A sudden, violent event ruptures the world of the characters, forcing them to pick up the pieces in the void that remains. Inspired by actual events, Ashes examines family, love, and the scourge of violence against gay lives in South Africa.

Presented by the dynamic Rust Co-Operative team of Philip Rademeyer and Penelope Youngleson, the creators of award-winning works such as The View (winner of two awards at International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival, nominated for three Fleur du Cap Awards), Siembamba (Standard Bank Silver Ovation Award, played at Amsterdam Fringe Festival) and Expectant (Standard Bank Ovation Award, played at Afrovibes Festival). Ashes features the exciting talents of rising stars Stefan Erasmus and Jason Jacobs.

The impetus for Ashes is the on-going violence against gays and lesbians in South Africa, specifically three excessively violent attacks on young gay men in the Western and Northern Cape in 2014 (which mostly remained unreported in the mainstream media) – in one particular instance an assailant called over a group of teenagers to watch as he was "going to kill a moffie." With Ashes, the writer examines systemic homophobia and the scourge of violence against young gay lives in our country, deftly exploring the thin line between the personal and the political. Ashes is an intimate theatrical piece, serving as a reminder that individual lives are not isolated events but part of the social fabric, intricately woven up with and into other lives.

Rust Theatre Company

Philip Rademeyer and Penny Youngleson are the founders and creative directors of Rust Co-Operative, an award-winning Cape Town-based theatre collective. In two years they have produced nine new works – The View, Expectant, Siembamba, Nat, Ashes, Full Stops On Your Face, AN(t)ONIEM, Tee and Lie.

Some of their successes

  • In 2013, The View (written and directed by Rademeyer) received three Fleur du Cap nominations (Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress and Best New Director). It ran at the International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival, where the show won the Doric Wilson Intercultural Dialogue Award, and the Oscar Wilde Award for Best New Writing (and was nominated in the Best Actor and Best Actress categories). At Aardklop 2013 The View was also nominated for Best Production and Best Actress. It kicked off the 9th Artscape Spring Drama Season in November 2013 and showed at the Market Theatre in June 2014. 
  • In 2014, Siembamba (co-written by Rademeyer and Youngleson, directed by Rademeyer) received a Standard Bank Silver Ovation Award at the National Arts Festival (NAF), and was selected to be part of the Amsterdam Fringe Festival as the Best of South African Fringe. It received an Honourable Mention and runner-up position for Best International Production at the Amsterdam Fringe.
  • In 2013, Expectant (written and directed by Youngleson) received a Standard Bank Ovation Award at NAF. Subsequently, it enjoyed a critically acclaimed run in Cape Town, played at the Afrovibes Festival in Amsterdam and opened the Market Theatre’s 2014 season.Youngleson received the Rosalie van der Gucht Prize for New Directors at the 2014 Fleur du Cap awards.


Production: Ashes
Genre: Drama
Duration: 60 minutes
Venue: Alexander Upstairs
Dates: Thursday, 4 June to Saturday, 20 June
Time: 19:00
Cost: R80 to R90

To make bookings and for more information, visit the Alexander Upstairs website.