Award-winning choreographer, director and performer Mduduzi Nhlapo is thrilled to be announced as the new associate artistic director for The South African State Theatre (SAST)
On his appointment, Nhlapo said his passion had always been to use theatre as a tool to alleviate social ills and to have the theatre accessible to all.
He said: “Now as the associate artistic director, I’m ecstatic and fully embodied as this dream dates far back.
“My role lies solely in reaffirming and repositioning the SAST brand as the largest theatre complex in the Southern hemisphere, as the trendsetter and the benchmark of Africa’s identity, artistic and intellectual excellence.”
In welcoming Nhlapo to his team, SAST’s artistic director Aubrey Sekhabi said: “Having gone through all the programmes that we present, he is best suited for the job.
“He is young, committed and talented. It is exactly what the industry needs, energy, talent and discipline.
“I am happy for him, and I wish him luck with this new post. We definitely have an artistic director in waiting.”
Nhlapo’s passion for arts was discovered during his teenage years when he was a member of community groups performing traditional dances and township theatre in his hometown of Soshanguve.
In 2006, he took part in the SAST’s first “Mzansi Fela” community development programme, now MCO, and later participated in the Ishashalazi programme as a performer and director, which later earned him the Best Production accolade with his athletic production “Last Breath”.
He was the nominee for Best Choreography Naledi Theatre Award with Sekhabi’s “Freedom the Musical” in 2019. He won the award with Sello Maseko’s “Angola Camp” 13 in 2020.
Last year he showcased his latest offering “Magnificent 7” at the Kucheza Afrika Festival.
Nhlapho is the author and director of the controversial theatrical satire play “Lesilo Rula”, a biographical play about the legendary Boikie Moditle Pholo, which played at the SAST under the Department of Sports Arts and Culture programme which honoured the legends.
As part of “Season 5” of The Centre for the Less Good Ideas, he created a robust physical theatre piece titled “11 minutes Before Assassination” with Lulu Mlangeni and the epic politically-motivated visceral solo piece titled “Escape”, in which he introduced a muscular style to theatre making.