A Q&A with Tankiso Mamabolo

Tankiso Mamabolo is an award-winning actor, theatre-maker and singer. Since our conversation with Tankiso in 2017, she has gone on to be nominated for a Fleur du Cap Theatre Award for her performance in Aunty Merle the musical and released her debut album Freedom Hurts Sometimes. Her one-woman show, Tankiso Live, The Audacity to Be, which enjoyed two successful runs at the Baxter Theatre in 2019, is the debut production to launch on the recently created South African Theatre on Demand, a new online platform which brings original filmed theatre productions to your screen.

Click here to read our conversation with Tankiso from 2017

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A Conversation with Lungiswa Plaatjies

Lungiswa Plaatjies is a musician, singer and composer. Born and raised in Langa Township in Cape Town, she started singing at the age of eight years old before becoming the lead vocalist of Amampondo. She has toured extensively around the world and released her first solo album, Lungiswa, in 2000. After spending time digging deeper into the foundation stones of African music and Xhosa dance (Umxhentso), Lungiswa released her second solo album, Unonkala produced by Don Laka. In 2002, she was nominated for Best Newcomer and Best Female Vocalist at the SAMA awards and was also nominated for two Kora awards. Since 2015, she has been working with Bos Theatre Productions from The Netherlands on an annual musical show called South African Road Trip. Her select theatre credits include; Heart of Redness, The Tempest for the Royal Shakespeare Company and The Flower of Shembe. Lungiswa can currently be seen on stage as the featured musician in Kunene and the King at the Fugard Theatre

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A Conversation with Naledi Majola

Naledi Majola is an actor, performance-maker and sound designer. In 2018, she was seen on stage in Tara Notcutt’s historic all-female production of The Taming of the Shrew and in Stream, a multimedia performance work led by Jennifer Steyn at the Baxter Theatre. She makes her feature film debut later this year in The Banana Splits. Her performance work, Where is the black samurai? debuted at Arcade, a durational live art platform curated by Gavin Krastin, and was most recently performed at the 2018 ICA Live Art Festival. Naledi also designs sound for performance, having recently done so for her own work, as well as AMES, written and directed by Andi Colombo in 2018 and the upcoming production of Tales from the Garden written by Ameera Conrad, which will run at the Baxter Theatre’s Masambe Theatre followed by a run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival later this year.
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A Conversation with Tarryn Lamb, Carmen Maarman and Zandile-Izandi Madliwa

Tarryn Lamb, Carmen Maarman and Zandile-Izandi Madliwa have joined forces to star in the Baxter Theatre’s smash-hit new musical, Aunty Merle, The Musical. Devised by and starring Marc Lottering, Aunty Merle features a score of 21 brand new songs, 12 of which were written by Tarryn. Zandile-Izandi returns to the Baxter after joining the cast of The Fall earlier this year, while Carmen returns to the stage after her recent turn in District Six: Kanala. We sat down with Tarryn, Carmen and Zandile-Izandi to chat all about this new production.  Continue reading

A Conversation with Kelly Sayer

Kelly Sayer is a passionate audio engineer, songwriter, and recent Berklee College of Music graduate. Originally from Cape Town, she is currently based in Los Angeles where she is employed as head engineer for platinum-selling record producer Alex Da Kid, making her part of the 5% of female engineers active in the music industry today. Continue reading

A Conversation with Jeri Silverman

Jeri Silverman is a South African born singer-songwriter based in New York City. She writes acoustic soul-stirring melodies with a percussive folk pop edge. In 2014 she released her debut EP Leaflike. She has performed live across the US and South Africa and has lent her skills as an actor, voiceover artist and singer to numerous films, documentaries and international commercials. Her forthcoming album is a collection of inspired songs written over the past three years, exploring the interplay between darkness and light. Continue reading

A Conversation with Magdalene Minnaar

Magdalene Minnaar is one of those people who makes you question when she has time to sleep. She is the founder of Little Maestros and Biblioteek Productions, where she also serves as Artistic Director. She is an accomplished actress and singer, having performed the coveted role of Christine Daaé in the international touring production of The Phantom of The Opera as well as performing alongside Josh Groban during his tour to South Africa last year. Currently she is directing Calling Us Home, a highly anticipated new musical which is about to take South Africa by storm. We sat down to chat about the many hats that she has worn during her career.  Continue reading

A Conversation with Nicky Schrire

Nicky Schrire is a versatile vocalist and composer whose work has taken her all over the world. Her latest piece, Escape: The Ingrid Jonker Suite has required Nicky to revisit the work of acclaimed South African poet, Ingrid Jonker, and create a unique theatre experience setting the iconic poems to music. We sat down with Nicky at Alexander Bar to chat about the show and her perception on the current climate for female musicians.  Continue reading

A Conversation with Galina Juritz

Galina Juritz is an accomplished violinist and composer. Her latest composition, Madness: Songs of Hope and Despair, makes its return to The Baxter after an acclaimed one night only performance last year. Madness: Songs of Hope and Despair, brings mental illness and psychotic experiences into the spotlight using a combination of music, song and imagery in an attempt to portray the complexities and also the wonder of these strange and ultimately unknowable worlds. We sat down with Galina at The Baxter to chat about the show and her hopes for the future of her career.

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A Conversation with Zolani Mahola

Zolani Mahola needs no introduction. Most may know her as the lead vocalist of Freshlyground, a band whose sound, along with Zolani’s voice, has become synonymous with South Africa, going so far as to inspire an entire nation, and the world, during the 2010 Soccer World Cup. Over the years Zolani has received many accolades and traveled the globe but what might surprise you is how down-to-earth, generous and humble-spirited she is. Sarafina Magazine is proud to feature Zolani as our first Music Artist.

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