New faces at Brink: Mondli

Chris Pitman and Mondli Makhoba, photographed by Chris Herzfeld

Mondli Makhoba is a man of many talents: acting, singing, dancing... and we're sure there are more! He plays Augustus Forkay who is a pharmacist and one of Skip's oldest friends.

"I am a Zulu man born in Durban, South Africa. I have been in Adelaide since 2006," says Mondi.

"The Brink rehearsals have been a great, enjoyable learning process for me. I like Chris's brilliancy, how he connects actors with the characters, closing every gap, answering every question and analysing every line in the play. This help us actors a lot," he says. "I learn so much as I watch other actors work."

"There are multiple scenes and lines I like, but the one that jumps out at the moment is this one. I think this line tells us about the kind of a person that Neville is."

And I hold on for too long. - Neville

"I started performing professionally in 1999 in a show called Shaka Inoguration by Storey Productions in which I was lucky to play the main role as King Shaka. Storey Productions is a theatre company based in South Africa and the UK. I also did The Mighty Zulu Nation which I was playing one of the Zulu chiefs, and Africa-Africa which toured the UK, Italy and South Africa," says Mondli.

"It was during these shows when I realised that I can convey notions through acting."

"From 2003 I was with The Pride of the Zulu, a theatre company that was based in Durban specialising in telling the history of the Zulu's through theatre. After that I I was with The Lions of Zululand touring in the UK and USA, but this was only music and dance. In 2005-2006 I was with Ikhwezi le Africa playing in the show Bhambatha Uprising in 1906, and my luck came to play again I as played King Bhambatha whowas one of the no nonsense Zulu kings."

"In Australia in 2009 I was part of Jambo Africa doing a play called The Magic Waterhole and I also started performing solo Zulu dance. In the same year I became part of Brink Productions and also worked in a short film called Paper Planes," he says.

Paper Planes Trailer from David Ngo on Vimeo. (Projector Films / Storyland Media)