After a celebrated run at the Baxter Studio in Cape Town with his latest award-wining The Fool’s Guide… To Living and Dying, renowned actor and playwright Andrew Buckland heads to Gqeberha this November.
Written by Andrew and Janet Buckland, Janet directs the hilarious and highly physical journey through the world of contemporary tech, ably navigated with the virtuoso skill of an actor at the peak of his powers.
The play explores the human condition in the age of social media and artificial intelligence (AI), with Buckland unleashing this fast-paced comic thriller filled with surreal characters, twists and surprises as Milton Yonaire (played by Buckland) races to save his son Billy from the TechBro Overlords.
Along the way, a devoted fan, a vulnerable Teacup Yorkie and mysterious robot vacuum cleaner add to the chaos that ensues.
Funny, strange and thought-provoking, the production blends raucous comedy, poignant storytelling and Buckland’s signature clowning to deliver a wildly theatrical adventure.
“Will Milton Yonaire be able to save his son Billy before the TechBro Overlords do their worst?” Buckland probes.
“Can TechBro Billy survive the exploitation of a corrupt social media platform?
"Can his greatest fan, The FaNarrator, protect her Teacup Yorkie, called Porky, from the assassination plot by Chad, the head of the TechBro Overlords?
"What is the secret carried by the Home Robot Vacuum Cleaner?”
The production has been widely praised by critics as a brilliant and timely theatrical triumph.
The Critter called it “… probably the most superbly performed modern-day cautionary tale you are likely to witness by a solo storyteller, driven by 'tech bros' as the malevolent force".
Broadway World emphasised that the "exquisite contrast between the subject and the method is itself a statement, and a very funny one at that".
The Cape Robyn echoed this, describing the show as a “wacky, wry, hilarious, and clever wild car ride through the AI-influenced landscape of ours, in which humans are being disintermediated".
Since 1980, Buckland, in collaboration with his partner, Janet, has been consistently producing a world-class series of performances based firmly on physicality and the power of the whole body of the performer to interrogate universal questions.
Each performance has focussed on satirical and parodic investigations of the human condition, engaging with politics and issues of social justice.
Yet these investigations have always been in the world of the Clown, the Fool, and steeped in the belief of the redemptive and transcendent power of laughter.
Buckland describes himself as addicted to the sound of the laughter of people.
His shows include The Mime, Touchstones, No Easy Walk, The Ugly Noo Noo, Between the Teeth, Bloodstream (with Lionel Newton), Feedback (with Lionel Newton), The Water Juggler, The Well Being (with Lionel Newton and Lara Foot), Laugh the Buffalo, Crazy in Love (with Rob Murray), and Firefly (with Sylvaine Strike).
The Fool’s Guide…to living and dying is presented by Mouthpiece and was commissioned by the Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees 2026.
The production runs at Isithatha Theatre in Walmer from Friday November 6 to Sunday November 8. Show times vary.
Tickets cost R180 via www.Isithatha.co.za/tickets, with the opening show already almost sold out.
Please note, there is an age restriction of 12 years.
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