The Team
Sara Matchett
Co-Founder
Dr Sara Matchett is an award-winning Theatre Director and Associate Professor at the Centre for Theatre, Dance & Performance Studies (CTDPS) at the University of Cape Town (UCT). She is also a Lead Trainer of Fitzmaurice Voicework®, the Regional Co-ordinator of the Fitzmaurice Institute for Africa, and an Advanced Breathwork Practitioner with Breathwork Africa. Her teaching profile centres around practical and academic courses that include, voice, acting, performance-making, applied theatre, and performance analysis. She is especially interested in transdisciplinary modes of creating. Her research explores the body as a site for generating images for the purpose of performance-making. Specifically, it focuses on investigating the relationship between breath and emotion, and breath and image, in an attempt to make performance that is inspired by a biography of the body. Her particular interests are in embodied practices that focus on presencing, co-sensing, co-llaborating and co-generating as a way of transforming egosystems to ecosystems. As co-founder and Artistic Director of The Mothertongue Project women’s arts collective, Sara has experience in the field of theatre and performance as a performance-maker, performer, director, and facilitator.
Rehane Abrahams
Co-Founder
Rehane Abrahams is a Cape Town based live artist, theatre maker, Fitzmaurice Voicework practitioner and actor on stage and screen. She is currently finishing a PhD at UCT CTDPS, which focuses on eco-erotic belonging and decolonising body/land. Recent Live Art performances include Spier Constellations and the ICA. Theatrical performances include Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet, Dance of the Lagumas and Braam en die Engel. Rehane has garnered numerous awards, including a Fleur du Cap for Solo Performance and Woordtrofees for Best Play and Best Performance for Womb of Fire. She also received an FNB Vita Best Actor Award for her performance in Magnet Theatres Voices Made Night. Current screen appearances include presenting The Khoehoe Saga, a series aired on SABC exploring the history and revival of the Khoekhoe. She also plays the villain on a Kyknet en kie telenovela, Arendsvlei. From 2008 to 2014, she taught, directed and produced intercultural Shakespeare with a mixed-professional and no-professional company, theatre Firefly, in Bali, Indonesia. She has also worked with the San Francisco Shakespeare Festival as an actor and teacher. Her training includes classical Javanese dance in Central Java, Butoh and other disciplines including Kathak and acting at UCT. She is currently completing her training as a Certified Fitzmaurice Voicework Teach.r
Makgati Mokwena
Expressive Arts Therapy
Dr. Makgati Mokwena is a seasoned professional with a diverse background in arts therapy, psychology, and academia. With a career spanning over two decades, Makgathi has made significant contributions to the fields of personal development and leadership. She is a registered arts therapist with the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) and serves as an adjunct lecturer at the UCT Graduate School of Business. Makgati's work ethos revolves around integrating emotional, embodiment, spiritual, and mental intelligences to foster personal growth and team dynamics. She incorporates expressive arts methodologies into her practice, aiming to create transformative learning environments. Makgati has extensive experience facilitating programmes for diverse clients, including government departments, private companies, academia, and civil society. In addition to her professional roles, Makgati is a published author and has received numerous awards and fellowships for her contributions to psychology and the arts. With her passion for holistic development and commitment to lifelong learning, Makgati continues to inspire positive change in individuals and communities alike.
Nina Callaghan
Organisational Services
Nina Callaghan is the Deputy Director of the Centre for Sustainability Transitions, at Stellenbosch University (SU). She is seeking better questions and practice for development, politics, education, family-making and being together on this mysterious planet. Her MPhil builds theory for relational governance practice, focusing on partnerships, strategic coalitions and institutional work to navigate and shape governance outcomes for transition. She is currently a PhD candidate extending her inquiry into governance, with questions framed around embodied sustainability. She has co-edited a book on state capture, Anatomy of State Capture (Callaghan, Foley & Swilling, 2021) and co-authored book chapters for The Oxford Handbook of the South African Economy, (Oqubay, Tregenna & Valodia, 2021) and The Evolving Structure of South Africa’s Economy: Faultlines and Futures (Mohamed, Ngoma & Baloyi, 2023). Nina serves as the Transformation Committee Chair for the faculty of Economic and Management Science at SU. She is a lecturer for the Postgraduate Diploma in Sustainable Development. Nina has previously worked as a director of the NGO, Children’s Radio Foundation, as a broadcast journalist and has experience as a theatre performer.
Ntombi Makhutshi
Community Engagement
Ntombi Makhutshi was born on July 8, 1981, in the Eastern Cape, later relocating to Bonnievale in the Western Cape during her childhood. After attending school in Robertson, she moved to Khayelitsha in 1999 and graduated from Chris Hani Secondary School in 2000. In 2001, she was accepted to study at the New Africa Theatre Association under esteemed mentors such as Fatima Dike and Dumile Magodla. Ntombi's talent and dedication led her to tour with 'The Island and the Apple Box' in 2002, and to represent UCT Drama School at The Hague in Holland in 2006. Her remarkable performances garnered recognition, including a Fleur du Cap nomination for Most Promising Student. Throughout her career, Ntombi has showcased her versatility in various productions, winning the Fleur du Cap Best Supporting Actress award in 2010. Alongside her acting achievements, she has also ventured into directing, shaping powerful narratives on stage. Ntombi's contributions to both stage and screen reflect her commitment to storytelling and her dedication to inspiring others through the performing arts.