Sophie Joans is a comedian, clown, puppeteer, actor and playwright. Born in Cape Town, with Mauritian roots, she studied theatre at UCT and Wits, and completed courses in Clowning at Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (London) with Peta Lily, Stand-Up Comedy at The Comedy Cellar (New York) and Solo Storytelling with Jess Mitolo from Second City (Toronto).
Her previous theatre works include: two-hander The Flower Hunters (Standard Bank Ovation Award 2021), puppet show Do You Dream In Colour, Winner of Zabalaza Festival’s Most Innovative Play 2018) and Ka-Boom!, a puppet show for young audiences that was selected for UNIMA’s Incubation Programme.
Her debut solo play, ÎLE, directed bySouth African comedy legend, Rob Van Vuuren, and was a roaring success,winning The Gold Standard Bank Ovation at the National Arts Festival 2022, and went on to tour South Africa and the UK (Bitesize Fest London, EdFringe 2023). ÎLE collected numerous awards and nominations, including being nominated for Best Actress at Woordfees 2022, and Best Performance in a Solo Show at the Fleur du Cap Theatre Awards 2023. It was selected to be part of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2023, the biggest Fringe Theatre Festival in the world. At EdFringe, she was nominated for Top 5 Best Solo Female Performers out of 3800 shows. This play also won Best Script at BiteSize Fest at Riverside Studios, London in 2023.
AWARDS:
2025 Nominated for the Savannah Comic’s Choice Awards – Most Innovative Show
2023 Nominated for Filipa Bragança Award for Top Solo Female Performer at Edinburgh Fringe for ÎLE.
2023 Best Script for ÎLE at BiteSize Fest Riverside Studios, London in 2023 (Writer & Performer)
2023 Nominated for Best Performance in a One-Person Show in ÎLE (Fleur de Cap Theatre Awards)
2022 Nominated for Best Actress in ÎLE at Woordfees (Performer)
2021 Silver Standard Bank Ovation Award for Verloren at National Arts Festival (Co-director & Animator)
2021 Standard Bank Ovation Award for Flower Hunters at National Arts Festival (Co-writer & Performer)
2020 Top 3 for STAND Foundation’s Satirical Sketch Writing (Writer)
2017 Innovation Award for Do you Dream in Colour at Zabalaza Festival, Baxter Theatre (Co-director, Puppeteer)