PRESS: A FLEA IN HER EAR at the Magnet for a limited run

Zukisani Nongogo

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Magnet Theatre’s fulltime training and job creation programme 2025/2026 presents, A FLEA IN HER EAR by Georges Feydeau, translated by John Mortimer, for a limited run from 24 to 27 June 2026.

Photo by Lubabalo Mbaleki.

Magnet Theatre is thrilled to present the iconic French farce directed by award winning Qondiswa James and featuring the 7^th cohort of trainees in their second year of training at Magnet Theatre.

Was there ever a wife who didn't wonder if her husband was unfaithful? And a best friend who didn't offer to find out? Raymonde Chandebisse, suspecting her husband Victor of having an affair, plots to catch him in the act. Mistaken identity, trysts, and a gun-toting jealous husband make for a huge amount of fun. Mistakes, mayhem and marital misunderstandings erupt in a love hotel – doors slam, clothes go missing, and everyone ends up in the wrong beds!

Written in 1907, the play remains remarkably sharp and engaging for a contemporary South African audience. The genre’s trademark chaotic energy and satirical bite provide a cathartic way to confront our own social absurdities while offering audiences a necessary escape through laughter. Feydau’s farce brilliantly pokes fun at the fragility of human relationships and how quickly they can unravel under the pressure of suspicion, pride, jealousy and desire. The desperate need to protect reputation at all costs – coupled with an almost total failure of honest communication – reveals characters whose impulses and contradictions feel strikingly familiar.

Photo by Lubabalo Mbaleki.

This translation by John Mortimer is directed by one of South Africa’s most exciting theatre-makers: the groundbreaking and award-winning Qondiswa James. Her recent play Amaxelegu was presented in collaboration with the Market Theatre at Magnet Theatre earlier this year. Known for her bold explorations of intimacy, power, social performance and human contradiction that are unique to South Africa, James brings a fresh theatrical vitality to this classic comedy of errors.

Audiences can expect something vibrant, playful and electric – a collision between the razor-sharp mechanics of early twentieth-century farce and the dynamism and physicality of the incredibly talented cohort of young performers from the Magnet Theatre Full-time Training and Job Creation Programme.

This amateur production of A FLEA IN HER EAR (Mortimer, trans) is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals Ltd. On behalf of Samuel French Ltd. www.concordtheatricals.co.uk

A FLEA IN HER EAR will be performed for 5 performances only from 24 to 27 June 2026 at Magnet Theatre: Cnr Lower Main & St Michael’s Roads in Observatory. Bookings for the shows can be made on Webtickets. The production carries an age restriction of 15.

Bookings for school groups by contacting project manager Zukisani Nongogo Magnet Theatre at projects@magnettheatre.co.za or 021 448 3436.

Performance dates and times:

Wednesday 24^thJune: Low price preview @11h00

Thursday 25^th June: Opening @19h00

Friday 26^th June: Performance @ 19h00

Saturday 27^th June: Matinée @ 14h00

Saturday 27^th June:  Performance @ 19h00

Ticket Prices:R80 for general admission R60 for scholars, students, pensioners, block bookings (10 or more)R50 for Low Price Preview/Early Bird Special (running until 8 June)

Director: Qondiswa James

Performers: Akho Zuzani, Anga Gola, Asiphumeze Stuurman, Aviwe Nose, Ayabonga Yantolo, Aziyena Yamile,  Busiswa Zwele, Inganam Soxuza, Kananelo Lesekele, Kwakhanya Mboniswa, Liyema Velebayi, Olwethu Thwetsha, Onako Poswayo, Shannon Roode, Simphiwe Sefali, Someleze Madophe, Lithetha Dywili, Yolanda Mndayi, Zimfefe Lamani.

Stage Manager: Wade AlexanderAssistant

Stage Manager: Nolwazi Mbutho

Voice Coach: Sara Matchett

Set and Costume Design: Carin Bester

Movement Director: Jennie ReznekLighting design: Themba Stewart