Theatre in the Backyard, Cape Town

Private Experience

Duration: 3 Hours

It’s dinner and a show with a deep cultural twist. Coffeebeans has partnered with acclaimed Cape Town theatre director, Mhlanguli George, to create an experience around his innovative Theatre in the Backyard concept.

In South Africa, backyards provide a crucial secondary layer of housing, where residents rent structures from homeowners. This is where much of the narrative of working-class South African life is played out. Mhlanguli writes original, site-specific 30-minute plays set specifically in these intimate spaces.

On arrival, the director and the homeowner welcome guests. Over traditional starters, Mhlanguli introduces the concept and the back-story of the production. Guests then move outside for the performance—past productions include Is He Mad? (based on Dario Fo) and the physical theatre piece Wait… Linda.

After the show, the actor and director host the group for dinner and conversation inside the home. The meal is a home-cooked spread of traditional isiXhosa dishes, offering a rare opportunity for deep engagement with the artists in a domestic setting.