Soap on a Rope is a South African comedy-drama television series created by Gray Hofmeyr and set behind the scenes on a struggling, mediocre South African soap opera.
It is a show about making a television show - in this case, a struggling, rock-bottom-budget, daily drama / soap opera called Hard Bodies. It is made in a converted warehouse, which contains the set of Hard Bodies and the shabby, cheap, dry-wall production areas.
Hard Bodies has been on TV for four years, but ratings are dropping and the show has become a professional cul-de-sac for most of the characters. Hard Bodies is set in an exclusive gym (called Hard Bodies), on the penthouse floor of a glamorous apartment block in Cape Town's Camps Bay.
The characters in Soap on a Rope are all involved in the producing of Hard Bodies: there's management, an administrator, writer and director, technical crew, and of course the scheming, insecure actors.
The action of Soap on a Rope moves between public spaces such as the set and floor and private like the dressing rooms, makeup room, dark corners and behind the set. This allows the characters to project a public face while also revealing their private insecurities, personal disasters and secret, even criminal, plans.
Soap on a Rope was created by Gray Hofmeyr and produced by Hofmeyr and Menzi Thabede for Thabede Menzi Films. The head writer is Tom Eaton and the director is Krijay Govender.
Main Characters
Carmen - Producer
played by Patricia Boyer
Sello - Lead actor, Carmen's husband
played by Luthuli Dlamini
Adi - Commissioning Editor, Carmen's nemesis
played by Ameera Patel
Tuki - Leading lady, diva
played by Sonia Sedibe
Brenda - P.A., White sangoma
played by Nina Hastie
Josh - Director, Carmen's son
played by Matthew Alves
Ziyanda (Zee) - Make-up
played by Melanie du Bois
Whitney - Extra who becomes leading lady, Ziyanda & Sello's daughter
played by Nicole Brauns
Verbal - Writer
played by Ashish Gangapersad
Maxwell - Stud actor
played by Kamogelo Mogale
Silence - Boom swinger, villain
played by Sokhulu Mthiyane
Detective "Short Division" Masondo
played by Alfred Ntombela
Florence - In a Coma
played by Motlatji Ditodi