There are evenings at the theatre when you are entertained, and then there are evenings when a piece of work gets under your skin and stays there. SUPERFAN is very much the latter.

Written by Mike van Graan, directed by Adrian Collins and performed by veteran broadcaster and actor John Maytham, this hour-long one-man show uses rugby as its starting point, but it is ultimately about something much bigger: South Africa, belonging, identity, disappointment, hope and the complicated business of loving your country.

Maytham is quite simply a tour de force.

Alone on stage for an hour, he holds the audience through storytelling, humour, observation and moments of real emotional power. One minute you are smiling at something instantly recognisable about South African rugby culture; the next, you are confronted by uncomfortable truths about who we are and where we have come from.

Mike van Graan has cleverly used the story of South African rugby and its transformation into a world champion team as a lens through which to examine the journey of the country itself.

Can the values that make a successful rugby team  leadership, discipline, sacrifice, diversity, trust and a willingness to work towards something bigger than yourself  tell us something about what South Africa could become?

That question sits at the heart of SUPERFAN.

As somebody who has spent a lifetime loving rugby, I found so much of it deeply personal. And there was one wonderful little detail that made Razia and me smile: the All Blacks supporter in the play is called Martin!

I couldn’t have asked for better casting.

But the humour never takes away from the heart of the work. There is enormous affection for South Africa in this piece, but it isn’t blind affection. It acknowledges the contradictions, the wounds and the frustrations while still asking us to believe that there is something worth fighting for.

That is why our message to Mike afterwards was simply:

“Wow Mike. Razia and I are speechless. Such power and truths — deeply moving and heartfelt. John is a force on stage.”

And he really is.

There is also something exciting about seeing this production in a new, intimate Cape Town theatre at 167 Kloof Street, right next door to that Cape Town institution, Premier Shoes. 

The closeness of the space suits the production beautifully. There is nowhere for performer or audience to hide, and that intimacy makes Maytham’s performance even more compelling.

At just an hour, SUPERFAN never overstays its welcome. It is tight, thoughtful, funny and moving.

You certainly don’t need to be a rugby fanatic to appreciate it. Rugby may provide the framework, but this is a story about all of us  about the South Africa we inherited, the South Africa we live in and, perhaps most importantly, the South Africa we still hope to build.

For Razia and me, it was a deeply moving night at the theatre.

Mike van Graan has given us plenty to think about. John Maytham gives everything to the telling of it.

And yes, somewhere in the middle of it all, there is even room for an All Blacks supporter called Martin.

That alone deserves another visit.

SUPERFAN runs for approximately one hour at The Antique Theatre and Bar, 167 Kloof Street, Cape Town, on selected nights until 12 September 2026.

Booking on www.theantique.co.za