Review: Stacey’s Bay, fun, funny, quirky, sexy, erotic and deliciously entertaining

What: Stacey’s Bay When: September 8-19, 2026 Where: Baxter Masambe, Cape Town Written by: Pierre Malherbe Directed and designed by: Adrian Collins Performed by: Berenice Barbier and Pierre Malherbe Bookings: Webtickets Age restriction: 18 age restriction for language and sexual subject

Fun, funny, quirky, sexy, erotic and deliciously entertaining: Stacey’s Bay is the new play by Pierre Malherbe, starring Malherbe as Jason and Berenice Barbier as Stacey. Direction and design is by Adrian Collins. Jason’s hair and his “cohort” by Gina Pauling.

I loved this wackily absurdist urban caper with an enchanting twist of creep and menace. It puts rom-com into another frame. Sensational performances by Barbier and Malherbe. Barbier, with her signature “funny bones” is a maestro of comedy meets drama. Even her fingers are funny and unhinged. And watch what she does with her tongue.

Stacey starts off seemingly unstable – Jason’s take. And then the fun begins. There is a parking bay in the mix. But, who is in the driver’s seat?

Malherbe’s love and knowledge of music is manifested in a character which loops off a music legend – even if you think it is booze that is being referenced. Made you look? Didn’t it. Inspired props by Courtney Els – record album, a CD and a book. They look real. A great deal of work has gone into the detail of this production, with the clever minimalist set by Adrian Collins, evoking shifts spatially and in terms of character development. And there is a lot of that in this two hander.

Malherbe’s Jason becomes a reluctantly acquiescent partner for Barbier’s Stacey. At first, she seems, blank, perhaps on the spectrum, emotionally challenged and needy. In the opening scenes, the sheer brilliance of Barbier’s funny bones comes in, with physical comedy which riffs off Malherbe’s delicious script. A hard copy invoice book is involved. Do they still print these doodads?

I am being cryptic because I don’t want to plot spoil. It is a story which starts off badly, transactional to its core. It is about human connection, even if it involves stepping into other personas. It is about the yearning for love, career, fulfilment, travel which may lead one on unexpected journeys. It’s wacky, clever and tender, entertaining and relatable – how we bargain and make deals in life – not just with accessing parking bays.  

It has been a long time, since I have been enthralled by a female character in South African theatre. For me, the character of Stacey resonates in terms of images of possession – typically associated with women –possessed by spirits and ghosts – usually not in a good way. I am thinking of witches, dybbuks, demons. Stacey is a women possessed – fully in control – and owning it. She is possessed by her obsession with music and myth. She is possessed by those who she deals with and want to consume her. She is mythical, fantastic and a fantasy. Jason is drawn into a zipless collaboration. And yet, Malherbe’s writing, places these two protagonists as two lonely souls, creating their own reality, cognisant of the commonplace, such as attending body corporate meetings and filling out invoices. But it is a yummy story which also transcends – the mundane and expected. This is played out as visceral theatre, through music, hilarity and the protagonists letting go of themselves.  

I loved Stacey’s Bay. It leaves one with a smile. An invigorating piece of contemporary theatre.

✳ Pierre Malherbe and Berenice Barbier in Stacey’s Bay, by Pierre Malherbe, September 8-19, 2026, Baxter Masambe, Cape Town. Direction and design by Adrian Collins. Pic: Supplied.