Forty under 40 win for Rhodes University Drama Lecturer

Rhodes University lecturer in the Department of Drama, Gavin Krastin, was recently honoured for his work in theatre and performance with the prestigious Forty under 40 Award. The event was held at the Houghton Hotel earlier this month and hosted and supported by the Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, the National Youth Development Agency and Xodus Communications.

Rhodes University’s Drama Department bags two bronzes at NAF

Rhodes University Drama Lecturer Selloane ‘Lalu’ Mokuku and MA student Khanya Ngcuka each won a Bronze Award at this year’s National Art Festival (NAF).

DRAMA DEPARTMENT PRESENTS PERFORMING FLUX 12 - 15 OCTOBER 2022 PROGRAMME 1 - 3

PERFORMING FLUX PROGRAMME 1 HONOURS PHYSICAL PERFORMANCE DRAMA 2 PHYSICAL ENSEMBLE DRAMA 3 PHYSICAL PERFORMANCE 12 & 14 OCTOBER 2022

Rhodes University alumna and her cast move audience in poignant lyrical production

“What is a story? A story has a beginning, middle and an end. A story takes you into a different world and paints a picture. A good story contains a moral lesson, loveable characters; characters the audience can relate to and resonate with.”

Theatre luminary, educator and co-founder of the National Arts Festival, Roy Sargeant, passes away

Prof Roy Sargeant, who was appointed Head of Speech and Drama at Rhodes University in 1973, passed away at the end of 2021. In addition to establishing the University's reputation as one of the premier drama training schools in South Africa, Prof Sargeant co-founded the National Arts Festival in 1974 with Prof Guy Butler. He was also integral to the creation of the Student Drama Festival and the Standard Bank Young Artists Awards.

Dipalo scores Bronze Standard Bank Ovation Award

Dipalo is a play co-written by Selloane 'Lalu' Mokuku, a lecturer in Applied Drama and Theatre at Rhodes University, and Ginni Manning, a playwright and theatre-maker from Liverpool, England.

Rhodes University drama lecturer bags Young Artist Award

Rhodes University lecturer and project manager for First Physical Theatre Company, Gavin Krastin, has been awarded the prestigious Standard Bank Young Artist Award (Performance Art) for 2021.

A Call For NAC To Account

The arts departments at Rhodes University have been deeply concerned and disappointed by the way artists are being treated by the National Arts Council of South Africa (NAC), in their role as the disbursement body of the Presidential Employment Stimulus Programme (PESP). As departments that train artists, we write to express our solidarity with the group of artists, that includes Sibongile Mngoma, who have been staging a sit-in at the offices of the National Arts Council (NAC).

Rhodes University’s Drama students shine despite COVID-19 restrictions

Drama studies is, by nature, a physical course. But instead of shelving its annual Performing Flux festival, the Drama Department reinvented it to adapt to COVID-19 restrictions. Perhaps one of the hardest-hit Departments, this brilliant performance showcase pays tribute to the ingenuity, resilience and passion of our Drama staff and students.

Rhodes University Honorary Doctorate recipient and Arts & Culture advocate, Lynette Marais, dies from cancer

The Rhodes University community has learnt with great sadness about the passing of a passionate supporter of the growth of the South African arts sector, Lynette Marais, who Rhodes University bestowed with a Doctor of Laws (honoris causa) in 2009.

Catch Prof Anton Krueger at the National Arts Festival

Rhodes University Drama Department's Anton Krueger’s new show, "The Voice In Your Head", is now on at the National Arts Festival.

Rhodes graduate wins SA playwright competition

Almost a decade since walking out of Rhodes University, with her Drama and English degree in hand, actress and now playwright Amy Louise Wilson is set to return to Makhanda after winning the 2020 Distell National Playwright Competition.

The power of theatre to enable social transformation

In the course of 2019, the Rhodes University Drama Department staged several theatre-based performances as vehicles for social intervention and change.

Two Rhodes University drama alumni among national playwright competition finalists

The five finalists of the Distell National Playwright Competition of 2020 have been announced.

Rhodes University student writes a children’s book that teaches learners about their identity

When Mathabo Tlali dropped out of Rhodes University six years ago, she never expected she would have the courage to go back to university.

Film artists engage with Makhanda community

The Rhodes University School of Journalism and Media Studies (JMS) held a collaborative film seminar, Kindo Kadre and the Dream of the Cinema: Outside, Against and Beyond the Abyss, with the Kino Kadre Community Cinema Circle at the Fingo Village Library in Makhanda. The seminar formed part of the Mellon 30th Anniversary Seminar Programme hosted by the JMS in October.

Flashmob stops High Street traffic

The locals were beaming with joy at the sight of a spectacle rare to the City of Saints.

