The Stellenbosch University Drama Department presents the award-winning one-man play Cantos of a Life in Exile at the Adam Small Theatre Complex on Tuesday 19 and Wednesday 20 August at 19:00.
Cantos of a Life in Exile, the winner of the 2024 Standard Bank Silver Ovation Award, is a powerful and deeply moving solo show by theatre-maker, actor and cultural leader Makhaola Ndebele. It blends storytelling, poetry and song, drawing from the rich oral traditions of Southern Africa.
Part personal journey, part universal story, it dives into themes of exile, memory, identity and the timeless search for home. The play is intimate, emotional and beautifully performed. It speaks to anyone who’s ever felt the pull of belonging or the ache of being far from home. It’s the kind of theatre that stays with you – raw, lyrical and unforgettable.
Ndebele’s two-decade career spans stage, screen, and academia. Born in Lesotho and raised between continents, his storytelling draws deeply from personal and ancestral memory.
As a director, he has helmed acclaimed productions including August Strindberg’s The Father, Zakes Mda’s Mother of All Eating, and Moagi Modise’s Lepatata – the first fully Setswana-language play staged at the Market Theatre, which won Best Ensemble at the Naledi Theatre Awards.
Ndebele’s screen appearances include the Sundance-winning This Is Not a Burial, It’s a Resurrection (2019), George Clooney’s Money Monster (2016), and The Last Ranger (2024), a conservation-themed short film recently nominated for an Academy Award.
Currently a lecturer at Rhodes University, Ndebele is committed to mentoring the next generation of performers and theatre-makers.
Cantos of a Life in Exile, written, directed and performed by Ndebele, represents the culmination of a life shaped by movement, memory, and the pursuit of cultural truth.
He describes the production as “more than a performance; it is a homecoming”. “It is an invitation to walk with me through the shifting landscapes of memory, culture and identity.
“Born in exile, I have spent a lifetime searching for the meaning of ‘home’, not simply as a place, but a feeling, a longing, a dream shaped by distance and desire.
“This work is my way of bridging the spaces between us, revealing the shared ground beneath our personal histories. It is a celebration of resilience, of the stories we carry, and of the hopes we return to time and again. Through a fusion of traditional storytelling and contemporary performance, I create a space where the personal becomes universal, where each audience member may catch a reflection of their own journey in mine.”
• Tickets for the two-night run at the Stellenbosch theatre can be bought online via Quicket at R100 each.
