| What: Chicken, And. When: May 23-30, 2026 (nine performances) Where: The Avalon, The Homecoming Centre, District Six Direct booking link: https://qkt.io/aq2PPY Writer: Garrick Pagel Director: Meritxell Cilliers Cast: Pierre Malherbe, William Young, Francis Sholto-Douglas and Jake Maisel Producers: Jake Maisel, Jock Kleynhans, Nahum Huges and Tailyn Ramsamy Running time: Approx 80 minutes |
Chicken, And.
Chicken and what?
All will be revealed in this new satire, which will be hatching at The Avalon, at the Homecoming Centre, from May 23-30, 2026. This is the debut season of this play which has a tantalising logline. It is about a celebrity chef “who rallies against his public cancellation after hatching a talking chicken on live TV.” Is the career of a chicken cooking his goose? Pagel is a South African who studied in Edinburgh and the play marks his debut as a playwright in South Africa. It is also the launch season of Chicken, And. which is set now, in contemporary times and has a young and talented bunch of creatives and producers, at the helm. Read on for more:
Chicken, And. A short synopsis
A power-house cast. Gruesome, satirical, South African independent theatre. Chicken, And. pecks at today’s capitalist hellscape, inviting you into a warped talk show arena – where magical realism and menace collide.
Producers
The star-studded team behind Chicken, And. brings writer Garrick Pagel’s highly anticipated South African debut to life. The producers are: Jake Maisel, Jock Kleynhans, Nahum Huges and Tailyn Ramsamy.
Cleaving into the absurd
When a beloved TV chef makes an accidental discovery, leaked footage leads to him losing his reputation and dignity … while launching the career of a chicken??
Upon “The Culinary Dad’’ Chad McBrad’s downfall, an ambitious producer finds success by fostering the Chicken’s career.
In a world governed by spectacle and consumption: is there a way out?
Creative Intent:
Pagel’s work is a powerful reminder of why we must continue to support and elevate South African writers: those who challenge, provoke, and reflect the complexities of the world we live in. Chicken,And. goes beyond satire to explore the quiet, private lives that unravel beneath public scrutiny, offering a raw look at the relational fractures we hide behind performance, image, and survival. In a time when spectacle too often drowns out substance, Pagel’s voice cuts through with clarity, tenderness, and urgency. His work signals the arrival of a bold new theatrical voice, one unafraid to hold up a mirror to our absurdities, and to ask what, and who, we’ve left behind.
Producers Intent:
Chicken, And. represents more than a single production. It is a strategic and creative cornerstone within our slate, and a testament to what can be achieved when a committed community of collaborators unites around a shared vision: to deliver bold, world-class theatre into the South African entertainment landscape.
Our immediate objective is to execute a successful pilot run that delivers returns to our investors, while establishing the production as a viable, touring asset. From there, we will expand into a curated festival circuit, including confirmed engagements at the National Arts Festival and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, bringing the work full circle to the city where writer Garrick Pagel first conceived the script.
With a long-term touring and programming strategy in place, Chicken, And. is designed to evolve beyond a single season into a sustained, revenue-generating production with enduring artistic relevance. All support plays a critical role in realising this vision and is deeply valued.
Chicken, And. Cast bios
Frances Sholto-Douglas
Frances Sholto-Douglas trained in acting and musical theatre at the Cape Academy of Performing Arts before attending the University of Cape Town, where she procured an Honours Degree cum laude in Theatre and Performance.
She has gained traction through her on-screen roles such as Vivian in The Kissing Booth trilogy and Laura Goldman in the Netflix original Fatal Seduction – for which she won a National Film and Television Award for Best Supporting Actress.
She has acted in theatre productions such as Ways of Dying directed by Lara Foot, Earworm directed by Natalie Fraser and the Fleur du Cap Award-winning Delela directed by Tiisetso Mashifane wa Noni.
Pierre Malherbe
Pierre Malherbe is a Cape Town-based actor, with over 20 years of experience in theatre, film and television. He has acted in numerous plays including productions by acclaimed South African playwrights such as Louis Viljoen’s The Kingmakers and Brent Palmer’s The Visit.
