Five aspiring playwrights were selected for participation in the NATi Risings Stars development project, annually presented by Suidoosterfees, the Jakes Gerwel Foundation, Artscape and the National Afrikaans Theatre Initiative (NATi). These new voices will attend an extended mentorship programme to refine their new drama texts, which will also be developed into professional stage productions that will debut at the 21st Suidoosterfees arts festival in 2024.
The candidates who were selected from almost 50 applicants by a panel of experts, are Geralt Cloete, Miliswa Mbandazayo, Miché van Wyk, Cara Rossouw and Mikayla Joy Brown. All of them are graduates from tertiary institutions and the Rising Stars project will help them to launch professional careers as theatre practitioners.
Geralt Cloete holds a masters degree from Wits University. He received a SAFTA award for work he has done as a stylist and costumer on a TV sitcom.
The theatre maker Miliswa Mbandazayo is a graduate of the University of Cape Town. She is a writer, actress and acted as assistant stage manager for Die Sewe Doodsondes, performed at the Toyota SU Woordfees last year. Miliswa toured Spain and France as stage manager of the production Black Girl Live 2021.
Miché van Wyk shined on the Suidoosterfees stage earlier this year in the drama Jantjies and the Pearls. Her portrayal of Ruth Jantjies earned her two prize nominations. Last year, at the Première Drama Festival in Stellenbosch, she was nominated as best actress, and in 2023 she received a Fleur du Cap nomination as most promising student. Miché holds an honours degree in cabaret from Stellenbosch University.
Cara Rossouw, who also has an honours degree in cabaret, wrote various scripts that were directed by theatre makers such as Nicole Holm, Petrus du Preez and Frieda van den Heever. Cara matriculated at Bloemhof Girls’ High in Stellenbosch.
Mikayla Joy Brown has degrees in drama and creative writing, ans she penned the play Jantjies and the Pearls in which Miché van Wyk acted. This year Mikayla walked away with a Fleur du Cap award as most promising student. In 2021 the Première Drama Festival honoured her as best supporting actress.
Later this month, the group of talented youngsters will attend a writers’ residency of three weeks at the Jakes Gerwel Foundation’s Paulet House in Somerset East. The actress Lee-Ann van Rooi, who recently captivated Suidoosterfees audiences with her star performance in The Woman Who Fed the Dogs, will act as writing mentor. Once the texts are finalised, Rafiek Mammon will oversee the process of turning them into professional stage productions, ready for Suidoosterfees 2024.
Since the NATi Rising Stars initiative was launched in 2019, new theatre voices like Kanya Viljoen, Herschelle Benjamin, Stephren Saayman and Melissa Myburgh has impressed audiences with stunning new work.
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For more information, contact Faren Esau at Faren.Esau@media24.com.
Bios:
GERALT CLOETE
Geralt Cloete is a producer, director, performer, scriptwriter and applied theatre practitioner. He holds a master’s degree in the dramatic arts from Wits University and has a keen interest in how drama can be applied in the context of education and inside communities. His work is strongly rooted in the notions of home and belonging. Geralt is the director of NamaKhoi Productions that has the vision of preserving, promoting and developing the language and culture of the Nama and Khoi people through the dramatics arts.
Geralt Cloete
MILISWA MBANDAZAYO
Miliswa Mbandazayo is an actress, playwright, poet, writer and theatre maker based in Cape Town. In 2021 she obtained her honours degree in theatre and performance from the University of Cape Town. Locally, she acted as stage manager for Manyano Media’s Black Girl Live (2021) and as assistant stage manager for Matthew Wild’s Die Sewe Doodsondes (Woordfees, 2022). She has also toured overseas to France (Festival d’Avignon, 2021 and Théâtre Nanterre-Amadiers, 2023), Spain (Festival Grec, 2021) and Germany (Africologne, 2023) as stage manager for Brett Bailey’s Samson. In 2022, her own short play Oh! featured in the African Women Playwrights Network’s Ghana Festival. She recently acted as scriptwriting and production mentor for the Zabalaza Festival and will provide dramaturgical support for the Baxter Theatre’s upcoming isiXhosa setwork production later this year.
Miliswa Mbandazayo
MICHÉ VAN WYK
Miché van Wyk is an actress, poet, writer and cabaret artist from the small Namaqualand town Steinkopf. While studying drama at Stellenbosch University, she participated in various departmental productions, including At her feet by Nadia Davids. In 2022 she obtained her honours degree in drama with specialisation in cabaret and her research project focused on the inclusion of the Nama language and culture in Afrikaans television. She was also nominated for the Fleur du Cap theatre award of most promising student. This year she wrote the cabaret Is als oraait by die huis van die Here? that was performed at the Adam Small Theatre Complex and she played the lead role in Jantjies and the Pearls that was showcased at the KKNK and the Suidoosterfees.
