The Mobile Thriller series is here for the very first time in Cape Town!

The three audience members hop into a car, on their way to a party with Brent - but their host isn't what he seems. In bRENT - A Mobile Thriller audiences will literally be taken on a journey through the streets of Cape Town where they will be confronted with characters who believe in conversion therapy for gay people.

From the multi-award winning director & designer, Quintin Wils, comes his latest production in the extremely popular Mobile Thriller series.  Get ready to be part of the sold-out award-winning phenomenon which has been described as "...the most thrilling immersive theatre production ever experienced in South Africa!". aLEXA, the company's first mobile thriller was been lauded by critics as “The most original and innovative performance that breaks all the traditions about performance space settings…!” Kalipa, (Cue Newspaper), “…a chilling twist to the theatre experience!” Geldenhuys, (Cue Online) and “Thought-provoking and enjoyable!” Breytenbach, (Die Reviewer). The conceptualiser and the creator, Quintin Wils, of the Mobile Thriller series has won many accolades including a Naledi Award Nomination for Best Cutting Edge Production, as well as the Award for Best Concept at Die Reviewer Awards 2014.

Audience Responses

Interesting concept but some legal issues - as a female alone I wasn't keen on getting into a car with 2 unknown males and going to an unknown location where I found another unknown male. The write-up suggested to me it would be in the usual theatre and 3 of the many people in the audience would be selected for a scene with a fake moving vehicle. The lights on the steps outside the flat didn't work - your indemnity isn't going to cover a broken hip! Finally, it was quite traumatic and you didn't explain what the purpose was. I queried afterwards, and discovered it was based on true events. If you want to create awareness of human rights abuses you need to explain this either before or after. Personally, I think this kind of innovative production would work well as a comedy (with different subject matter, obviously).

A compelling story and a great performance in the role of Brent. Unfortunately it was impossible to suspend disbelief enough to really become part of it... Our 5th show at Alexander and the least good, but still very glad we went.

close to home, shocking, disturbing, surreal, a fabulous reality experience.

line between reality and fantasy was totally blurred.

We all had some problems with this show. Firstly, it was made very clear beforehand that it was not real, although things like this do happen in real life. Yet at the end we were asked by Brent why we had not gone to his rescue. We all felt very uncomfortable with this. On the one hand we were an audience, on another we were participants. If we are participating, how far do we go - we could join in with the torture, we could go to Brent's rescue which could involve physical contact with his torturer, or we could just sit and watch. We decided on the latter course because we were an audience. I also was not sure why we were being asked to go through this. Most Alex Bar customers would be sympathetic to the cause supposedly being presented. It felt very voyeuristic. And yet you could not possibly go far enough to be realistic. We left feeling very dissatisfied, and unsure what to think. On a health and safety point, it is also rather dangerous to put members of the public in a car driven by an actor who is performing someone going through an emotional crisis, even if you have asked them to sign an indemnity. (I am a former BBC television production manager).

This show should come with a trigger warning. Warning for SVNL is only given with the program when tickets have already been bought. A note at the end of the program stating that it's not for sensitive viewers is also not the same as a trigger warning. While not personally affected by the contents of the play, it can be incredible traumatic to person who may have had similar experiences in the past. It's marketed entirely the wrong way that you are led to believe that you are going to be experiencing something fun. There's a difference between the genres thriller and torture porn.