Love, Crime and Johannesburg: A Musical

‘Why bother to rob a bank, when you can own a bank?’ asked Bertold Brecht. The question is reiterated in the very Brechtian Love, Crime and Johannesburg, the story of Jimmy ‘Long Legs’ Mangane and the trouble he gets into in the new South Africa. Jimmy, a people’s poet involved in the struggle, is accused of robbing a bank. He passionately asserts his innocence, claiming to work for the ‘secret secret service’.

Lewis, his old friend and comrade from the struggle, now owns a bank. How did this happen? The man of the struggle is now a man of accounts, a man of the nineties, part of the cell phone generation. Added to the mix is an old-style gangster, two girlfriends, a Yiddish papa and a very unusual Chief of Police.

Described as one of the first genuine post-apartheid plays, Love, Crime and Johannesburg is a witty lighthearted account of life in the City of Gold at the turn of the millennium. It is a must for all students of South African theatre.