all my ex-lovers are dead is what you get when you drink a million mugs of tea and collage the diaries from your teen years across your bedroom wall like that meme from “It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia”—uncomfortably familiar but somehow reassuring.
Stay up until the sun rises with Echo as they unravel the history of their love life, the pitfalls of pity sex, and why love is like potatoes.
An all-too-honest, mostly autobiographical reflection on desire, poor life choices, and how many cups of tea it takes to wake up and smell the coffee, all my ex-lovers are dead is a play for the Tumblr girlies, our younger selves, and the gals you meet in the bathrooms along the way.
A tale of first loves, sunrises, and bittersweet Smirnoff spins, all my ex-lovers are dead is a contemplation on why we keep coming back for more after all the heartache and heartbreaks and a promise: even if it doesn't get better, at least it gets funnier.
Previously selected for Artscape’s New Voices Programme (2021), STAND Foundation’s Pen To Paper Programme (2022), Toyota SU Woordfees 2023, the National Arts Festival’s Curated Programme (2024), Cape Town’s inaugural Heat Festival (2024), and most recently POPArt’s Next Draft programme in Johannesburg.
Production Credits
Dara Beth - Writer | Director | Performer
Denise Onen - Sound Designer
Corne Van Rensburg - Cinematographer
About the Artists
Writer | Director | Performer
Dara Beth is an angry Jewish queer feminist and award-winning director and writer. Their main focus is to provide an audience with a language and vocabulary to explore new worlds. Through tales that are raunchy, witty, tongue-in-cheek, high-energy, bubblegum pop, biting, quirky, honest, unflinching, and occasionally self-indulgent and overly romantic, Dara aims to evoke a sense of joy, inspire connections, and instigate pleasurable introspection. Dara has written and staged multiple original works for various festivals and theatres, such as Nasty Womxn, Just A Song And A Dance, Lolly, and all my ex-lovers are dead, to name a few. Dara has been nominated for Fleur du Cap, BroadwayWorld, and Kanna awards. When not producing their own work, Dara often works as a facilitator, director, designer, and producer.
In 2023, Dara was awarded a grant from South Africa’s National Arts Council with which they founded Kgokelo, a network for and digital archive of works by women and gender-diverse playwrights in and from South Africa. In 2024, Dara joined forces with Spark in the Dark–a South African production company dedicated to making space and opportunities for artists to share their voices.
In 2025, Dara is set to direct their first feature film and a host of new theatre productions.
Sound Designer
Denise Onen is a sonic cultural practitioner pursuing an MMus at the University of Cape Town. As an active sound designer and composer, her sonic artistry in film, documentaries, and theatre has garnered prestigious international features and awards.
Cinematographer
Corne Van Rensburg graduated with a distinction in cinematography in 2016 and from there on has honed his craft. Under the mentorship of Ivan Strausburg (BAFTA Winner), Corne took in every ounce of knowledge he could and applied it to his work. In the last 8 years, he's compiled a long list of credits, working in all forms of camera work and refining his artistic style and skills. He has a deep passion for documentary work and shines with enthusiasm towards the subject's imagery, trying to capture the most authentic moments.
- Venue: Gymnasium
- Location: Victoria Girl's High School
- Ticket price: ZAR 120.00
- Programme type: The Fringe
- Genre: Theatre
- Duration: 60 minutes
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Ages:
16+
- M - MATURE CONTENT, L - LANGUAGE, S - SEX
