Theatre on the Square Presents Ladies of Lavare

Theatre on the Square proudly presents Ladies of Lavare

Theatre on the Square, in partnership with Steyn City Senior Village and Tammany Barton is proud to announce the upcoming South African premiere production of Ladies of Lavare, a coming-of-old-age comedy-drama written and produced by award-winning South African playwright and producer Tammany Barton, and directed by Juliette Jenner. The production stars Shaeleen Tobin, award-winning actress, as Maureen, and Camilla Waldman, award-winning screen and stage veteran, as Vera.

The production opens on 1st October 2026, International Day of Older Persons, and runs through 17 October 2026 at Theatre on the Square, Nelson Mandela Square, Sandton. The timing is deliberate. Ladies of Lavare opens at the heart of South Africa’s national Senior Citizen Week, 30 September to 6 October, in an act of creative alignment that reflects the show’s central conviction: that growing older doesn’t make you a supporting character in your own story but the leading person, and Maureen and Vera are proof of that!

Yes, Ladies of Lavare is a play about ageing. But more than that, it is a play about coming of age, again and again, for as long as we are fortunate enough to keep living.

When Maureen’s birthday plans go disastrously wrong, she and her older sister Vera find themselves trapped together in a bathtub in their retirement village. As a birthday cake burns in the oven, the tub magically transports them through memories of their past, present and imagined futures, where they discover how much they need each other and how little time they have left.

Filled with humour, heart and adventure, Ladies of Lavare is a celebration of sisterhood, resilience and the magic that can still be found in life’s later chapters.

Ladies of Lavare arrives on the Johannesburg stage with impressive international pedigree. The play is a winner of the Fugitive Sisters Cannes Festival Award (2024) and the Playwright Laboratory London Script Development Programme (2023), and a finalist for the South African Muse Awards (2025).

Audiences who have experienced earlier readings and workshops have called it “enthralling and full of heart,” “an emotional rollercoaster,” and simply “a smashing piece.”

Cast and creative team include: