The latest theatre production from renowned South African playwright Mike van Graan is Another One’s Bread, a dark satire set in Khayelitsha, Cape Town. The play takes its name from the Afrikaans saying “een man se dood is ‘n ander man se brood” (One person’s death is another person’s bread) and is described by Van Graan as “a dark comedy about food, funerals and feeding schemes”.

The play centres around The Substitutes, a group of women who run a professional mourning service in their free time. The Substitutes meet at the home of their elderly founder Pumla (played by the rip-roaringly funny Faniswa Yisa) and 'rehearse' for their appearances at local funerals, where they wail with a abandon and faint on demand for a cash fee. With the help of the ambitious social climber Andiswa the group have now found a lucrative niche for themselves that brings in money for their own pockets as well as for a local feeding scheme. Meanwhile the third of 'three witches', aspiring writer Karabo, has brought a young new substitute into the fold, Brenda, an unemployed relative from the Eastern Cape who doubles as the play's narrator.

One of the joys of this new work is the way in which Van Graan creates four distinct, complex and very likeable female personalities in the space of just over 80 minutes.

The flamboyant Andiswa (played with the perfect mix of faux pretension and steely ambition by Motlatji Ditodi) juxtaposes well with the distinctly less ambitious but endearingly hopeful Karabo (Chuma Sopotela), while the cantankerous yet kind Gogo Pumla (who arguably garners the bulk of the best lines) is charmingly matched with the young, hot-pant wearing, smartphone brandishing Brenda (Awethu Hleli). Each woman brings to the stage a well-rounded, nuanced and relatable character whose various traits audiences will easily recognise in everyday South African society.

While funerals and the subtle commodification of death (“these people live Shoprite lives and then want to go out and buy Woolworths coffins!”) form the hub of the story, the play’s finely honed script, which is largely played out as the most hilarious kitchen table banter, takes satirical aim at a broad range of topics.

From the Cape Town water crisis and the failure of South African men (“all men are trash!” grumbles Pumla at regular intervals much to the crowd’s delight) to social mobility, crime, government corruption and poverty, van Graan has sewn together an engaging and effortlessly funny satire.

A brilliant start to the 2018 theatre season.

Food sovereignty fundraising performances
One Jan 30, 31 and Feb 1 the theatre hosts a special fundraising performance in aid of the Food Sovereignty Centre, particularly the WCCO communal kitchen at Wits University, which aims to address student and community hunger. Tickets for the fundraising performances cost R150.