A Conversation with Tiisetso Mashifane wa Noni

Tiisetso Mashifane wa Noni is a South African playwright, theatre director and performer. With a Bachelor of the Arts in Political Science, Philosophy and Dramatic Arts from Rhodes University and a Bachelor of the Arts (Hons) in Directing for Stage, Writing for Film and Avant-garde Film from the University of Cape Town, she attempts to make provocative work that deals with themes of violence, sexuality, race and history within a contemporary South African setting. As a playwright and director, her debut play, Sainthood has received a Standard Bank Ovation Award and a Fleur du Cap nomination and is the subject of her TEDxYouth Cape Town Talk, ‘Another Conversation for the Dinner Table?’. Following a successful run at the National Arts Festival and at Theatre Arts Admin Collective, Sainthood makes its way to the Baxter Theatre for a limited engagement. 

Continue reading

Advertisement

A Conversation with Lindy Johnson

Just over two years ago, Lindy Johnson entered the stand-up comedy arena and has rocketed to success. In 2017, she won the Savanna ‘Show us Your Apples’ open mic showdown, representing as the only woman to make the finals and then, of course, beating the stiff competition and more experienced comedians to win the title. After a comparatively short amount of time, Lindy has already started making her mark and carving out a niche in the South African comedy scene, performing on esteemed stages such as the Cape Town Comedy Club, Rocking the Daisies, the Jive Cape Town Festival and opening up for Nik Rabinowitz’ Dry White at the Baxter Theatre. Last year, Lindy was hand-picked as one of 13 local comedians selected to star in Trevor Noah’s Nationwild. 

Continue reading

A Conversation with Jill Levenberg

Jill Levenberg is an award-winning Film, Television and theatre actress. At the moment, she is currently starring as Mymoena in the long-running TV series, Suidooster. She has been receiving critical acclaim for her role as Ellen Pakkies in Ellen: The Ellen Pakkies Story, which marks her first leading role in a film. Jill has worked extensively in theatre and television since graduating from the University of Cape Town with a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Theatre & Performance and English Literature, graduating on the Dean’s Merit List. Her theatre credits include Medea, Blood Brothers and Orpheus in Africa which awarded her a Fleur du Cap Theatre Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Musical. Select film credits include Noem My Skollie, Fluit Fluit, Abraham, While You Weren’t Looking and Uitvlugt. We sat down to chat with her about her career and her emotionally demanding and boundary-pushing role in EllenContinue reading

A Conversation with Thembela Madliki

Thembela Madliki is a theatre-maker and director. Her credits include Galela, My Boetie is ‘n Danser, Bayephi and NyangaShe has showcased work at The National Arts Festival, The Cape Town Fringe Festival and The KKNK. Earlier this year, she was named as one of the recipients of Theatre Arts Admin Collective’s Emerging Theatre Director’s Bursary. Her bursary piece, Where She Walked will debut at Theatre Arts Admin from October 28th until November 3rd.
Continue reading

A Conversation with Mariëtte Opperman

Mariëtte Opperman began dancing at the age of seven. She trained under Paula Olivier and later did an intensive vocational study with Martin Schönberg. She started her professional career in 2008 at the South African Ballet Theatre. She joined Cape Town City Ballet in 2010, where she is currently a senior soloist. Mariëtte also performed professionally in Stockholm, Sweden for a year. Her most memorable roles to date include the Black Swan in Swan Lake, Diane in Diane and Acteon, Kitri in Don Quixote, Sugar Plum in The Nutcracker, Firebird in Firebird, Juliet in Romeo and Juliet and Giselle in Giselle. She is currently gearing up to take on the titular role in Veronica Paeper’s production of Cinderella for Cape Town City Ballet.

Continue reading

A Conversation with Ukhona Ntsali Mlandu

Ukhona Ntsali Mlandu is an Arts Manager, Curator and Facilitator. During the last few years she has worked alongside some of South Africa’s leading arts institutions and organisations including Artscape where she spent several years heading up their Resource Center, PANSA, FTH:K and Siyasanga Cape Town Theatre Company before going on to become an independent Arts Manager. She has launched her latest project makwande.republic, a residency program set in the heart of her hometown village in the Eastern Cape. We sat down with her to chat about moving back home, creating makwande.republic and having to coin a new phrase to encompasses her multi-faceted career.
Continue reading

A Conversation with Samantha de Romijn

Samantha de Romijn is the co-founder of The Imbewu Trust, a non-profit organisation which was established to promote the development of contemporary South African theatre and arts. She has also worked as a producer, agent, arts manager, performer, stage manager and director. Now in it’s seventh year, the SCrIBE Scriptwriting Competition, a flagship project of the Imbewu Trust, was recently awarded a Fleur du Cap Theatre Award for Innovation in Theatre. SCrIBE is an opportunity for South African playwrights to further develop their work. A staged reading is held for each of the finalists scripts, providing the chance for feedback from the industry and members of the public. An overall winner is announced at the end of the week, with one of the prizes being having the play professionally mounted for a run at a Cape Town theatre.  Another writer has the chance to win The Scribblers Dream, a prize which enables a writer the opportunity to work alongside a mentor to develop their script and another writer has the chance to further workshop his or her play.
Continue reading

A Conversation with Veronica Paeper

Prolific choreographer and ballet dancer, Veronica Paeper has created more than 40 ballets, among them sixteen full-length works. During her performing career Veronica rose to become a principal dancer with three South African companies; CAPAB Ballet, PACT Ballet and PACOFS Ballet. Her latest production, Carmen, is a restaging of her award-winning choreography and makes its way to Joburg Ballet for a limited engagement.  Continue reading

Through The Lens: Sarafina Magazine 1 Year Later

A lot of the magic of Sarafina Magazine is due to the photography. During this first year, six women joined the team and stepped behind the lens to carefully capture each woman that we were so tirelessly working towards representing correctly and respectfully. Each photographer stepped in, added their own take to each shoot and managed to elevate our original concept into something more exceptional than any of us could possibly have imagined. Most photos are taken candidly during our conversation which makes each image as special and as unique as catching lightning in a bottle. To commemorate our first year, each photographer was tasked to pick their top two or three favourite pictures and share with us why they selected the ones they did.
Continue reading