Student Biographies

 

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Yaela Orelowitz
South Africa
yaela.orelowitz@gmail.com

 

Yaela Orelowitz graduated with a Bachelor of Journalism from the University of Johannesburg in 2010. During this time she spent a year at Rhodes University in Grahamstown studying Drama and became a Licentiate of Speech and Drama teaching through Trinity College London. After working as an assistant drama teacher for five years, Yaela opened a private School of Speech, Drama & Oral Communication in Johannesburg. In addition to teaching, Yaela has worked extensively in the field of Public Speaking and educational theatre performance.
Yaela is ecstatic to be joining Drama For Life and studying further in her field of interest: Drama Therapy

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Linda Gabriel,
lingabz@gmail.com
Zimbabwe

Linda Gabriel is one of the crop of exciting female spoken word artists to emerge out of Zimbabwe. Bilingual, her linguistic versatility is forged into poems written in either English or Shona, depending on which language effectively expresses what issue. She started performing poetry in high school and has since participated in major literary events in Zimbabwe, East Africa, the rest of southern Africa and Europe. She uses her poetry to address day to day issues and voices more for the females from her community.
Besides being a spoken word artist, currently her focus is on the development of arts in Africa and she is working with Goethe Institut, Alliance Francaise and African Synergy Trust. She curates festivals, coordinates artistic events, facilitates for collaborations between artists and cultural exchange programs, runs poetry slam projects in various communities etc.

 

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Jacob-Jacques Mushaandja Sakaria
Namibia
jacquesmushaandja@gmail.com

, who was born in the northern part of Namibia is a theatre actor, director, playwright, singer and performing arts researcher. His self-penned and directed theatre and musical work includes, Shebeen Queen, My Koek Is Moeg, The Chants of My People and The Forgotten Children. Jacques works extensively with Namibian NGOs and community-based projects in which he explores various arts based methods. He has worked in areas of gender and feminism, human rights, freedom and democracy as well as cultural promotion.
He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Media Studies and Performing Arts from the University of Namibia and he recently completed his Master’s thesis in Drama which investigated Organizational Theatre as a form of Applied Theatre in the Namibian context, a case study of the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation. His other research interests include performance studies, cultural indigenous performances, arts development and various aspects in Applied Drama.

 

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Thembile Tshuma
Zimbabwe
thembiletshuma@gmail.com

Thembile Tshuma, is an actor, dancer, director, percussionist, musical director and composer, choreographer and puppeteer. He has been in the arts industry for the past 10years where he has been a stage and television actor, script writer, dancer and choreographer. Grew up in Bulawayo, the hub of the arts in Zimbabwe, but now based in South Africa since 2008. The Leo currently based in Johannesburg has been a facilitator and holds a “trainer of trainers” certificate from The United Nations Children's Fund - UNICEF since 2006. He loves teaching his peers to become educators themselves. He is passionate about writing and directing and enjoys engaging with people and seeing his work have an impact on them. Thembile has been involved with theatre groups at the Hillbrow Theatre and is the artistic director of Royal Vibrationz marimba band which is the outstanding marimba group in the region. He also helps facilitate drama courses at the Supreme Educational College who were the Inner City High Schools’ champions in 2010 in Johannesburg. In 2004, he was a nominee in the Zimbabwe National Arts merit awards.

 

 

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Courage Chinokwetu
Zimbabwe
afriremedy@gmail.com

