Investing in the Future of South African Theatre
The Writers' Collective is How Now Brown Cow's new writing and script development programme, dedicated to discovering, nurturing and championing the next generation of South African playwrights.
Created in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic, the initiative was founded on a simple belief: even when theatres were dark, new stories deserved to be written. Since then, the programme has become a creative home for both established and emerging playwrights, providing the time, mentorship and support needed to develop original South African work for the stage.
The inaugural Writers' Collective commissioned twelve new first-draft plays, several of which have since progressed through multiple stages of development towards full production. Throughout the programme, writers have worked alongside some of South Africa's leading theatre-makers and dramaturgs, including William Nicholson, Greg Homann and Paul Warrick Griffin, whose mentorship has helped shape these new voices and stories.
At How Now Brown Cow, we believe that every great production begins with a great script. Through the Writers' Collective, we are committed to developing bold, original South African stories that reflect the richness, complexity and diversity of our country, ensuring that today's writers become tomorrow's award-winning playwrights.
“We are nothing, we have nothing, without stories in the theatre, so we hope that out of initiative will come some contemporary South African stories that reflect our global society and people today,”
— Julie-Anne McDowell | Founder How Now Brown Cow. From Page to Stage
The Writers' Collective is more than a development programme - it is a pathway to professional production.
Multi Award-winning Expelled, written by Rosalind Butler, was commissioned and then developed under the mentorship of Greg Homann in our second cohort. In February and March 2024, it played to critical acclaim at The Baxter Theatre in Cape Town and in conjunction with The Market Theatre in Johannesburg earning 7 Naledi Theatre Award nominations.
It won 2:
Best New South African Script – Rosalind Butler
Best Female Lead Performance in a Play – Charmaine Weir-Smith
“As the home of new South African plays, The Market Theatre is proud to have partnered with How Now Brown Cow Productions on Expelled – an important and well-crafted new work that we backed from the start. To see it embraced by audiences and then honoured with a Naledi Award is a testament to the strength of the collaboration and to the importance of creating space for diverse and bold South African voices.”
— Greg Homann, Artistic Director, The Market Theatre Foundation.
“The Writers’ Collective gave me support, a deadline and a community with which to share my work.The more I write, the more I realise that process is everything.
Script development is rare in South Africa and How Now Brown Cow’s vision and support have been invaluable to this process”.
Rosalind Butler
From Award-Winning Production to the Classroom
The impact of Expelled continues to grow. Following its acclaimed stage productions and multiple Naledi Theatre Awards, the play has been selected as an Independent Examinations Board (IEB) Grade 12 Dramatic Arts prescribed text for the 2027–2029 examination cycle.
This remarkable achievement means that thousands of South African learners will engage with Expelled over the next three years, studying its themes, characters and theatrical craft in classrooms across the country. It is a powerful testament to the quality of the writing and the lasting value of the Writers' Collective: creating new South African plays that resonate not only with audiences, but also with future generations of theatre-makers and storytellers.
The selection of Expelled as an IEB setwork reinforces How Now Brown Cow's commitment to developing original South African voices and ensuring that exceptional new writing has a life far beyond its premiere production.
A Marry Little Christmas, written by Greg Homann in the first cohort, enjoyed a 4 week festive run at The Market Theatre in December 2023. It was nominated for 2 Naledi Theatre Awards; Best New South African Script and Best Supporting Actress Award.