A Timeless Tale of Laughter and Loss
Ashley Dowds in Paul Slabolepszy’s iconic one man show:
The Return of Elvis du Pisanie
Seabrookes Theatre, DHS: Fri 8, Sat 9, Sun 10 May
The Return of Elvis du Pisanie – Paul Slabolepszy’s timeless tale of laughter and loss, performed by Ashley Dowds, comes to the Seabrookes Theatre at DHS for three shows only, on Friday 8, Saturday 9 and Sunday 10 May.
This masterfully-told story which moves from pure nostalgia through extreme heartache to unbridled joy, is vintage, classic Slabolepszy, and has been given a new lease on life by Ashley Dowds in an exhilarating career-defining performance.
Who would believe that a simple act of switching on a car radio could change the course of your life?
49-year-old East Rand salesman, Eddie du Pisanie, is washed up, retrenched and suicidal. He decides life is no longer worth living and writes a farewell note to his wife, before planning to gas himself inside his car in the garage…. when he switches on the car radio. The Elvis Presley song he hears does more than take him back 30 years – it recalls an event in his childhood that changed his life forever. Abandoning – for the moment – the idea of suicide, he drives the 200 km journey to Witbank, the town in which he grew up, and ends up opposite the ex-Carlton bioscope, alongside a streetlamp.
Is it possible to change our own destinies? Can one retrace the past to reignite the present? Can longing overcome despair? “Elvis” du Pisanie is about to find out….
“If you are looking for a night of raw emotion, side splitting humour and a healthy dose of nostalgia then The Return of Elvis du Pisanie is a must see. Dowds performance is electrifying and Paul Slabolepszy’s script remains as sharp and relevant as ever. Don’t miss this chance to see a South African gem brought to life by a truly amazing actor,” considers reviewer Georg Knoke.
Writer and director Paul Slabolepszy is one of our country’s most prolific, acclaimed and respected veteran playwrights. A founder member of the Space Theatre Company in Cape Town in 1972, and the Market Theatre Company in Johannesburg in 1975, he is a writer, director and actor who he has appeared in over 250 stage and television plays and films. He has numerous acting awards, and for his role as Eddie in his The Return of Elvis du Pisanie, he was the first actor in the country to win three best actor awards across the country.
The one hander is being performed by Ashley Dowds – acclaimed Cape Town based film, TV and stage actor and voice artist familiar to home audiences for his performances in Binnelanders, Isidingo, Scandal, Generations, Soul Buddies and others.
Dowds in The Return of Elvis du Pisanie was nominated for the 2025 Naledi Theatre Awards for Best Performance in a Solo Production. and for the 2024 Woordtrofees in the category: Best Achievement: Solo.
Lovers of the work of Paul Slabolepszy, can create a mini-festival to honour the great playwright and also enjoy his production, Bitter Winter, at the Playhouse over the same weekend, 8 and 9 May. Directed by Lesedi Job, Bitter Winter brings together a seasoned stage legend and a rising TV star as they collide at an audition for a major film. What begins as rivalry unfolds into a layered story of humour, vulnerability, and unexpected connection. It features André Odendaal (as aging actor Jean-Louis Lourens), Oarabile Ditsele (as rising star Prosper Mangane), and Chantal Stanfield (as casting agent Felicia Willemse).
Tickets for both The Return of Elvis du Pisanie and Bitter Winter are through Webtickets.
The Return of Elvis du Pisanie is on Fri 8 May at 7pm, Sat 9 May at 7pm and Sun 10 May at 2.30pm.
Guarded parking and bar/snack service available at the Seabrooke’s Theatre.
The Return Of Elvis du Pisanie