Courage Zvikomborero Chinokwetu obtained a Bachelor of Arts Degree, majoring in Theatre Arts, Literature and Sociology from the University of Zimbabwe in 2008. She has been involved in several arts for social action projects, including the British Council’s Identity and Diversity project which explored themes of ‘homelessness and displacement’ in Zimbabwe. She was selected to represent Zimbabwe at the International Identity and Diversity Youth Conference held in Zambia in 2007.
Courage participated in several festivals in Zimbabwe, including the Harare International Festival of the Arts in 2011, as a venue manager and the Zimbabwe Youth Festival in 2011 and 2012 as the administrator. She obtained a certificate in acting from the Reps Theatre in Zimbabwe.
Courage is passionate about gender and community development and has coordinated a gender programme known as Sisters in Solidarity, which aims to bridge the huge capacity gap between the participation of women in social and development platforms in a male-dominated youth sector in Zimbabwe.
In 2012 she successfully completed an Honors Degree in Applied Drama and Theatre under the Wits Drama for Life Programme. As a result, she has been accepted her to study for a Master’s Degree under the same programme. For Courage the Drama for Life journey has been an exciting, insightful, experiential and empowering platform for engagement in issues of social transformation through the use of drama.

 

 

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Wendy Zvakawapano

wzvakavapano@gmail.com
Zimbabwe

Wendy obtained her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Theatre Arts at The University of Zimbabwe in 2010. Soon after school she was employed by a local NGO called Patsime Edutainment Trust where she developed a love for Theatre for Development. While attached to Patsime, Wendy studied and attained an Executive Certificate in Results Based Monitoring and Evaluation with The University of Zimbabwe.
She has also engaged with Savannah trust on a consultancy level. The task was to carry out an End line Evaluation for their project titled ‘Fostering Democracy, Human Rights and Civic Participation’. She completed her Honours Degree in Applied Drama and Theatre at the University of the Witwatersrand in 2012. Drama for Life has introduced her to revolutionary ways of applying the arts to real life situations and getting people to dialogue about problematic issues.
She is currently studying for a Master’s Degree in Applied Drama and Theatre, and is looking forward to an academic year that is filled with constant reflection for her personal growth as well as for her practice.

 

 

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Oluwadamilola Apotieri-Abdulai
Nigeria
damilola_a@yahoo.com

Oluwadamilola Apotieri-Abdulai hails from Isale Eko Area of Lagos State Nigeria. With the royal blood running through his veins from his paternal side, Damilola discovered his acting skills through childhood moonlight improvisation as early as age 2. By now he has featured in over 25 series of Television Drama, 5 Movies and over 50 stage performances as an actor and directed a couple of plays.
He graduated with the 1st Chancellor’s Award for “Student who consistently showcased Creativity and Innovation” from Redeemer’s University. He has 2 plays to his credit titled “THE INVISIBLE…Story of the street kids” produced in 2012 in 4 states in Nigeria with over 10,000 audience members.
Damilola also runs a charity named Media Advocacy and Development Initiative (MADinitiative) which aims at using Theatre and Media as a tool for Advocacy and National Development especially with issues that affect children, women and young people (www.madinitiativeng.org). He badged his 1st and 2nd degree in Theatre Arts from Lagos State University and Redeemer’s University Nigeria respectively and hopes to progress to a Masters and PHd level so as to make impact in the academics.

 

 

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Majesty Mnyandu
kasmedia@gmail.com
South Africa

Majesty Mnyandu is a 29 year old human development practitioner from KwaZulu Natal, with an exceptional natural gift in communications. His home is at Umgababa, an area under the Ethekwini Municipality. Majesty began his education in KZN and later moved to Johannesburg where he completed his high school and furthered his studies.
Majesty obtained a diploma in media studies from Damelin and later attained a higher diploma in Community Leadership from Rhema Bible College.
Majesty continued to work with various human development organizations around Johannesburg covering development areas like street children rehabilitation programmes and anti-xenophobia campaigns.
In 2007 he was involved in the production of a TV documentary for SABC 1. In this production Majesty featured as an associated producer and presenter. He also worked as an assistant producer in the documentaries UMOJA and Realities Beyond Fame.
In 20 12 Majesty successfully completed his advanced diploma in Dramatic Arts from the University of Witwatersrand and is currently an Honours students whose research focus is the redundancy of elderly and veteran artist.

