Cohort: Trainees

Asiphe Lili (EPWP Intern) is 22 years old, from Khayelitsha. She studied drama and design in Chris Hani Arts School and matriculated in 2010. She became an intern in Sweetor clothing in 2011. Her interest in drama started in high school where she was a member of Iqhude theatre productions. She became part of the Magnet Theatre training programme in 2012 and had performed in productions such as running with goldfish and gift wrapping the sea, Tree/Boom/Umthi and Heart of Redness. She graduated in 2013 the same year she became a member of UKAO Theatre Company under the leadership of Bulelani Mabutyana. For UKAO she performed in Blood Stain and Secret Flames. Asiphe is now an EPWP intern in Magnet Theatre focusing on stage design, stage light, facilitation and stage managing.

Loyiso Damoyi is 29 years old and is a coordinator at Africa Jam Theatre Company. He is from Khayelitsha and attended Luhlaza High.

Luvo Tamba (Early Years Company) is a professional performance artist who was trained at Magnet Theatre from 2008-2010 and has since performed in a multitude of productions that have travelled within South Africa and Europe. Some of his earliest works include his debut at the Infecting the City Festival in Mandla Mbothwe’s ‘Ingcwaba lendoda lise cankwe ndlela’, and performances at the Grahamstown National Arts Festival and Baxter Theatre Centre in ‘Inxeba Lomphilisi’ directed by Mandla Mbothwe and Faniswa Yisa. In 2011 he joined the Isango Ensemble and performed in an adaptation of Mozart’s ‘The Magic Flute’ which toured to Italy, Germany, Russia and the Shakespeare Festival in London. His first encounter with theatre for young audiences was in the Isango Ensemble’s ‘Aesop’s Fables’ (performed at the Hackney Empire Theatre in London) which inspired his interest to create further work in this genre.

Babalwa Makwetu (Early Years Company) is an actress and a musician. She is a vocalist in the collective Lingua Franca and a member of Future Line Arts Academy. In 2012 she became a trainee at Magnet Theatre, training as a physical theatre practitioner and more. After completing her training at Magnet, she performed in ‘The Playroom’ (2013 Zwakala festival winner) directed by Thandolwethu Mzembe, ‘They Died Singing’ and ‘Umendo’ directed by Thando Doni, ‘Izithyilelo Zobuze’ directed by Mbogeni Nomkhomwanwa & Lwanda Sindaphi, and most recently at the Infecting the City Festival in ‘Mari and Kana’ directed by Mandisi Sindo. During her career as an actress and vocalist, Babalwa has travelled to many different provinces and performed in a vast range of works.

Jason Jacobs (Early Years Company) is a graduate theatre maker from UCT who has produced a range of work that contributed to his success, which includes stage management for Aja Marneweck’s ‘Plot 99: The 21st Century Prophecy Show’(2011) and Sandra Temmingh’s ‘Mirakel’(2013). He also performed alongside Sjaka September in ‘Ouma’ at both Out the Box Festival and KKNK in 2013. He was co-designer for ‘Uhm’ and also portrayed the role of Sol Plaatje. ‘Uhm’ received best writing at the National Arts School Festival and was nominated for a Fleur du Cap for best new director. His recent production was an Afrikaans physical theatre piece titled ‘Kalahari Swan’ inspired by Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake. Jacobs wrote, directed and performed in this production. Jacobs is very passionate about community development in the West Coast and Northern Cape. He recently founded KleiSand, a youth theatre arts movement based in Cape Town, with the hopes of reaching out to these communities.