Rhodes Drama department consistently wins Student Festival awards

The Rhodes University Drama Department has won a Student Theatre Festival award every year since 2014, making this their sixth year of victory.

Student wins esteemed travel award

Rhodes University Honours student Siph’esihle Ndaba has been granted an Abe Bailey Travel Bursary and will be travelling to Ethiopia and the United Kingdom this November.

RU DRAMA DEPARTMENT AT 10TH Drama for Life International Conference and Festival

A number of students and staff from the Drama Department will participate in the 10th Drama for Life International Conference and Festival which runs from 28 November to 8 December, 2018 at Wits University. The conference and festival seeks to map developments and innovations in applied arts, in terms of the overall theme of “Transforming Arts / Transforming Lives”. Some of the concerns of the festival include investigating ways in which arts can move us from binary positions to ones which are more fluid; how we can shift from in-action to action, from anti-social to pro-social, and, ultimately, from oppression to liberation. Themes that will be addressed at the festival include building a human rights culture through arts activism as well as sexual health and wellbeing thought Arts Education. Toward this end, the department will participate with various panels, paper presentations, workshops as well as performances.

Rhodes University’s First Physical Theatre Company tours Cape Town

The First Physical Theatre Company, an affiliated project of Rhodes University’s Drama Department, will be showcasing two performances ahead of a tour to Cape Town.

Rhodes University wins NAF Student Festival Award for Best Ensemble

Rhodes University’s drama department won Best Ensemble Award at this year’s Student Festival at the National Arts Festival (NAF), for its play, Seeing Red.

Gavin Krastin and the First Physical Theatre Company put on yet another illuminating performance

Known for his experimental performances that are full of beauty yet hard-hitting, Rhodes University’s Gavin Krastin, in association with First Physical Theatre Company, will be premiering his latest piece, Yet to be determined, at this year’s National Arts Festival between 05-07 July at the Nun’s Chapel.

Award-winning student director tackles another bold play at Student Theatre Festival

Winner of the 2017 Student Theatre Award for Best Original Work, Mmatumisang Motsisi and Winner of the Best Stage Manager Award, Manoko Tlhako, will be putting on another hard-hitting and combative play at this year’s National Arts Festival.

Seeing Red - Students National Art Festival Production

In a village called Boswa, a woman is stoned to death for protesting against the unfair social restrictions that are placed on menstruating woman. Her daughter embarks on a journey to seek justice for her mother’s brutal murder. Her journey is a spiritual one that causes her to realise that there is power in the blood that a woman sheds every month, not shame.

Seeing Red Final Poster2018

In a village called Boswa, a woman is stoned to death for protesting against the unfair social restrictions that are placed on menstruating woman. Her daughter embarks on a journey to seek justice for her mother’s brutal murder. Her journey is a spiritual one that causes her to realise that there is power in the blood that a woman sheds every month, not shame.

RISING FROM ASHES: RU ENDS AFRICA MONTH WITH A STORY OF HOPE AND HUMANITY

Earlier in the month, the department’s head, Dr Heike Gehring made an open invitation about collaboration during their open house showcasing, and through Totto’s performance-process workshop, an array of faculties as well as community based organisations came together to shape the narrative being presented.

First Meetings 2018

First Meetings 2018

Orientation 2018

Orientation Week for Undergraduates and Postgraduates 2018

Black women explore sexual oppression

Six black women occupy the dim, sparsely set stage and break out in song while on their knees, their hands tied.

Rhodes director receives Festival Ovation Award

A Rhodes University Masters student won the prestigious 2017 Standard Bank Ovation Award for her play Bayephi, at the Grahamstown Arts Festival this week. Directed by Thembeka Madliki, the theatre production is about finding peace after the disappearance of a loved one.

Renate Stuurman

Renate Stuurman is a South African actress best known for her soapie roles as Denise in SABC2's 7de Laan, as Jade in SABC3's Isidingo and as Tamia Bardill in Scandal! on eTV.

Drama Latest News

Drama Latest News

The Best Student Theatre at #NAF16

Rhodes Drama department also won the best student production for Nyanga a devised play that transposed Arthur Miller’s Crucible to the Eastern Cape. Nyanga’s director, Masters student Thembela Madliki also won the award for most promising director.

Awards for RU Drama Department at the National Arts Festival 2016

RU Drama Department celebrates the following achievements at Grahamstown National Arts Festival 2016: HOD of Drama, Professor Gary Gordon, was awarded the prestigious ‘standing ovation’ award at this year’s National Arts Festival

MA student invited to Institute For Creative Arts in Cape Town

Kamogelo Molobye has been awarded the Live Art Fellowship Award 2017. The fellowship takes place at the ICA Live Art Festival University of Cape Town and runs from February 10th - 28th.