GOLD OVATION AWARD WINNER 2022 - Fresh from The National Arts Festival  Île follows the story of a young girl who goes to visit her ancestral home: Mauritius. What she thought would be a nostalgic trip to a tropical island to connect with her late grandfather and meet her backwards extended family, gets all too real as darker characters emerge from the undergrowth of the volcanic island…

It’s a story of coming-of-age, family feuds, and the hilarious insanity that happens when people stay in the same place for too long.  A hilarious, heart-warming show about a girl trying to understand her mother & crazy family from Mauritius.

Sophie Joans is an award-winning theatre-maker from Cape Town with Mauritian roots. She studied theatre at UCT and Wits, and completed short courses in Clowning (RADA), Stand-Up comedy (Comedy Cellar) and Storytelling (Second City).

Her previous works include two-hander The Flower Hunters (2021 – Winner of Standard Bank Ovation Award) and puppet show Do You Dream In Colour (2018 – Winner of Zabalaza Festival’s Most Innovative Play). She collaborated on the short film, Verloren (2021 – Winner of Standard Bank Silver Ovation Award).  Île is her debut solo play.

Director Rob van Vuuren is a multi-award comedian, actor, director and writer. He has been bringing new work to the National Arts Festival for nearly 30 years. His previous directing work includes: KG Mokgadi’s ‘Heavy’, Stuart Taylor’s ‘Funny You Should Say That’, Bevan Cullinan’s ‘Gary the Tooth Fairy’, Louw Venter’s ‘Best Man’s Speech’, Gaëtan Schmidt’s ‘Rumpsteak’, Scott Sparrow’s ‘Isabella’, and more.

Audience Feedback:

- Sophie was brilliant. We really LOVED it. Her performance was brilliant. Very powerful, and entertaining.

- Brilliant and wonderful and such a pleasure to watch. A gorgeous mix of stand-up and physical

storytelling. A really beautiful culmination of things. Such a wonderful thing to see. Fantastic,

hilarious, and so engaging. Love, love, LOVE. - Roberto Pombo

Reviews:

“It’s a hell of a play. The writing is superb. It’s fast, funny, and able to turn on a dime – from the outrageous and the absurd to moments of striking sincerity. It’s a play that excavates and animates the aforementioned matrilineal lines as a point of connection, a search for one’s personal history to better make sense of the present. We’re just along for the journey, and happily so.” - Dave Mann

“Sophie Joans’ Île is a spirited spark in the dark, with enthralling comedic storytelling. It is a deliciously captivating piece of theatre. Comedy and stand-up comedy elements have been heightened, together with knockout physical comedy, astute use of props (wooden cubes) and activation of the stage space. Go and see Île, at a theatre near you. It is uplifting, funny and inspiring. The show reverberates in terms of our families (especially our mothers) our relationships, the stories we cherish,

https://thecaperobyn.co.za/review-sophie-joans-ile-is-a-spark-in-the-dark-magical-and-lyrical-storytelling-theatre/ - Review The Cape Robyn 

Audience Responses

Not having known what the content was going to be we were pleasantly surprised and do believe that the presenter has a great grasp of her trade. Very enjoyable and well worth the evening out

Not having known what the content was going to be we were pleasantly surprised and do believe that the presenter has a great grasp of her trade. Very enjoyable and well worth the evening out

absulutely fantastic

STUNNING!!!!!

An intense, emotional, one-woman play which was very good. Sophie’s script and use of language, her body, the simple and effective set & lighting were brilliant. We all enjoyed it immensely