“Explosive” best describes Sophie and her mother. At 18, Sophie decides to get as far away from her mum as possible, by returning to her mother’s motherland, the island of Mauritius. What she imagines will be a trip to tropical paradise, to explore her roots and meet some ‘shirtless french guys’, gets all too real as she encounters strange characters in her extended family. Cousins too close for comfort, charred skeletons in the closet… She soon discovers below the surface a volcano is waiting to erupt….
This smash-hit, multi-award-winning international play was one of 2 plays to win a Gold Standard Bank Ovation Award at South Africa’s Nationals Arts Festival in 2022. It was nominated for Best Actress at Woordfees 2022, a Fleur de Cap for Best Solo Performance, and the Filipa Bragança Award for Top 5 Solo Female Performer at the Edinburgh Fringe 2023.
You cannot miss this heart-warming coming-of-age story!
Sophie Joans’ multi-award winning solo show, ÎLE, is coming to Theatre Arts for one night only. After a wildly successful tour across South Africa, and then onto London’s Bitesize Fest and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, this play about the island of Mauritius is going home - to the tropical island itself. In preparation for the show, Sophie Joans will be doing a once-off performance for a small audience in Cape Town.
This solo show won the Gold Standard Bank Ovation Award at the National Arts Festival ‘22, and went on to tour around South Africa and rack up a number of awards and nominations. It has just returned from a UK tour to London, where it won Best Script at Bitesize Fest and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, where it was nominated for Best Solo Female performer at EdFringe.
Written and performed by powerhouse Sophie Joans, and directed by comedy legend, Rob Van Vuuren, this coming-of-age story follows a young girl who visits her ancestral home: the Island of Mauritius. A hilarious and heart-warming journey ensues, of mother-daughter relationships, lava, dodos and uncovering the strange characters of one’s extended family. It’s a story about finding yourself in the present by excavating the past.
● Winner of the Gold Standard Bank Ovation Awards at National Arts Festival in 2022
● Winner of Writer's Bite at BiteSize Fest at Riverside Studios, London in 2023
● Nominated for Filipa Bragança Award for Top 5 Solo Female Performers at Edinburgh Fringe in 2023
● Nominated for Best Actress at Woordfees in 2022
● Nominated for Fleur de Cap for Best Performance in a Solo Show in 2023
Sophie Joans is an award-winning theatre-maker and comedian from Cape Town, with Mauritian roots. She studied Theatre and Performance at two of the top drama schools in South Africa, and completed courses in Clowning at RADA (UK) and Stand-Up Comedy at The Comedy Cellar (NYC). Her previous works include two-hander The Flower Hunters (2021 – Winner of Standard Bank Ovation Award); puppet show Do You Dream In Colour (2018 – Winner of Zabalaza Festival’s Most Innovative Play) and Île (2022 - Winner of Standard Bank Gold Ovation Award, nominated for Best Actress at Woordfees and Best Performance in a One-Person Show, Revue or Cabaret for a Fleur de Cap). She recently played Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, directed by Geoffrey Highland in Cape Town. Her new play, Dog Rose (directed by Jemma Kahn, starring Joans alongside Anthea Thompson) was selected for the Artscape’s New Voices programme, and the National Arts Festival’s Arena Programme in June 2023.
Rob van Vuuren is a multi-award winning South African actor, comedian, director and writer. His performances have wowed audiences globally, from Perth to London, earning him four Standard Bank Ovation Awards and numerous other awards and nominations, including Fleur de Cap and Woordtrofees for Best Actor. He's filmed 2 specials for Comedy Central Africa and was a finalist in the You Spectacular Awards. His characters, including the viral sensation NamasteBae and the cult favorite Twakkie from "The Most Amazing Show," have garnered widespread acclaim. Van Vuuren's recent screen roles span from Netflix's "Ludik" to a remake of "Slumber Party Massacre," with upcoming projects like "Runs in the Family" premiering at the Inside Out Festival and slated for release on Netflix. Additionally, he's involved in various forthcoming productions such as "Umbrella Men 2," "Devil’s Peak," "The Trek," "Jungle Beat 2," and "Trippy Tours."
Ryan Stopforth is a multi-instrumentalist, self-taught producer/composer from Cape Town. When he’s not running around from band to band on the scene, his head is spinning with ideas on what the next project is going to be or who he’s going to collaborate with next. His latest offering sees a collaboration with Sophie Joan’s on her award winning show, Ilê - a welcome challenge setting intimate piano behind a beautifully executed monologue and movement piece.
Richard is a UCT Graduate, holding an Honours degree in Drama specialising in Technical Theatre Management. Since graduating, Richard has taken up roles in directing, dramaturgy, stage management, and lighting design. Some of his collaborations include Jackï Job’s And Then..., Clare Stopford’s Lear’s Daughters, and Marianna Le Roux’s upcoming Celebration of the Hours. In a performance capacity, he has played a number of film and television roles, starred as Leo Bloom in Pieter Toerien Production’s The Producers, and is a resident singer with the events company ShoutMC. Richard is a co-founding member of Mixing Bowl Productions, a theatre company that focuses on crafting small-scale musical theatre works for new audiences. Since 2015, Richard has co-created and co-starred in numerous works including In-between, Cheers to Broadway, Private Parts, No Jazz Hands Allowed: A Concert Series, and Classic? A Song Cycle.