He has written three well received plays: Apple Face, Bucket Boy (both of which he acted in) and Wolf Biscuit (which he directed). He has appeared in local productions of renowned international plays like Michael Frayn’s Noises Off and Harold Pinter’s Betrayal.
Among his many screen credits, he can be seen in international tv series such as One Piece and Black Sails and the award winning South African short film, Armed Response.
William Young
William Young is a Durban-born South African actor, trained at the Waterfront Theatre School, and based between Cape Town and London.
His recent theatre credits include Sebastian in Twelfth Night at Maynardville, Rocky in The Rocky Horror Show at Theatre on the Bay, Jack in Jack and the Beanstalk at the Baxter Theatre, and originating the role of Jason Dean (JD) in the South African premiere of Heathers: The Musical. He will next appear as Henrik Egerman in Cape Town Opera’s production of A Little Night Music.
Alongside his stage work, William works in film, recently appearing as Eddie Bayles in the short film The Ransom of Mackenzie Brown. He is delighted to be part of Chicken, And., and to be working with the incredible team.
Jake Maisel
Jake is an actor and producer. He studied Theatre and Performance at UCT and has been performing on stage/screen since he was 14 years old.
Jake is best known for founding Baked Shakespeare, which has been a local and international success, having toured to the Edinburgh Fringe and London. During his time in London, Jake performed at The Cockpit Theatre in Isabel Steubel-Johnson’s Phone Killer.
Upon his return, Jake has performed in local and international television with roles in No One Saw Us Leave and Die Toring.
He is looking forward to bringing Chicken, And. to life with a cast whom he looks up to greatly.
Director bio
Meritxell Cilliers
Meritxell Cilliers is a multidisciplinary theatre-maker specialising in physical theatre, with a practice that spans ensemble performance, acting, scenography, and dance.
Her work is rooted in visual theatre, often incorporating puppetry, masks, and object-based performance. Most recently, she performed in Firebird, directed by Janni Young and choreographed by Jay Pather, which toured to the United States. For three consecutive years, she has performed in A Summer Dream by Brett Bailey as a physical theatre artist, clown, puppeteer, and dancer.
She began her training in large-scale puppetry with Roger Titley and later apprenticed at his Creatures workshop in Wilderness. A graduate of University of Cape Town, specialising in theatre-making, her work is characterised by her interest in the absurd and surreal.
Producer bios
(Note that Jake Maisel is also a producer)
Jock Kleynhans
Jock Kleynhans is a multidisciplinary actor with a deep passion for theatre and performance across a range of mediums and genres. He graduated from the UCT Centre for Theatre and Performance in 2023, where he specialised in Acting and received a distinction.
His stage credits include A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Maynardville, 2023) as Demetrius, Skin Tight (2023), Brett Bailey’s A Summer Night’s Dream (2023), Romeo and Juliet (Maynardville, 2024) as Tybalt, The Dumb Waiter (2024/2025) as Gus, for which he received a Naledi Theatre Award nomination for Best Actor, Neighbourhood (Baxter Theatre, 2024), Janice Honeyman’s Beauty and the Beast Pantomime (2024) as the Beast, and Twelfth Night (Maynardville, 2026) as Orsino.
On screen, Jock has appeared in various television series and films, including the A24/StudioCanal feature How to Make a Killing (2026), as well as Lioness (2021-2023) and Devil’s Peak (2023).
Nahum Hughes
Nahum Hughes is a Cape Town-based actor beginning his move into producing, bringing a strong storytelling perspective shaped by his work on screen. He gained international recognition for his portrayal of fan-favourite Bartolomeo in Netflix’s ONE PIECE (S2).
His credits also include SAINTS & STRANGERS, the upcoming feature film ALPHAS, as well as THE MAURITANIAN, ROMEO in Maynardville’s 2024 production of ROMEO AND JULIET and TUTANKHAMUN.
Trained at the University of Cape Town and Moscow’s GITIS Russian Institute of Theatre Arts, Nahum is now focused on developing authentic, psychological and culturally rich projects as he expands into producing.
❇ Featured image: The cast of Chicken. And., from left William Young, Pierre Malherbe, Francis Sholto-Douglas and Jake Maisel Sponsored feature. Images supplied.
