gripping writing is known for its terrifyingly intimacy, with Marianne Thamm praising him for his “scalpel-wielding writing” that “kicks boring English into shape”.
His ghoulish style of theatre has kept audiences enthralled. He has written and produced numerous plays including, The Bile Boys, The Frontiersmen, The Verbalists, Champ, Porno 88, The Kingmakers, The Pervert Laura, Oh Baby, I’m A Wild One, The Emissary, The Eulogists, The Demon Bride, The Hucksters and most recently the acclaimed The Grass Widow, The Visigoths and The Sin Drinkers with John Maytham and Emma Kotze. He is also the writer of Rob van Vuuren’s internationally praised dark psychosexual horror comedy, Dangled, which was invited to the 2017 Brighton Fringe Festival.
Viljoen has won the Fleur Du Cap Theatre award for Best New South African Script for Champ (2013) and The Kingmakers (2015). He was the recipient of the Rosalie van Der Gucht Best New Director award for his plays, The Kingmakers and The Pervert Laura and was recently nominated for Best New South African Script for The Baxter Theatre’s production of The Hucksters and The Outlaw Muckridge.
A compilation of his plays will soon be published by Karavan Press.
THE ACTORS
Jenny Stead - Elsa
Jenny Stead is an Honours Degree Drama graduate from the University of Stellenbosch. She was also nominated for a Fleur du Cap for Most Promising Student. After writing and performing in several revue and cabaret shows, Jenny was cast in the smash hit comedy Glass Roots. Her performance won her a Vita Award for Best New Actress. Jenny also starred in Viljoen's award-winning, CHAMP.
She also won a Fleur du Cap for her performance in Reza de Wet’s Breathing In and was nominated for Best Actress in a Musical for her performance of Janet in the sold-out run of The Rocky Horror Show. Her prolific theatre career further includes performances in The Secret Love Life of Ophelia, Noises Off, King Lear, Cardenio, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time, an international tour of Truth in Translation, Fatal Attraction and The Glass Menagerie, for which she also won the Fleur du Cap for Best Supporting Actress. She most recently graced the stage in Athol Fugard's My Children My Africa, David Kramer's musical Ver in die Wêreld Kittie and the theatre adaptation of Damon Galgut's The Promise, for which she was nominated for a Fleur du Cap and won a Naledi for Best Ensemble.
Jenny's television and film credits include A Snake gives birth to a Snake, Tropic Fever, Ice and Blood Drive. Most recently she was seen as Mary Lincoln in the History Channel's Lincoln. Upcoming projects include The Masked King in which she plays Mary Slessor, Jungle Beat 2 where she voices the animated character Tiptoes and the Netflix series Baby Farm. which will be released later this year.
Aidan Scott - Marcus
Aidan Scott spent 15 years growing up in Kuwait before returning to South Africa, where he studied at the University of Cape Town’s Theatre and Performance program. In 2019, he landed his first professional role in The Mousetrap, which toured South Africa and New Zealand.
In 2022, he portrayed Theodore Roosevelt in the History Channel’s Roosevelt, produced by Leonardo DiCaprio’s production company Appian Way. That same year, he made his UK stage debut in Don’t Make Tea at the Traverse Theatre, directed by Robert Softly Gale.
In 2023, he played the role of Lysander in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Maynardville, directed by Geoffrey Hyland, and appeared in The Bells of Amersfoort, directed by Dintshitile Mashile. He was also seen in Netflix’s One Piece as Helmeppo. Aidan further starred in and produced The Rangers, written and directed by Daniel Newton, which premiered at the Baxter Theatre. In 2024, he played Mozart in Amadeus at Theatre on the Bay in Johannesburg and Cape Town, directed by Geoffrey Hyland.
Aidan made his directorial debut with Harold Pinter’s The Dumb Waiter at the Baxter Theatre.
THE DESIGNER
Kieran McGregor - set/lighting
Kieran McGregor is a Designer, Production Manager and Producer who graduated from UCT Drama School in Theatre and Performance. Formally trained as an actor, his creative vision and an interest in lighting design developed in parallel with his studies.
As a designer, production manager, and producer he has been a part of numerous theatre productions and live events in Cape Town, as well as touring both locally and internationally. He has worked with various local and international production houses, artists and companies, in theatre, film, TV, and other live events.
As a designer some of his highlights include: The Father (directed by Greg Karvellas for The Fugard Theatre), in(s)kin (Created and directed by Mbongeni N. Mtshal for Artscape New Voices Season 2016 and National Arts Festival 2017), The Eulogists (written by Louis Viljoen, directed by Greg Karvellas for The Fugard Theatre), Grounded (directed by Chris Weare at The Baxter Theatre), Clybourne Park (directed by Greg Karvellas for The Fugard Theatre). Kristalvlakte (by Amy Jephta, directed by Mari Bortslap for Suidoosterfees 2016 at The Fugard Theatre and for Aardklop 2016), Peppa Pig! Live in South Africa! (presented by EFX International and Entertainment One UK) and recently in Louis Viljoen's The Grass Widow and The Visigoths. Other design credits include the 2024 How Now Brown Cow presented Expelled and Lucy Barton.
THE DETAILS
Where
Baxter Theatre
(Masambe)
WHEN
22 April - 10 May
18