Milnerton Playhouse Theatre soon hosts Vaslav — a theatrical tour-de-force starring the award-winning Godfrey Johnson, directed by Lara Bye. It runs from 8 to 24 May 2026. This acclaimed one-person cabaret-drama brings to vivid life the fragile and brilliant world of Vaslav Nijinsky — the greatest dancer who ever lived — through a seamless weave of acting, piano and movement.
Nominated for four Fleur du Cap Awards, Vaslav has been hailed by critics and audiences across South Africa since its debut at the Kalk Bay Theatre in 2019, with sold-out runs at theatres including The Fugard Theatre. Now, for a limited time this May, Cape Town audiences will have another chance to witness what Cape Times called “cabaret at its darkest and finest.”
The show
Harnessing three arts in one, Johnson ignites the spirit of Nijinsky in a celebration of the magnificent power of sheer performance. The play draws deeply from the diaries Nijinsky kept during six weeks of treatment in a mental asylum — one of the first individuals to receive a psychiatric diagnosis of schizophrenia. Vaslav is at once an extreme portrait of one man’s inner world and a panoramic sweep across a Europe at war with itself: the Ballets Russes, the riots of Paris, the jazz of New York, the silence of a locked ward.
Alone at his piano, Johnson gives voice to a phenomenal script — dashing between a cast of characters in a psychological tongue-twister — drawing on the works of Stravinsky, Rachmaninov, Tchaikovsky, Debussy, Satie and his own original compositions. Fiona Du Plooy’s movement direction, and Lara Bye’s sure directorial hand together create a production that is as intellectually rigorous as it is emotionally devastating.
“Gigantic leaps across the stage, he flew, so to speak, to the skies…” gasped Marcel Proust. “Can life be so rich, so splendid, so passionate?” asked a haunted Jean Cocteau. Godfrey Johnson answers both questions in the affirmative — every single performance.
The artist
Godfrey Johnson is an award-winning actor, singer and pianist whose credits include Die Van Aardes van Grootoor, David Kramer’s Orpheus in Africa, Fifty Shades of Bambi and The Shadow of Brel. In Vaslav, he delivers what critics have described as an “astonishing, career-defining performance — seamlessly piloting audiences across vast emotional terrain from a single piano stool”.
The text was written by Lara Bye, Karen Jeynes and Godfrey Johnson, based on the diaries of Vaslav Nijinsky. Musical arrangement and composition by Godfrey Johnson. Movement direction by Fiona Du Plooy.
Show Dates and Times:
Evenings 19:30: Friday 8, 15, 22; Saturday 9, 16, 23 May 2026
Matinees 14:30: Saturday 16, 23; Sunday 10, 24 May 2026
What: VASLAV Godfrey Johnson
Venue: Milnerton Playhouse Theatre, 81 Pienaar Road, Milnerton
Tickets: Here
Social media: Instagram: @milnerton_players | Facebook: @milnerton_players | Website: www.milnertonplayers.co.za
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