Introducing Anelisa Phewa: TCC Artist in Residence for 2022
Anelisa Phewa is a prolifically talented actor, writer and educator (in his spare time he is also a musician and a martial artist!). South African and international audiences may recognise him from numerous roles in TV series and movies, but he has also performed in various Shakespearean productions on stage and screen.
Most recently, he was Hamlet in the live-online-reading of Hamlet that was directed by Neil Coppen in May 2021. Phewa has also appeared in Abrahamse & Meyer’s three-man Richard III and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. His other Shakespearean stage credits include Twelfth Night and A Comedy of Errors at the Maynardville Open Air Theatre in Cape Town.
Through his consulting and coaching company, Dramatec, Phewa works with both professional and aspiring actors, as well as production companies and others working in the film and television industry.
Educated at the University of Cape Town, Phewa will be returning to his studies when he registers for an MA at the University of the Witwatersrand later this year.
Phewa’s Masters research will focus on the translation of Shakespeare into isiZulu, with a particular emphasis on the sonnets in/as performance. His project will incorporate reflections on his own practice as translator and performer.
As Resident Artist for 2022, Phewa will not only pursue his creative and scholarly practice as part of his postgraduate studies at Wits University, but will also work with undergraduate students to help them grapple with Shakespeare through performance and translation.
In addition, Phewa will participate in workshops run by the TCC to support school teachers, actors and translators in their engagement with Shakespeare.
As a taste of things to come, the Tsikinya-Chaka Centre is delighted to present a short film produced by Phewa for the Shakespeare Ensemble’s “Winter Tales 2021” production on New Year’s Eve. Here, Phewa adopts an unconventional tone in performing his translation of Sonnet 116 into isiZulu . . .
Anelisa Phewa’s appointment as TCC Artist in Residence for 2022 was enabled by the support of Legacy Underwriting Managers (LUM), the National Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences (NIHSS) and the Shakespeare Society of Southern Africa (SSOSA).
