Graham Clarke revives his award-winning performance of the late American author Shel Silverstein's epic one-man comedy poem. It is filled with a mixture of profanity and profound wisdom.

Billy Markham is an out of work blues singer. A boozer and loser, Billy is in a bar one evening where he is challenged to a game of dice by the Devil; the stakes are his soul. It kicks off a escalating game, taking the characters between Hell, Heaven and Nashville, and moving from hilarity to poignant drama. The text is a lively celebration of the English language.

“Clarke is a compelling, masterful and humorous story-teller… he holds the audience in his grip without a falter for an hour.” - Fiona Chisholm, Argus 2005
Graham Clarke won the FNB Vita award for best comedy performance in a one man show for this show in 1998.

Media & Reviews

Review of The Devil and Billy Markham by Eugene Yiga

Review of The Devil and Billy Markham by Peter Tromp

Audience Responses

What a slick, entertaining, thought-provoking performance! Enjoyed every minute and would want to see it a second-time round

Really enjoyed the show, saw it a few years ago at the Kalk Bay Theatre, thought it was brilliant and that is why we went again. He was absolutely great.

Amazing! What an engaging performance. Can't wait for more stuff from this performer. It piece reinforced the idea for me that poetry is not reserved for old dusty books but also alive on today's stage. Loved it!

I throughly enjoyed the evening and ambience of the bar. The play:Witty engaging and intelligent. Unfortunately I had the theatre air conditioner on my back which detracted from my experience.

Great venue and great show !!!

Definitely 5 stars. It was EXCELLENT! Graham Clarke is as accomplished as he was when I saw him approximately 35 years ago in "Godspell"!

Excellent performance

vibrant, evocative and provocative; i loved the singing and actually, the rhythm of the whole piece.

5

Plus points: I loved the raw-ness / grit of the performance, as well as the amount of work and energy that the actor clearly put into "getting it right". Exceptional! Minus points: Odd giggles from sound / lighting engineer & the open shirt of the actor was distracting from his performance.

Great acting and performance Great energy and style

I found it a riveting performance, A special evening out in Cape Town for us all

5

It was exceptional. Brilliant text, and very well acted!

I throughly enjoyed the evening and ambience of the bar. The play:Witty engaging and intelligent. Unfortunately I had the theatre air conditioner on my back which detracted from my experience.