 

 

 

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Naadiya Shaik Omar
South Africa

In 2008 Naadiya Shaik Omar studied at the University of Johannesburg majoring in Psychology and Sociology. It was then that she discovered Drama Therapy and decided that it was an avenue she would like to explore.
In 2009 Naadiya transferred to the University of the Witwatersrand where she attained a Bachelor of Arts in Performing and Visual Arts (BA PVA). During this time she concurrently majored in Psychology and Television Studies. In 2012 she did her Honours in Drama Therapy while working part time as a celebrity PA on the popular soap opera Generations. She currently works at Themba Interactive and is involved with setting up Applied Drama and Theatre interventions at several orphanages in Johannesburg.
The DFl scholar would like to obtain a Master’s degree in Drama Therapy as well as establish her own Applied Theatre programme for the at-risk youth. DFL provides her with the ideal platform to realize her goals and to utilize her exceptional skills in human development to help people.

 

 

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Onthatile Peaches Matshidiso

South Africa

Onthatile Peaches Matshidiso is a multidisciplinary artist in the field of theatre. She is a writer, performer and designer. Her design credits include: Sizwe Bansi, Closer, The Pen, and Taproots. Her television credits include: “The Con Man” , “Gspot GP” and “Society”. 
She has participated in Sex Actually festivals as ‘Nena’ in  Khutjo Green’s  “Revolution between my Thighs” (2012)  and as a mask performer with Roberto Pombo in her self-created “ In the Tearoom” (2010).
Onthatile teaches design and visual literacy at the Market Laboratory. Currently a Masters Student in DFL, her research interests lie in post-traumatic stress disorder, migration and intimate relationships. Onthatile also works as a co-host for the DFL radio show Life.Beats that is on air every Monday from 7pm-8pm.

 

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Rozanne Myburgh
South Africa
rozannemyburgh@gmail.com

Rozanne Myburgh is currently an honours student in drama therapy, a field that she is increasingly passionate about. To pay her rent and keep her tummy full she is working as a freelance digital editor for Vrouekeur magazine overseeing all their web and social media activities. She also works as a graphic designer, web designer, photographer and journalist on a freelance basis. She won a Caxton Magazine award for best designer in 2011. Her background is in the media industry but her passion is drama. Another passion of hers is movement and physical theatre. She has been doing Biodanza for the past 5 years and also does weekly Expressive Movement classes with drama therapist, Sian Palmer. She completed her official studies in Communication and Graphic Design in 2004 but sees herself as a student for life because she believes that no one should ever stop learning.

 

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Chelsey May Orsmond
South Africa
chelsey8.may@gmail.com

 

Chelsey, 26 years of age, was born and bred in Johannesburg, South Africa. During her life journey she has lived and schooled in Dubai and White River, Mpumalanga.
Chelsey is currently working at Themba Interactive-Initiatives for Life. She is a Project Officer for the Safe Parks project (working with care workers and orphaned and/or vulnerable children), she coordinates Monitoring & Evaluation training and she is a trainer/facilitator and applied drama facilitator at Themba. She has facilitated in correctional centers and with in and out of school youth. She has also performed in various shows for Themba Interactive.
The social challenges/topics she enjoys exploring include: race and identity and race relations, wellness and addiction and trauma. During her Honours year in Psychology her thesis aimed to evaluate a playback theatre performance in relation to perceptions of race and racism amongst students at Wits University. Chelsey continues to be fascinated with race, race relations and racism specifically as it is an ever repressed or rationalized topic. In 2011 she conceptualized an idea for a production which focused on interracial relationships: ‘Love Collision’.  Alongside her colleagues (Lesiba Komelane and Bongani Ntshingila), she wrote, marketed and performed in ‘Love Collision’ for the DFL Sex Actually Festival.
One of her secret passions and talent is stand-up comedy. She wishes to one day become a drama therapist and a budding stand up ‘comedienne’.

 

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