The ‘Virgin’ and the ‘Whore’. Two waitresses prepare themselves for another nauseating night on the battlefields of Horrifying Hospitalica! Armed with toothpick, their razor-sharp wit, and ripe, suck-able tits, they don their aprons, hoist their fishnets and limber up to perform In Whorefish Bloomers! 

An adaptation of Pam-Grant and Stannard's underground 1980s feminist ‘cabaret’. Two young Cape Town actresses take on the patriarchy one tit-bit at a time in this collection of pro-femme episodes stuffed with humour, word play, cheesy dance moves, a sprinkle of song and a drizzle of darkness.

Nominated for Best Production and Best Creative (Directing) Awards at the Cape Town Fringe and back after a sold out run in Johannesburg, don’t miss you last chance to see this high-energy, feminist comedy.

“With an excellent set of performers and tight, crafted direction, it’s sassy, it’s snazzy, it’s slick, and a damned good show” – The Critter

“The performances by Money and Cormack-Thomson are sterling; both are exceptionally talented and astute in their portrayal of their characters. A definite must see” – Nasty Women, Joy Watson

“A witty cabaret with a sharp delivery, the choreography is inventive and aerobic, and the actresses’ energy never dips for a second” – What’s On In Cape Town, Suzanne Duncan

Director Kei-Ella Loewe obtained the script from her mother Sheena Stannard, one of the original writers and performers. The text had never been published, though the original runs of the show in the 1980s received good response, with media and audiences calling it hilarious and provocative. Loewe and cast heavily adapted it to a modern Cape Town context, inserting new writing and scenes, though majority of the original writing remains. Both Stannard and Pam-Grant have viewed the new staging of their long-forgotten work and were moved, by remembering a play they wrote and performed 30 years ago, and by the fact that so many years later the issues of sexism, sexual assault and sexual harassment are on-going to this day. The original play’s political satire poked fun at the Apartheid regime. The new generation has attempted to make humour out of their own situation as privileged, white, heterosexual women in South Africa. And the oppression they often face at the hands, and under the gaze, of men.

This will be the 5th run of the production, it has enjoyed full houses and positive responses from audiences, especially women who leave the theatre feeling empowered. 

Biographies:
Jamie, Donna and Kei-Ella have been working together since their 1st year of theatre and performance studies at the UCT Drama Dept.

Kei-Ella is a director, stage-manager, techie, visual artist and craft extraordinaire. She directed throughout university, including Don’t Shoot the Harbinger! which won Best New Script at the NAF Student Program in 2015 and Monster, a visual theatre collaboration with Jamie and Donna which was created at university and performed again at the Cape Town Fringe Festival 2016. She was awarded the Mavis Taylor Theatre-Making Award and the class medal in 2015 for her efforts. She presented her second collaboration with Jamie and Donna In Whorefish Bloomers: The Waitresses’ Lament in May this year. She was a waitress and now works for the UCT Drama Dept. as the Senior Stage Manager.

Other than working with her two favourite people, Donna Cormack-Thomson has performed on film and on stage. Including The White Whore and The Bit Player directed by Chris Weare, in Anthology: After The End written by Nicholas Spagnioletti, Jon Keevy, Louis Viljoen, and directed by Louis Viljoen and in a sold-out run of Bad Jews written by Joshua Harmon and directed by Greg Karvellas at The Fugard Theatre.

Jamie-Lee has gained experience acting on film and television series, some of which will be releasing late 2017 and early 2018 on BBC and Cinema. She been involved in more than just acting but also in admin, technical and casting sides for film. She works part time at the Alexander Bar.

Media & Reviews

"With an excellent set of performers and tight, crafted direction, In Whorefish Bloomers is sassy, it’s snazzy, it’s slick, and a damned good show."

Review of In Whorefish Bloomers by Sarah Roberson

"The performances by Jamie-Lee Money and Donna Cormack-Thomson are sterling; both are exceptionally talented and astute in their portrayal of their characters. A definite must see."

Review by Joy Watson

"A witty cabaret with a sharp delivery, the choreography is inventive and aerobic, and the actresses’ energy never dips for a second."

Review by Suzanne Duncan

"The whole affair has the potential to be a gloriously disturbing and dangerously subversive piece of theatre."

Review by David Fick

"The play was truly entertaining, shocking and thought-provoking"

Review of In Whorefish Bloomers by Kat Manne

Press Release

Audience Responses

The actresses gave an amazing performance and I loved the mix of comedy with dark social commentary

Fantastic performances. Incredibly powerful. Please, please bring it back for more!

Absolutely blown away by the performance and the chemistry between the two actresses. The writing / adaptation of the original play was phenomenal and really hit home for me.

Superb entertainment

I am very surprised that sue pam grant penned such a terrible, misdirected piece of theatre. The two actresses did a great job under the circumstances. people laughed. so it seems it had an audience. just not me. I saw better pieces in my angsty drama 1 class many years back. pity. i was a big fan of pam back in her curl up and dye days. hopefully she will find her vice and relevance again soon, as there were relevant things to be said, she just didn't seem to know how to say them in a way that would result in impact or inspiration. so 0 is my score. in all honesty. if i wasn't hemmed into the middle, i might have left.

Bloody brilliant! Id love to see it again.

I thoroughly enjoyed the show. Thought-provoking and comical. I'll be looking out for future productions involving these ladies.

Full available review at: http://www.broadwayworld.com/south-africa/article/BWW-Review-IN-WHOREFISH-BLOOMERS-Has-the-Potential-to-Be-the-Battle-Cry-it-Sets-Out-to-Be-20170718. All the best for the rest of the run, and hope to see this piece grow more and more!

Brilliant. It was an eye-opening show and the actresses were incredible.

So well written and so pertinent to today's society. Best play I have seen. Was hilarious, honest, and the actresses were brilliant.

The most brilliant funny play. Loved the actors and script, everything was great! This show should travel SA and go to all girl schools (and boys, possibly), it is such a good LO class.

Amazing Dialog - Really well executed performance!

Brilliant show!

Would love to see it again and bring more people!

nicely balanced, very brave and bold young woman. well done.

Captivating, brilliant

I absolutely loved the show. It was thought-provoking and completely captivating, and both actresses were incredible. A very important subject dealt with cleverly.

Brilliant thought provoking play with a mix of laugh out loud humor and depth. Excellent performance by skilled actors. Definitely worth watching.

Excellent acting and storyline. Completely raw, true to life and hilarious!

So relevant, tight, funny, moving, brilliantly performed and directed. Enjoyed it so much!!

wonderful script great actresses

Such an important message that needs to be spread far and wide, and brilliant actresses to boot!