Tumi Morake and Vanessa Frost to TEASE! at The Market Theatre

Comic of The Year, Tumi Morake and the original Cavewoman, Vanessa Frost team up in TEASE!, which premieres in Johannesburg at the Market Theatre on 16 November. TEASE! enjoyed a successful debut run on the National Lottery Fringe at the 2016 National Arts Festival in Grahamstown, with sold out shows, standing ovations and a Standard Bank Ovation Award.

Set in their suburban hair salon, TEASE! is an honest comedy in which Morake and Frost play best friends Eva and Neo, stylists and therapists to many a regular client, offering the audience a glimpse into the familiar world of client-stylist relations: a veritable stream of conversation, skinner and agony aunt-style relationship advice. In an unexpected personal and professional funk, Eva and Neo embark on a journey of self-discovery. Armed with intimate client knowledge and a growing understanding of what women (and men) want - and need - these intrepid stylists launch a quiet, back room business selling toys... of the adult persuasion.

With a healthy dose of self-deprecating funny and a whole lot of heart, the ersatile artists Morkae and Frost play all the characters in TEASE! - from the elderly Muslim and Jewish women who return weekly to have their hair set and sample new toys, to the liberated sex class instructor and the sanctimonious housewife having a passionate affair with her SpeedQueen!

Despite a punishing schedule as a formidable force in the male-saturated comedy industry, in this production Morake returns to her first love - performance. Since beginning her career in smoky clubs in 2006, she has steadily grown into one of South Africa's s most sought after comedians, earning the title of South Africa's First Lady of Comedy, known also for her television appearances on local sitcoms and the critically acclaimed prime-time drama ROCKVILLE.

Morake suggests perhaps the universe conspired in the creation of TEASE! because 'it has come at a time when the spotlight is on women specifically around gender equality and body shaming'. Since sex and shame go hand in hand, she explains that, through TEASE!, 'we are trying to remove the concept of shame from sex':

Sex isn't just about anatomy, it's where you are spiritually, emotionally, what's happening in your life, what you think of yourself and how you operate in the world so I think anyone who watches it kind of relates because they get that it's s not just about the naughtiness, it's about people.

The show is produced by theatre and documentary company Bloom & Stone, which focuses on creating meaningful, accessible content. Frost - who has has enjoyed success with several local shows but is perhaps best known for originating, performing in and producing DEFENDING THE CAVEWOMAN - explains that although TEASE! is an enormous amount of fun, it is definitely not just a series of gags and that the extensive research which went into the writing of the script meant that they found themselves exploring heartfelt and important things. She says:

Even when you're dealing with subjects from a comedic perspective, you can't shy away from the hard truths; and so it's been about finding the comedy in each of these moments, while exploring the moments that don't require comedy. It's about answering the question we all quietly worry about: Am I normal?

Though TEASE! is female-centric, with a potent message that encourages women to shrug off shame and take back their personal pleasure, it has universal appeal. Morake says that it is almost like the black/white conversation:

We're all people if we can get beyond the colour thing and it happens with gender too -sometimes the minute you forget that anatomically we are different, we find that there are so many insecurities common between us.

Written by Jose Domingos in collaboration with Frost and Morake, TEASE! will be performed in the Mannie Manim at The Market Theatre from 16 November to 4 December 2016. Tickets can be booked via Computicket. For more information see the TEASE! website and follow the production on Facebook, on Twitter using the hashtag #teasetheshow and on Instagram.

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