Miché van Wyk
CARA ROSSOUW
Cara Rossouw obtained her honours degree in drama and theatre studies at Stellenbosch University in 2022. While studying, Cara participated in numerous theatre productions, taking on roles a variety of roles, including that of voice actress, cabaret performer through and stage manager. In the same year, she also released her debut single Ontken and wrote, co-directed and performed the one-woman cabaret show Adapt or Die. Cara currently creates digital video content for marketing purposes and freelances as a singer, songwriter, playwright and actress.
Cara Rossouw
MIKAYLA BROWN
Mikayla Brown is a 23-year-old freelance artist based in Cape Town. She completed her undergraduate drama studies and her honours degree in creative writing at Stellenbosch University. In 2022, a children’s story she wrote was one of the winners in the Nali’bali and Standard Bank Literacy Month Competition. She also wrote and directed her first play Jantjies and the Pearls for the Stellenbosch University’s Première Theatre Festival in 2022. Mikayla has just completed a writer’s internship at Tomas Films. She believes that her whimsical texts offer audiences the freedom to rethink societal flaws in a way that ushers in hope.
Mikayla Joy Brown
Miché van Wyk is ʼn aktrise, digter, skrywer en kabaretvertolker van die klein Namakwalandse dorp Steinkopf. Tydens haar dramastudies aan die Universiteit van Stellenbosch het sy deelgeneem aan verskeie departementele produksies, insluitend At her feet deur Nadia Davids. Sy het haar honneursgraad in drama met spesialisasie in kabaret in 2022 behaal en haar navorsingsprojek het gehandel oor die insluiting van die Namataal en -kultuur in Afrikaanse televisie. Sy is ook genomineer vir die Fleur du Cap teaterprys vir die mees belowende student. Vanjaar het sy die kabaret Is als oraait by die huis van die Here? geskryf wat by die Adam Small-teaterkompleks opgevoer is en sy het die hoofrol vertolk in Jantjies and the Pearls wat te sien was by die KKNK en die Suidoosterfees.
Miliswa Mbandazayo is an actress, playwright, poet, writer and theatre maker based in Cape Town. In 2021 she obtained her honours degree in theatre and performance from the University of Cape Town. Locally, she acted as stage manager for Manyano Media’s Black Girl Live (2021) and as assistant stage manager for Matthew Wild’s Die Sewe Doodsondes (Woordfees, 2022). She has also toured overseas to France (Festival d’Avignon, 2021 and Théâtre Nanterre-Amadiers, 2023), Spain (Festival Grec, 2021) and Germany (Africologne, 2023) as stage manager for Brett Bailey’s Samson. In 2022, her own short play Oh! featured in the African Women Playwrights Network’s Ghana Festival. She recently acted as scriptwriting and production mentor for the Zabalaza Festival and will provide dramaturgical support for the Baxter Theatre’s upcoming isiXhosa setwork production later this year.
Mikayla Brown is a 23-year-old freelance artist based in Cape Town. She completed her undergraduate drama studies and her honours degree in creative writing at Stellenbosch University. In 2022, a children’s story she wrote was one of the winners in the Nali’bali and Standard Bank Literacy Month Competition. She also wrote and directed her first play Jantjies and the Pearls for the Stellenbosch University’s Première Theatre Festival in 2022. Mikayla has just completed a writer’s internship at Tomas Films. She believes that her whimsical texts offer audiences the freedom to rethink societal flaws in a way that ushers in hope.
Cara Rossouw het haar honneursgraad in drama en teaterstudies in 2022 by die Universiteit Stellenbosch verwerf. Tydens haar studies het Cara aan talle teaterproduksies deelgeneem en verskeie rolle vertolk, insluitend dié van stemaktrise, kabaretvertolker en verhoogbestuurder. In dieselfde jaar het sy haar enkelsnit Ontken vrygestel en ook die eenvrou-kabaretvertoning Adapt or Die geskryf. Cara skep tans digitale video-inhoud vir bemarkingsdoeleindes en vryskut as sanger, liedjieskrywer, dramaturg en aktrise.
Geralt Cloete is ʼn vervaardiger, regisseur, verhoogkunstenaar, dramaturg en toegepaste teaterpraktisyn. Hy het ʼn meestergraad in drama by Wits-universiteit verwerf en het ʼn groot belangstelling in hoe drama toegepas kan word in die konteks van opvoedkunde en binne gemeenskappe. Geralt is die direkteur van NamaKhoi Produksies wat die visie het om die Nama- en Koi-mense se taal en kultuur te behou, bevorder en te ontwikkel deur middel van tearer.
