Rosalind Butler's Expelled Premieres At The Baxter This February

Countdown is on to the premiere of Rosalind Butler’s new South African play – Expelled at The Baxter

Following on from their multi-award winning, highly acclaimed production of The Beauty Queen of Leenane, How Now Brown Cow is excited to bring a local, topical, powerful, new work to the South African stage.

Expelled is a thought provoking play about social media’s power to connect and its power to destroy. Can a few minutes of bad judgment ruin a life?

The countdown is on to opening night, when the production has its South African Premiere in Cape Town at the Golden Arrow Studio Theatre at The Baxter on Wednesday 7 February, running for a limited season until 2 March 2024, and then transfers to Johannesburg where it’ll be on stage at The Mannie Manim Theatre at The Market Theatre from 7 – 31 March 2024.

Expelled is a family drama which focuses on the largely ungoverned world of social media. Alex, a Matric pupil at an elite school, gets caught up in a viral scandal and is suspended. Once shared, lives alter in seconds, what’s seen cannot be unseen. The ramifications for his family are profound.

Written by Rosalind Butler, Expelled was created out of How Now Brown Cow’s script development program, The Writers’ Collective during lockdown in 2021. Directed by Craig Freimond, the cast features Charmaine Weir-Smith and Antony Coleman alongside Nicolas Hattingh. Designs for the production are by Kieran McGregor and Daniel Rutland Manners.

“The topicality of Expelled immediately appealed to How Now Brown Cow and we are proud to have nurtured it’s development through The Writers’ Collective,” says Julie-Anne McDowell, founder of and producer at How Now Brown Cow. “It is a pertinent play for our social media obsessed world, and we believe it’s critical impact will resonate loudly for years to come. We all need to witness this valuable story.”

Tickets are available via Webtickets or the Baxter Theatre and The Market Theatre platforms.

This production is a must see for all high school learners who make use of social media, and for their parents wading through the minefield – and to this end significant school learner discounts are on offer at R160 per ticket. Contact Jeff Brooker on schools@jbpro.co.za for the Baxter Theatre, and Anthony Ezeoke on AnthonyE@markettheatre.co.za for The Market Theatre. For school groups of 10 or more, tickets will be at R100 per learner.

Show Information:
Expelled

Cape Town:
Golden Arrow Studio, Baxter Theatre
Wednesday, 7 February – Saturday, 2 March 2024

Times:
Tuesdays to Fridays at 20h00;
Saturday at 15h00 & 20h00

School performances at 11h00 on Tuesday 13, 20 & 27 February

Ticket Prices:
From R160 – R240 (including VAT)

Bookings:
Bookings through Webtickets or (021) 685 7880

Johannesburg:
Mannie Manim Theatre, The Market Theatre
Wednesday, 6 March – Sunday, 31 March 2024

Times:
Wednesdays to Fridays at 19h00;
Saturday at 15h00 & 19h00;
Sunday at 15h00

School performances at 13h00 on Thursdays

Ticket Prices:
From R190 – R230 (including VAT)

Bookings:
Webticket or the Theatre Box Office (011) 832 1641

Age restriction:
No under 12’s

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About How Now Brown Cow:
How Now Brown Cow was launched in 2020 during a global pandemic. The company, founded by Actor and Writer Julie-Anne McDowell, was established to offer world class South African and international works for local and international audiences and stages. Daniel Galloway, who was The Fugard Theatre’s Managing Director and Lead Producer from 2009 to 2020, is the General Manager and co-Producer alongside Julie-Anne. During the global theatre shutdown of 2020 and 2021, How Now Brown Cow launched the How Now Brown Cow Writer’s Collective which saw the commissioning of 12 new South African scripts several of which are now in the next phase of development. In 2022 the Production Company released their first short film, The Hive, which was screened to critical acclaim on the international and local film festival circuit. The Beauty Queen of Leenane was How Now Brown Cow’s first stage production in South Africa which was presented in Johannesburg in October 2022 and Cape Town’s The Baxter Theatre in August 2023. The production won five Naledi Theatre Awards, including Best Production of a Play. How Now Brown Cow will be staging 3 new productions in the coming 16 months.