| What: The Curious Case of Katherine Sinclair When: July 1-5, 2026 Where: Star Theatre, The Homecoming Centre, Cape Town Cast: Megan Armstrong-Davies (Katherine Sinclair), Stephan Fourie (Detective Philip Mortimer), Amy Reed (Marjorie) and Daniel von Hoesslin (Patrick Sinclair and others) Writers/producers: Megan Armstrong-Davies and Stephan Fourie Bookings: Quickethttps://qkt.io/KatherineSinclair Age Restriction: No under 13s Website: https://katherine-sinclair.com/ |
What happens when someone continues determining their own story – after they are dead? Not just dead – murdered. This is the premise, underpinning the Curious Case of Katherine Sinclair, a new juke-box musical, which is premiering in Cape Town, July 1-5, 2026 at the Homecoming Centre. Katherine has been murdered and she has an agenda to tackle in her quest for retribution. Megan Armstrong-Davies and Stephan Fourie are performing in the four hander and are also the producers. They give insights into the genre bending musical, which is a whodunit with a twist, “somewhere between cabaret, noir and social satire”, as Fourie puts it. Armstrong-Davies muses that Katherine, wants us “to understand the unbridled anger and cynicism she harbours towards the many participants in her life.” And it all mashes up to an entertaining piece of musical theatre. Fourie: “We were very interested in creating a theatrical experience that feels playful and unpredictable”.
TheCapeRobyn: Who sparked The Curious Case of Katherine Sinclair?
Megan Armstrong-Davies: It wasn’t inspired by one person per se but by a collection of anecdotes – only a woman of a certain age can muster.
TCR: Where did that come from – telling the story from a dead person’s point of view?
MAD: It was just an amusing way to cover a topic that’s been covered a thousand times before.
TCR: Where does the larney name come from – Katherine Sinclair?
MAD: When I was a child, there was a very beautiful girl in my class called Catherine and I’ve loved the name ever since. The name Katherine with a ‘K’ is a bit more hard hitting and our character needed that. The surname just sounds slightly haughtier than most.
Stephan Fourie: There’s something inherently theatrical about giving the “victim” complete control of the narrative. I’ve always been drawn to complex female characters, and the question that sparked the piece was: What happens when someone continues shaping their own story even beyond death?
We loved the idea that Katherine could guide the audience through the mystery while simultaneously manipulating them. It allows the show to constantly play with perception, truth and performance. Because she’s technically already dead, she has a freedom to be brutally honest, deeply funny, wildly self-serving — and occasionally devastatingly vulnerable.
It also turns the traditional whodunnit structure on its head, because the audience is never entirely sure whether Katherine is confiding in them or seducing them into complicity.
TCR: Where is it set?
MAD: It is a salacious scandal that could be set anywhere within the anglosphere.
SF: The world of the show is intentionally slightly heightened and non-specific. It feels contemporary, but with a glamorous, almost cinematic sensibility that exists somewhere between cabaret, noir and social satire. We wanted it to feel recognisable without tying it too rigidly to one exact place or moment in time. Cape Town absolutely informs the texture of the piece. There’s a very specific social performance culture here — image, status, gossip, aspiration — and the show definitely draws from that energy. But it’s not a literal depiction of Cape Town. It’s more that the city’s contradictions helped shape the atmosphere of the world.
TCR: What is she seeking? Revenge? Punishment?
MAD: Sheessentially seeks punishment, revenge and the opportunity to provide a justification for her behaviour. She wants you to understand the unbridled anger and cynicism she harbours towards the many participants in her life.
RYC: Insights into the design – set, costumes and lighting Tell is about the vibe and aesthetic – visually and emotionally?
SF: We wanted the production to feel like stepping into a beautifully unstable world. The design language is intentionally theatrical rather than naturalistic — layered textures, bold silhouettes, dramatic lighting states and a sense that everything could unravel at any moment. There’s an old-Hollywood glamour running through it, but constantly undercut by something sharper and stranger.
