| What: The Killing of a Union Leader Written and directed by: Louis Viljoen When: May 12 – 30, 2026 Where: Artscape Arena, Cape Town Performers: John Maytham, Emma Kotze, Sizwesandile Mnisi and Carl Beukes Design: Kieran McGregor Tickets: R170 – R200 Bookings: Webtickets Website: www.unionleaderplay.co.za Age Restriction: No Under 18s Poster and website design: Barbara Loots |
Thrilling news is the staging of Louis Viljoen’s new thriller, The Killing of a Union Leader in the Artscape Arena, from May 12 – 30, 2026. The four hander is directed by Viljoen and stars John Maytham, Emma Kotze, Sizwesandile Mnisi and Carl Beukes. Read on for more. Info as supplied:
New thriller from multiple award-winning playwright Louis Viljoen premieres at Artscape this May
A new thriller by celebrated playwright Louis Viljoen will confront audiences with a gripping tale of ambition, intrigue and murder at Artscape in May.
Viljoen’s new political thriller, THE KILLING OF A UNION LEADER, reunites him with renowned actor and radio personality John Maytham, as well as three-time Viljoen collaborator, Emma Kotze.
Joining the team are Sizwesandile Mnisi, a dynamic voice in theatre, as well as internationally acclaimed actor, Carl Beukes.
THE KILLING OF A UNION LEADER will be presented at Artscape Arena Theatre from May 12 – 30, 2026
Bookings can be made at Webtickets
Night falls on a decaying city after a union strike turns deadly. A captain of industry finds himself beset on all sides by enemies and those who wish to see his kingdom shattered into a thousand pieces. The nobleman’s only remaining ally is his daughter, a woman possessed of unrealized ambition. In their desperation they turn to an unscrupulous political operator to set in motion a plan to break the strike and seize back the power they have lost. The only obstacle in their way is a seemingly impenetrable union lead by a champion of the people and a formidable opponent. As a new dawn arrives for the city, battle lines are drawn, and the streets are ready for blood.
“There will be no give and both sides will see the other destroyed before the day is through. That much has been proven…” – THE KILLING OF A UNION LEADER
“The dark heart of this tale is revealed through a serious of scenes that ratchet up the tension until the play reaches a bloody breaking point,” says writer and director Viljoen. “It is not a production for the faint-hearted or the marginally sensitive, but it promises to thrill and keep audiences on the edge of their seats.”
John Maytham first took on Louis Viljoen’s words in the one-man production, The Outlaw Muckridge, for which he was nominated for a Fleur Du Cap Theatre Award. He followed that up with an explosive performance in Viljoen’s The Sin Drinkers, alongside Emma Kotze, herself no stranger to the playwright’s twisted worlds having starred in Oh Baby, I’m A Wild One and The Grass Widow. Maytham and Kotze reunite in this production as industry leader, Burke, and his ambitious daughter, Margot.
Sizwesandile Mnisi takes his first steps into the world of Viljoen with the role of Gibson, a promising union representative who is steadfast in his ideals, until his world gets upturned by the machinations of merciless people. Sizwesandile knows his way around hard-hitting material, having co-created and starred in The Fall, the much-lauded play about the Fees Must Fall movement. This makes him a great addition to this new gripping political thriller.
Carl Beukes recently returned to South African shores after eight years in Los Angeles, where he racked up an impressive amount of acting credits in film and television. His love for the stage has never waned, and the role of Dobbs, an amoral political operator, is tailor-made for Carl’s unique blend of enigma and charm.
Following their successful collaborations on The Grass Widow, The Visigoths, The Sin Drinkers, Mrs. Mitchell Comes To Town and most recently The Vulgarians, frequent Viljoen collaborator, Kieran McGregor, is once again on board as the set and lighting designer of the play. McGregor understands how to create the opaque spaces in which Viljoen’s characters reveal their darkest desires and inhabit a world cloaked in intrigue, as he adds his own exceptional design aesthetic. THE KILLING OF A UNION LEADER will be McGregor’s seventh project working alongside Viljoen, having also done the design for the Viljoen penned The Eulogists.
THE KILLING OF A UNION LEADER will be onstage at Artscape’s Arena Theatre from 12 to 30 May 2026.
The play carries an age restriction of 18 for strong language, descriptions of violence, and scenes of a sexual nature.
Tickets are available through Webtickets and range from R170 to R200 per person.
