How Now Brown Cow celebrates its sixth year with a thrilling 2026 Winter season
Mark Elderkin and Mwenya Kabwe in Constellations.
Image: Supplied.
How Now Brown Cow is celebrating its sixth year with the announcement of its 2026 Winter season, featuring two new productions set to run in both Cape Town and Johannesburg. The award-winning company will present compelling new stories directed by two of South Africa’s leading theatre directors, and will also stage a newly commissioned family drama.
Constellations: A Quantum Exploration of Love
The season kicks off with the acclaimed play Constellations by Nick Payne. Directed by industry luminary and renowned choreographer Jay Pather, the production is described as a "spellbinding exploration of love, choices quantum theory, and infinite possibility for heartbreak or for hope". Through a kaleidoscope of moments between Marianne, a physicist, and Roland, a beekeeper, the play contemplates how even the smallest change can dramatically alter a life's course.
The cast features Mark Elderkin and Mwenya Kabwe. Reflecting on the play’s premise of parallel lives, Pather noted the deeply human connection to the material: “We have all experienced an 'if only' moment. What if I had done something differently, said something else? Would it have worked out better?”
“Constellations is a remarkable play that evokes this human frailty through compelling text, sometimes hilarious, sometimes heart wrenching that builds steadily with the inevitability of ancient ritual and Greek drama”.
Constellations will run at The Baxter Studio from 2 to 20 June, before moving to Johannesburg for a run at Theatre On The Square from 23 June to 11 July. (Age advisory 14).
Danica De La Rey Jones in Prima Facie.
Image: Supplied.
Prima Facie: Addressing Gender-Based Violence.
Directed by celebrated theatre maker Neil Coppen, South African premiere of Suzie Miller’s award-winning Prima Facie, stars Danica De La Rey Jones as Tessa, a brilliant young barrister who champions the legal system until a brutal attack turns her world upside down.
The play is a hard-hitting look at the "patriarchal power of the law," where existing rules of evidence often work against victims of sexual violence. The 2022 London production was nominated for five Laurence Olivier Awards, with Best New Play and Best Actress wins for Jodie Comer, who later won a Tony Award for the same role.
Coppen emphasised the urgency of presenting the play in South Africa: “I'm honoured to be directing the South African premiere of this production, the themes of which matter deeply to me and all of us as South Africans who live with some of the highest and most horrific gender-based violence statistics in the world."
“This will be the first time it's been performed in South Africa, and I couldn't imagine a more urgent and pertinent context to be presenting the play within”.
Julie-Anne McDowell, founder of How Now Brown Cow, noted the significance: “This powerful play looks at what happens when the systems we trust don't protect us. Prima Facie explores the way justice systems handle sexual assault cases and advocates for a more empathetic, victim-centred approach”.
Prima Facie will be presented at The Baxter Studio from 4 to 29 August before heading to Johannesburg from 17 September to 4 October at The Market Theatre. (Age advisory 14).