How Now Brown Cow celebrates its sixth incredible year with the announcement of its 2026 Winter season.
The award-winning company presents two new productions of compelling stories, performed in Cape Town and Johannesburg, directed by two of South Africa’s leading theatre directors – Constellations and Prima Facie.
Constellations
Nick Payne’s Constellations runs at The Baxter Studio in Cape Town from 2 to 20 June before heading to Johannesburg for a run at Theatre On The Square from 23 June to 11 July.
Directed by industry luminary and renowned choreographer Jay Pather (The Firebird; Bridling; Hold Still; Siwela Sonke Dance Theatre), Constellations is a spellbinding exploration of love, choices quantum theory, and infinite possibility for heartbreak or for hope. Through a kaleidoscope of moments between two people, it asks what might happen if every version of our lives existed at once – and whether love can endure across them all.
The stellar cast features Mark Elderkin (Amadeus; Speelgoed van Glas/The Glass Menagerie; A Midsummer Night’s Dream) and Mwenya Kabwe (Hold Still; Yellowman; mAnJE! MaNje (an epic)).
Marianne, a physicist, and Roland, a beekeeper, meet at a barbeque. They hit it off, and go for a drink. Or perhaps they don’t. They go home together, or maybe they go their separate ways. Perhaps Marianne is engaged to someone else, perhaps Roland is. Maybe she breaks his heart, maybe he breaks hers. Perhaps they come together and their love story can finally take root and grow, or perhaps it will be tragically cut short.
Constellations contemplates how even the smallest change in our lives can dramatically alter the course we take.
“We have all experienced an ‘if only’ moment. What if I had done something differently, said something else? Would it have worked out better?” says director Jay Pather.
“Constellations is a remarkable play that evokes this human frailty through compelling text, sometimes hilarious, sometimes heart wrenching that builds steadily with the inevitability of ancient ritual and Greek drama.”
Prima Facie
How Now Brown Cow presents the South African premiere of Suzie Miller’s award-winning Prima Facie directed by celebrated theatre maker Neil Coppen (Isidlamlilo/TheFire Eater; Animal Farm; Tin Bucket Drum).
Danica De La Rey Jones (Hunting Jessica Brok; Unseen; For Colored Girls) performs the role of Tessa, a brilliant young barrister, who climbs her way up from working class origins to the top of her game: defending, cross examining and winning.
Tessa believes in the legal system until a brutal attack turns her world upside down as she navigates the same system she once championed. Now put on trial herself, re-traumatized through her cross-examination, she finds herself questioning everything she believed about justice.
Prima Facie is a hard-hitting look at the “patriarchal power of the law” where the burden of proof and existing rules of evidence often work against victims of sexual violence.
The 2022 London production of the show was nominated for five Laurence Olivier Awards, with wins for Best New Play and Best Actress for Jodie Comer, who subsequently won a Tony Award for the same role on Broadway in New York.
“I’m honoured to be directing the South African premiere of this production, the themes of which matter deeply to me and all of us as South Africans who live with some of the highest and most horrific gender-based violence statistics in the world,” says Neil Coppen, director of Prima Facie.
“Suzie Miller’s play has had performances across the globe, and over the last few years has been translated into multiple languages. This will be the first time it’s been performed in South Africa, and I couldn’t imagine a more urgent and pertinent context to be presenting the play within.”
“Beyond merely presenting a gripping staging of Prima Facie on South African stages, I’m excited by the opportunity this creates to use the production strategically to deepen the discussion around its concerns and themes with our audiences.”
Prima Facie will be presented at The Baxter Studio in Cape Town from 4 to 29 August.
How Now Brown Cow in association with The Market Theatre presents the production in Johannesburg from 17 September to 4 October at The Market Theatre.
The Graduation of K-C
In other exciting and hot-off-the-press news, The Graduation of K-C, written by The Market Theatre’s Artistic Director Greg Homann, will run from 5 to 29 November at Barney Simon Theatre. Staged as part of the SA/Irish Season in partnership with the South African Embassy of Ireland, this compelling family drama was originally commissioned by How Now Brown Cow. This collaboration now brings the play to the stage, exploring the troubled histories of Ireland and South Africa through a deeply personal family story. Watch this space for further information!
“In an increasingly fast-paced world filled with AI images and fake news, theatre remains a vital medium to share stories, understand each other and create connection,” says Julie-Anne McDowell, founder of How Now Brown Cow. “At How Now Brown Cow, we believe storytelling is not an escape from reality, but a way to understand it. The stories we choose to tell are driven by urgency, humanity, and the need to spark conversation that extends beyond the theatre.”
“We are proud to be presenting, in Women’s Month, the South African premiere of Prima Facie,written by playwright, librettist and screenwriter Suzie Miller, who is also a lawyer and co-founder of Australian Lawyers For Human Rights.”
“This powerful play looks at what happens when the systems we trust don’t protect us. Prima Facie explores the way justice systems handle sexual assault cases and advocates for a more empathetic, victim-centred approach,” says McDowell.
“Constellations is a captivating journey of celebrating choices, questioning free will versus destiny and considering infinite possibilities. Together, these productions reflect the duality of our existence – the personal and the political, the tender and the confronting, They ask us to look more closely at ourselves, at each other and at the system we live within.”
Book now for Constellations and Prima Facie:
Constellations
*The Baxter Studio: 2 to 20 June. Book at Webtickets
*Theatre On The Square: 23 June to 11 July. Book at Webtickets
Age advisory 14
Prima Facie
*The Baxter Studio: 4 to 29 August. Book at Webtickets
*The Market Theatre: 17 September to 4 October.
Age advisory 14
Join the How Now Brown Cow conversation on social media:
Constellations
#ConstellationsPlaySA #LoveAndChoice #WhatIf #CapeTownTheatre #TheatreInJoburg #PrimaFacieSA #TheatreForChange
Prima Facie
#PrimaFacie #TheatreForChange #GBVAwareness #JusticeMatters #WomenVoices