Koleka Putuma (Early Years Company) is a Performance Poet, Facilitator and Theatre Practitioner who graduated with a BA in Theatre & Performance at UCT. Her work has travelled to Scotland, New York and around South Africa. She has been featured on BBC Radio 4, BBC focus on Africa, Badilisha Poetry X-Change and TedX Cape Town Women. In 2014 she was nominated and voted to represent the Western Cape at the Slam For Your Life competition at the Grahamstown National Arts Festival, where she was crowned South Africa’s First National Slam Champion. During her time at UCT she directed An Endless Echo (2013), For God’s Sake (2014), an adaptation of Chimamanda Adichie’s ‘Miracle’, Mbuzeni (2014) and UHM (2014) which was awarded Best Student Writing at the NAF Student Festival in Grahamstown and showcased at the Artscape Theatre in December 2014. She has been nominated for the Rosalie van der Gucht Prize for New Directors at the 2015 Fleur Du Cap Theatre Awards. She has headlined at SliPnet’s Inzync Poetry Sessions, Word N Sound Poetry and Live Music Series and at Off The Wall. She is a resident poet of the collective Lingua Franca and Co-Founder of newly formed theatre companies Velvet Spine and The Papercut Collective 

Sivuyile Dunjwa (EPWP Intern) hails from Khayelithsa and has been involved in drama from a young age. He won the Best Actor awards in 2007 and 2008 at the Artscape High School Drama Festival. He graduated from New Africa Theatre Academy in 2010 and Magnet Theatre in 2013. He has acted in Iphi Izombi directed by Robin Denault, Eleven forty-one directed by Clare Stopford, Thabo Mbeki and Other Nightmares directed by Tshepo Wamamatu and Blood Stain directed by Bulelani Mabutyana. As a trainee in the Magnet Theatre Fulltime Training and Job Creation programme he performed in running with goldfish and gift wrapping the sea, Heart Of Redness directed by Mark Fleishman and Tree/Boom/Umthi directed by Jennie Reznek.

Siphenathi Mayekiso (EPWP Intern) grew up in Philippi, Cape Town. He matriculated in 2009 from Athlone School for the Blind and two years later he joined the Magnet Theatre training programme. After graduating in 2013 he joined the Garage Dance Company in Okiep for intense workshops under the tutelage of Alfred Hinkel. As a freelancer he did some puppetry work for UNIMA South Africa, facilitated workshops for the Magnet Theatre Culture Gangs Project, stage managed various productions and performed in a short film, Nommer 27,that scooped two awards in the Kyknet Silver Screen by Gambit Films. He has performed in theatre works such as Dark Cell (2015) by Themba Mbuli and s Marat/Sade (2017) by Jaco Bouwer.

Nolufefe Ntshuntshe (Early Years Company) is a third year Theatre and performance student majoring in Theatre Making. She finished high school in 2004, and has been involved in a number of community theatre projects co-writing and directing theatre productions for her community theatre group Future Line Arts Academy. She has also performed at the Baxter Theatre participating in the Ikhwezi Festival (now known as the Zabalaza Festival). Prior to her coming to study at UCT she was a trainee at the Magnet Theatre for two years, where she worked with Mark Fleishman on the production The Children and the Bees and Mandla Mbothwe on Inxeba Lomphilisi, a play which went to the Grahamstown National Arts Festival in 2010. She has also done a number of projects directing and facilitating theatre pieces for and with the Mothertongue Project where she is also an intern and board member.

Yonela Sithela completed a year’s theatre training on 2009, of Performing Arts and graduated at New Africa Theatre. She also became part of the Lab on the following year which was In 2010 she joined the New Africa Lab and performed in the Robben Island Story.   In 2011 she did Bash Or Be Bashed at Artscape, directed by Thoko Ntshinga and Indonga Ziwelene by Ntombesizwe Tena. Yonela was a member of the Fulltime Training and Job Creation programme at Magnet Theatre between 2012 and 2013. In 2014 She did SECRET FLAMES performed at Water Front School Of Theatre directed by Sisipho Mbopa and BLOOD STAIN at ArtsCape directed by Bulelani Mabutyana. On 2015 she has done AMAZA at ArtsCape, directed by Thoko Ntshinga and done NOMALI MASAMBE directed by Peggy Mmatato. She has been part of the EPWP at Magnet Theatre and now she works as a Culture Gangs facilitator in the townships.

In 2016, She was part of the “Miriam Makheba and the Musical’’ production that performed here in Cape Town and toured America.