Production: THE KILLING OF A UNION LEADER
Written and Directed by Louis Viljoen
Performed by John Maytham, Emma Kotze, Sizwesandile Mnisi and Carl Beukes
Designed by Kieran McGregor
Poster and Website Design by Barbara Loots
Website: www.unionleaderplay.co.za
Dates: May 12 – 30, 2026
Venue: Arena Theatre, Artscape
Bookings: Webtickets
Tickets: R170 – R200
Age Restriction: No Under 18
For more details, please visit www.unionleaderplay.co.za
MORE ABOUT THE TEAM
Louis Viljoen – Writer/Director
Louis Viljoen is a Cape Town based award-winning playwright and director. Described as “one of South Africa’s most exciting playwrights”, Viljoen’s gripping writing is known for its intricate use of language and an uncomfortable intimacy that keeps audiences enthralled.
He has written and produced numerous plays including, The Bile Boys, The Frontiersmen, The Verbalists, CHAMP, Porno 88, The Kingmakers, The Pervert Laura, Oh Baby, I’m A Wild One, The Emissary, The Eulogists, The Demon Bride, The Hucksters and most recently the acclaimed The Grass Widow, The Visigoths, The Sin Drinkers, Mrs. Mitchell Comes To Town and The Vulgarians.
Viljoen has won the Fleur Du Cap Theatre award for Best New South African Script for CHAMP (2013) and The Kingmakers (2015). He was the recipient of the Rosalie van Der Gucht Best New Director award for his plays, The Kingmakers and The Pervert Laura and was nominated for Best New South African Script for The Baxter Theatre’s productions of The Hucksters and The Outlaw Muckridge, as well as Rob Van Vuuren’s international touring play Dangled.
He was recently nominated for a 2026 SAFTA for ‘Best Achievement in Scriptwriting – Feature Film’ for Death of a Whistleblower.
A compilation of his plays will also be published by Karavan Press in 2026.
John Maytham
John plays the character of Burke, a captain of industry.
He is a familiar voice on the airwaves. and has been with Cape Talk Radio since its inaugural broadcast, being the first host to switch on the mic on 14 October 1997. He is currently drive-time host of ‘PM Drive’ on Cape Talk.
A Rhodes trained thespian, he turned to radio journalism in 1990 after a decade as an actor, but has never lost the desire to be on stage. His passion for performance eventually lured him back to the boards with performances in David Hare’s Via Dolorosa and Marie Jones’ A Night in November, as well as Shakespeare in Love at the Fugard, Richard III at Maynardville and Present Laughter at Theatre on the Bay. This was followed by his acclaimed performance in Louis Viljoen’s The Outlaw Muckridge for which he received a Fleur Du Cap nomination for Best Performance in a Revue, Cabaret or One-Person show.
He also appeared as The Prince in the 2024 staging of the Geoff Hyland directed Romeo & Juliet at Maynardville. Critics and audiences also praised his performance in Pierre Malherbe’s Bucket Boy, in Louis Viljoen’s The Sin Drinkers (starring opposite Emma Kotze) and, most recently, in Mike van Graan’s From Life with Love.
Emma Kotze
Emma plays the role of Margo, Burke’s ambitious daughter.
A UCT graduate, Emma was nominated for the 2014 Fleur Du Cap award for Most Promising Student. She has actively been pursued her passion for the arts, making her professional theatre debut in Wynne Bredenkamp’s Salt at the 2014 National Arts Festival, and has since starred in In The Wings (directed by Philip Rademeyer), The Incredible Journey (written and directed by Stefan Erasmus), Reparations (written and directed by Ameera Conrad) and At the Edge of the Light (written and directed by Wynne Bredenkamp).
In 2016 she joined forces with Louis Viljoen for the first time to perform his one-woman play, Oh Baby, I’m A Wild One. She has since also starred in Bibi Slippers’ Fotostaatmasjien and Wessel Pretorius’ The Gospel According to Jan Coetzee alongside David Viviers. In 2023 she enthralled audiences with her performance in Louis Viljoen’s The Grass Window in which critics praised her beguiling performance and 2024 saw her take to the stage in Philip Rademeyer’s Goed Wat Wag Om Te Gebeur for which she was nominated for a 2023 Woordtrofee for Best Supporting Actress. Most recently she starred opposite John Maytham in Louis Viljoen’s The Sin Drinkers.
Although she has a passion for the stage, she is no stranger to the screen. Emma has featured in numerous South African film and television series (Die Boekklub, Fynskrif , Nommer 5, Rage, Afgrond, Strange New Things and ICE). She was most recently featured in History Channel’s miniseries Lincoln and has worked alongside Tinarie van Wyk Loots, Antoinette Kellerman, David Minnaar, Cintaine Schutte and Stian Bam.
Expanding her work into film creation, Emma co-created and starred in the short film In Die Verloop Van (2024) and produced her first short film, ARK (2025). Both short films debuted at the KykNET Silwerskerm Festival, marking her continued expansion into producing and original content development within the South African film landscape.
Sizwesandile Mnisi
Sizwesandile plays the role of Gibson, a union representative.
