Nkululeko Sibanda

Senior Lecturer & Theatre Director (Rhodes University) & Research Fellow (Oxford University: African Studies Centre)

Nkululeko Sibanda is a National Research Fund (NRF) Y2-rated researcher and academic, teaching, and supervising research in the fields of sociology of theatre, creative economies, digital humanities and decolonial theatre practices. Nkululeko holds an MA and PhD in Drama and Performance Studies from the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN). Currently, Nkululeko contributes to the teaching of Drama 1. 2 and 3 Theatre Studies, facilitates Practice as Research Studies (PaR) and Long Research Paper at Honours Level as well as Practice as Research Studies (PaR) in the Master by Coursework programme.

Nkululeko’s research falls under the broad banner of the Sociology of Theatre in Africa and Digital Humanities. His scholarship is rooted at the intersection of society, people, and live performing arts from the vantage point of African visuality, aesthetics, and experiences. At its core, his work aims to develop robust and contextually grounded performance theory and practice models from within African paradigms. He is the Principal Investigator in the NRF funded South African Community Theatre Meta-Data and Archive (SACOTOMA) project which aims to document and archive community theatre projects and productions in the South African Eastern Cape and North-West provinces.

He is also actively engaged in the scholarly community as an Open Issues Co-editor for Research in Drama Education: The Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance. He also serves on the Executive Committee of the International Federation for Theatre Research (IFTR). Nkululeko is currently a fellow of the prestigious Department of Higher and Tertiary Education (DHET) Future Professors Programme Cohort 4 and a Research Associate at Oxford University’s African Studies Centre.  

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2950-7767

1. Under PhD – add the list of students - Tshepang Moticoe, Wandile Mgcodo, Ingrid Wylde (We will add their topics later)
2. Under MA - add this list of students – Swelihle May, Nikita Nonkululeko Baloyi, Sivuyisile Wani, Silubonile Gqebe.
3. Under Studying – please add PhD under the Postgraduate Courses – we will add information later.
4. Under Productions – please add links for 2025, 2024. 2023, 2022 productions – we will ask Gary for the information to be made available and add it later.

Last Modified: Fri, 20 Feb 2026 09:59:06 SAST