Emotionally, the show moves between satire, absurdity and genuine vulnerability quite rapidly. One moment you’re laughing at the ridiculousness of these people and the next you suddenly recognise something painfully human underneath it. The aesthetic mirrors that duality: glamorous but fractured, elegant but slightly dangerous.
The costumes play a huge role in storytelling. Katherine, in particular, treats image as armour, performance and weaponry all at once. So visually, nothing is ever entirely accidental.
TCR: Are you changing lyrics of the songs? Please explain about using “familiar sounds in unfamiliar ways”?
SF: The show uses reimagined songs as a storytelling device, but always in service of narrative and character rather than parody. Some lyrics have been adapted, some songs are reframed through entirely new dramatic contexts, and others gain completely different meanings simply through who is singing them and why.
There’s something very exciting about taking music audiences already have an emotional relationship with and then destabilising it. A song associated with romance suddenly becomes threatening. A power ballad becomes comic. A breakup anthem becomes evidence in a murder investigation.
That tension between recognition and surprise is a huge part of the theatrical experience. Audiences feel slightly ahead of the moment because they know the music — and then the story pulls the rug out from under them.
TCR: Can you give insights into the genre bending with this work – as an immersive and intimate cabaret whodunit?
MAD: Essentially, we are alluding to the intimacy of the piece. Katherine often directly speaks to the audience giving them the ‘inside track’ as to what is unfolding.
SF: The piece deliberately refuses to sit neatly inside one genre. At its core it’s a murder mystery, but it also borrows heavily from cabaret, dark comedy, melodrama and musical theatre. Tonally, it moves quite fluidly between camp theatricality and genuine emotional stakes.
We were very interested in creating a theatrical experience that feels playful and unpredictable. Traditional whodunnits can sometimes become overly procedural, whereas cabaret allows direct audience complicity, heightened performance and a certain mischievousness. Combining those forms created something that feels intimate, chaotic and very alive.
RYC: Is Katherine the emcee to her own story?
MAD: In part, yes whilst also fleshing out how many events unfolded beyond just voicing her notions of what that looked like.
SF: Structurally, the show operates almost like a fractured memory play disguised as a murder mystery. The narrative moves between timelines, interrogations, performances and recollections, often blurring where truth ends and theatricality begins.
Katherine herself effectively becomes the host of the evening. She guides the audience through the story, comments on events, manipulates perspective and occasionally weaponises charm against the audience. So while there isn’t a traditional separate emcee figure, the production absolutely embraces the direct audience relationship and theatrical self-awareness associated with cabaret.
TCR: Anything else to add about the piece and the production?
MAD: This is what theatre looks like when sheer will, creativity and a desire to produce are your biggest driving factors. There is so much talent in Cape Town and so few vehicles through which to do something special. We were so eager to just start from scratch and create our own voice and I think we have created something utterly original, in parts, quite the spectacle and occasionally touching on poignancy.
SF: What excites me most about this production is that it feels unapologetically original. It wasn’t developed by committee or shaped to fit into a pre-existing commercial mould. It came from a genuine desire to create something theatrical, entertaining and distinctly ours.
Cape Town has extraordinary performers and creatives, and audiences are hungry for work that feels bold, intelligent and slightly risky. We wanted to make a night at the theatre that feels like an event — something stylish, funny, musically unexpected and emotionally surprising all at once.
TCR: Can you tell us about the process of creating this original musical – a big undertaking?
SF: The musical was developed through a highly collaborative workshop process, with the creative team working fluidly across disciplines rather than within rigid traditional structures. The workshop was creatively led by myself, with musical collaboration and guidance from Byron Bure, Casey Wallace and Neil Leachman. The visual design and aesthetic development has been shaped by Marna Wright and Jacquie Reed. Their work has been instrumental in defining the production’s distinctive theatrical language.
✳ Megan Armstrong-Davies (Katherine Sinclair) and Stephan Fourie (Detective Philip Mortimer), are performing in The Curious Case of Katherine Sinclair, premiering July 1-5, 2026, Star Theatre, The Homecoming Centre, Cape Town. They have also cncepualised the musical and are the producers.