He is an actor, singer, dancer, and writer who graduated from the University of Cape Town’s Drama school in 2015.
Sizwesandile is one of the writers and original cast of the multi award-winning play The Fall, produced by the Baxter Theatre Centre. He has worked in both theatre and film, performing in Germany, Senegal, Scotland, the Royal Court in London, as well as New York and Washington DC. His theatre credits include Woza Albert! at the Baxter Theatre in 2016, directed by Fleur du Cap award winning director, Mdu Kweyama, and Nwabisa Plaatjie’s Identirrhaging, a play about language and identity. He played the roles of Siya and Raeven in Marc Lottering’s Aunty Merle The Musical and Aunty Merle It’s A Girl, directed by Lara Foot from 2017 to 2019, and played the role of the artist, Bill, in Alice Childress’ Wine in the Wilderness, which was directed by Nwabisa Plaatjie.
Audience would have also seen him the recent productions of A Midsummer Night’s Dream directed by renowned director Geoffrey Hyland and Romeo & Juliet also directed by Hyland. In 2025, Sizwe performed in The Fugue of Tjebolang, a Javanese classic adapted and directed by Rehane Abrahams, with support from NAF and the FEC, and played the role of Andile Mokoena in Marc Lottering’s Colleen The Musical directed by Lara Foot.
His TV work includes the role of Gaani, an Al-Shaabab leader for the BBC series Our Girl. Recent credits include Rhapsody of Realities, a film based on the book of the same name written by Chris Oyakhilome.
Sizwesandile’s work is afro-centric and seeks to challenge perceived notions about black masculinity and black male identity.
Carl Beukes
Carl plays the character of Dobbs, a political operative.
A South African born actor, Carl walked onto stage when he was nine years old and has been acting ever since. After matriculating from the National School of the Arts, Carl worked in theatre productions such as Shear Madness, Certified Male, Amadeus, Macbeth and Craig Freimond’s Death of a Colonialist.
He has also spread his wings in the film and TV world. His television work includes roles in the role of Paul McPherson in Isidingo and the role of surgeon Dylan Fourie in Binnelanders.
Setting his sights on Hollywood, Carl went on to appear in a guest role on Homeland, before landing the lead role of Archangel Gabriel on the series, Dominion. Other notable productions include Netflix’s Troy: Fall of A City, Gavin Hood’s Eye in the Sky, Grey’s Anatomy, FBI’s Most Wanted, Lioness, NCIS and NCIS: Los Angeles, as well as British TV shows Silent Witness, Wild at Heart and Mad Dogs.
He landed the role of Jim Brown, alongside Sienna Miller and Toby Jones, in Julian Jarrold’s Golden Globe nominated, The Girl, following that with the role of Niel Barnard in Justin Chadwick’s award-winning film, Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom. He also played the lead, Fanus, in Ken Kaplan’s film Pure Blood. Other film highlights include Jozi, as well as South Africa’s first Apple TV Original Film The Shakedown.
Audiences can currently see him in Die Kantoor, the Showmax spin-off of The Office.
Carl is incredibly excited to play the role of Dobbs. Having recently returned from the USA where he resided for 8 years, Carl is overjoyed to be back on a South African stage, telling South African stories in front of a South African audience.
Kieran McGregor (Set & Lighting Designer)
As a versatile Production Designer, Production Manager, and Creative Producer, Kieran thrives across multiple disciplines and roles. He brings a holistic, hands-on approach to every project. Guided by what live performance can uniquely give an audience that no other medium can, each production’s needs are shaped and defined to create worlds that viewers can fully immerse themselves in.
With experience and expertise from a variety of roles in many mediums, from small indie projects to large-scale events and international tours, Kieran’s portfolio showcases a diverse range of highlights:
Moya, Zip Zap Circus’ international touring production, recently returned from Off-Broadway, New York, The Father, directed by Greg Karvellas for The Fugard Theatre, Grounded, directed by Chris Weare at The Baxter Theatre, Peppa Pig! Live in South Africa!, presented by EFX International and Hasbro UK, Design Indaba Festival and Conference, presented by Interactive Africa, as well as Expelled, directed by Craig Freimond and My Name is Lucy Barton, both for How Now Brown Cow Productions.
Most recently his work could be seen in Pretty Woman: The Musical, Firebird and Colleen: The Musical.
He has previously partnered with Louis Viljoen as designer on The Eulogists, The Grass Widow, The Visigoths, The Sin Drinkers, Mrs. Mitchell Comes to Town and The Vulgarians.
Kieran’s unwavering commitment to his craft ensures that each project not only tells a compelling story but also leaves a lasting impact on its audience.
❇ Sponsored feature. Imagess supplied.
