St Benedict’s College presented their musical stage production, Love, Crime and Johannesburg, after an eight-year hiatus.

The production was showcased from March 17 to 21 at the school hall in association with St Benedict’s sister schools, Assumption Convent and Holy Rosary.

Head of department for dramatic arts at St Benedict’s College, Michelle Douglas, said that after eight years, there was a real sense that something vital had been missing from the cultural life of the school.

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She added that theatre has a unique way of bringing a community together across grades, disciplines, and backgrounds– and they felt it was time to reintroduce that shared creative experience.

There was also a renewed energy among the learners: a hunger to tell stories, to collaborate, and to challenge themselves artistically.

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Love, Crime and Johannesburg, according to Douglas, became the perfect vehicle to relaunch the St Benedict’s Major Production because it is bold, local, and deeply human.

“Johannesburg is a city of contradictions, beauty and brutality, hope and hardship, connection and isolation, and this play lives right at the heart of those tensions. It doesn’t romanticise the city, but it also doesn’t condemn it; instead, it reveals the complex emotional landscape of the people who inhabit it,” explained Douglas.

She noted that audiences recognise themselves in these stories – the vulnerability, the resilience, the longing for connection in a city that can sometimes feel overwhelming.

That immediacy, she said, makes the play feel less like something you watch and more like something you experience.

Douglas further said productions like these are absolutely invaluable in developing learners beyond the classroom.

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“Theatre demands far more than performance; it requires discipline, collaboration, problem-solving, empathy, and resilience. Learners are asked to step into perspectives beyond their own, to listen deeply, and to work as part of a collective towards a shared vision. There’s also a level of accountability and professionalism that mirrors the real world.”

She added that in many ways, what they gain from this process, confidence, emotional intelligence, and adaptability, extends far beyond the stage and into every aspect of their lives.

Douglas acknowledged that at its core, the play asks us to confront the chaos of Johannesburg and the challenges of a teenage democracy.

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In a city that can often feel fractured, it reminds us of our shared humanity—the ways in which love, loss, fear, and hope bind us together.

She added, “If audiences left the play with a greater sense of belonging, a greater appreciation for the city which holds us, and a cheekier view of the madness of Johannesburg life, we have done our job!”