Every year around the beginning of July the city gets just a little quieter, a little more peaceful, a little more boring. Many put this effect down to the winter and the upsurge of snuggling and binge watching TV series.

The team at Alexander Bar knows the real cause: the performers are all heading east, packing up their hats and bulky set and congregating in the frosty bowl in the Eastern Cape called Grahamstown for the biggest arts festival in South Africa. Some of you fest-fundis are heading there too, but for those of you who aren't, who are going to be missing out on the spectacle of thousands of performers crammed into a town with only three bars ... well, Alexander Bar is giving you a chance to get a taste of it.

For one week Alexander Upstairs is hosting five shows before they head up to Grahamstown. Love and Prozac, Sonia Esgueira's hilarious solo show about dating disasters; War Donkey, in which award-winning stand-up comedian Martin Evans delivers outrageous new material; in Body Language 2 Gaetan Schmid takes us on an off-the-rails TED talk explaining the origins and meaning behind our flirtatious ways; The Plot Hole is a behind-the-scenes take on breaking into stand-up comedy from hot new talents Westley Cockrell and Stuart Cairns; and finally, the Pink Couch presents a heavy hitting team-up of award-winners behind After Dark in the Groot Marico, follow-up to director Tara Notcutt's smash hit adaptation of Herman Charles Bosman stories Mafeking Road.

More about Love & Prozac

The naughty girls' (mis)guide to dating, bonking and other disasters. The Titanic of the dating world is on the prowl in a dirty comedy about love. One actress, 13 sidesplitting characters.

Sonia Esgueira returns to Alexander Bar's intimate theatre upstairs after standing ovations and raves from the audience for her December run. Love & Prozac got an average of 4.5 stars at Alexander Upstairs.

Production: Love & Prozac
Genre: Comedy
Duration: 60 minutes
Venue: Alexander Upstairs
Dates: Monday, 22 June; Wednesday 24 June; and Friday, 26 June
Time: 19:00 on Monday, 22 June; and 21:00 on both Wednesday, 24 June and Friday, 26 June
Cost: R80 to R100

More about War Donkey

Martin Evans is an award-winning comedian with performances around the world. War Donkey - The Polony Diaries is Evans' fifth solo show and charts life in South Africa in the 80s. From the Satanic panic and the threat of border duty, through to drive-in movies and politically incorrect sweets that made up our youth. This 'work in progress' will be taken to the National Arts Festival shortly. Come join him for the first ever performances of his brand new show.

Production: War Donkey
Genre: Comedy
Duration: 60 minutes
Venue: Alexander Upstairs
Dates: Monday, 22 June; Thursday, 25 June; and Friday, 26 June
Time: 21:00 on both Monday, 22 and Wednesday, 24 June; and 19:00 on Friday, 26 June
Cost: R75 to R85

More about After Dark in the Groot Marico

Welcome, weary traveller. Rest your feet from your long journey, and sit down on the stoep with Oom Schalk Lourens. Bask in the light of the full moon and let him tell you stories of love, music, and a little bit of magic. But beware, young traveller: all good stories have a dark side.

After Dark in the Groot Marico is the second chapter to the critically acclaimed and award-winning Mafeking Road, which premiered at the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown in 2011.

In Mafeking Road, Andrew Laubscher and Mathew Lewis, under the direction of Tara Notcutt, brought Bosman to life in a way that had never been seen before. Using nothing but their bodies, they took the audience on a comic-book style whirlwind trip through the Groot Marico – and found, on its way, a new and younger audience for the stories.

The show won a Silver Standard Bank Ovation Award, and went on to perform for three years all the way from Cape Town to Grahamstown to Johannesburg, and finally, to the Groot Marico itself. They were praised by many, and criticized by some.

Many were delighted by the style and found a renewed joy for the stories they had loved while growing up. All of this only fueled the fire to continue touring the show and bringing a new appreciation of Bosman and his beautiful stories to a wider, younger audience.

This year, Laubscher and Notcutt bring you After Dark in the Groot Marico and have invited Fleur du Cap winner for Most Promising Student, Sive Gubangxa, along for the ride. Using physical theatre, and little else, Laubscher and Gubangxa will weave a world of wonder and magic, as they take you on a journey into the Marico’s dark side.

Production: After Dark in the Groot Marico 
Genre: Comedy theatre
Duration: 60 minutes
Venue: Alexander Upstairs
Dates: Wednesday, 24 June and Saturday, 27 June
Time: 19:00
Cost: R70 to R90 

More about The Plot Hole

Cape Town based comedy duo Stuart Cairns and Westley Cockrell bring to life the trials and tribulations they have faced while pursuing careers in stand-up comedy. From keeping a day job to chasing the impossible dream of impressing their parents, these two oddballs will have you laughing at their expense.

Production: The Plot Hole
Genre: Stand-up comedy 
Duration: 55 minutes
Venue: Alexander Upstairs
Dates: Tuesday, 23 June; Thursday, 25 June; and Saturday, 27 June
Time: 19:00 on Thursday, 25 June; and 21:00 on both Tuesday, 23 June and Saturday, 27 June
Cost: R80 to R90

More about Body Language II: The Mating Game

After Body Language sold out five years ago, Gaëtan Schmid is back with more fascinating revelations in this high octane physical comedy. A journey spanning 400 000 years of human evolution, exploring our (sometimes very confusing) mating rituals and hidden non-verbal messaging. A must see for the sake of the survival of our species

Since arriving in South Africa 15 years ago Schmid produces, creates, writes and performs his own excitingly original one-man-shows...well, most of them are his own: The Belgian, Body Language, Rumpsteak (Fleur du Cap-nominated), The Dog’s Bollocks, The Incredible Beer Show, the pigeon and The Comical Tragedy. The first two and latter two were directed by his extraordinary wife Lara Bye (London Road, The Flying Dutchman, Rainbow Scars, Yellow Man).

Production: Body Language II: The Mating Game
Genre: Comedy 
Duration: 50 minutes
Venue: Alexander Upstairs
Dates: Tuesday, 23 June
Time: 19:00
Cost: R90 to R100

To make bookings and for more information, visit the Alexander Upstairs website. Alternatively, connect with the venue via Facebook and Twitter.