4Play: Sex Tips for Girls is a South African television drama series produced by Curious Pictures for Johns Hopkins Health and Education in South Africa which deals with the realities of life for four thirtysomething South African women living in Johannesburg.
Written and directed by an all-woman team, the series celebrates female sexuality and relationships.
4Play revolves around four thirty-something women - Nox, Noma, Amira and Danny - from contemporary Johannesburg.
These ladies are different in character, social and economic status, but they are all after one thing: Love. Lots of it. Deep. Fulfilling. Love.
Noma, the salon owner and single mother is often the voice of wisdom in the group. Nox, a wealthy and successful socialite is plagued by marital woes and is dealing with her HIV positive status.
Danny, the trendy image consultant and self-confessed commitment-phobe, enjoys living it up and frolicking in between the sheets with a host of hunks.
Amira, the youngest of the four, is an aspiring musician plagued by an insecurity that threatens her dreams.
The show follows their friendship and how they navigate their lives together, in particular their quest for true love. The four women embark on their own colourful journeys, never afraid to experiment or explore to impress the opposite sex.
The drama unfolds when the women encounter the treacherous and sometimes extreme paths of relationships in each episode.
4Play comes with a warning that no one's laundry is too dirty to air.
Main Characters
Noma Mkhize (played by Portia Gumede)
Noma is a curvaceous 35-year-old hairstylist and the heart of the group. Sassy and a straight–talker, she regularly provides a shoulder to cry on for all of her clients and friends.
Noma can always be counted on to give them her honest opinion about their endless relationship woes even if they don’t want to hear it.
Raising a teenage son on her own while running a business and being an amateur therapist leaves little time for romance for Noma, so she figures she doesn’t need it. But Cupid may have other plans in store for her.
Will she run from it or embrace it with wild abandon?
Nox Madondo (played by Kgomotso Christopher)
A handsome husband, two well-behaved children, a gorgeous home and a body to die for - Nox has it all. But why is she still so unhappy?
Stylish, brainy and sexy, this 32-year-old revels in the luxuries of life and is rarely seen without makeup and designer clothing.
Money can’t buy everything, and certainly not a straying spouse’s fidelity, or the children’s love and definitely not happiness as Nox discovers over the course of the series.
When a quest of self-discovery and appreciation beckons, will she go for it?
Amira Mokoena (played by Mbali Maphumulo)
Whimsical songwriter, Amira, lives in a fantasy world where Prince Charming is every guy she meets. A huge people person, 30-year-old Amira is loved by everyone, despite her fanciful notions and even her mother, who wishes her daughter would find a purpose in life, can’t stay mad at her for too long.
Seeing the world through rose-tinted glasses leaves Amira vulnerable to the cruelty of the men she quickly and frequently falls for.
When her latest fairytale romance turns into her worst nightmare, will this princess be able to deal with reality and grow up?
Danny Gibson (played by Tiffany Jones Barbuzano)
Image consultant to the stars, Danny is an expert at turning plain Janes into dazzling Julias and works the Jozi party circuit like a pro. A fun, fearless trendsetter, she’s also extraordinarily good at luring hunky men into her bed.
As a money-loving, business-savvy 32-year-old, Danny thinks relationships are a waste of time. Behind that seductive socialite facade, though, is a lonely woman with no real emotional connections.
As the latest addition to the quartet, will Danny find that friendship and love can be as equally gratifying as hot, meaningless sex?