| What: Until I Arrive Where: Venue: Baxter Studio Dates: Sep 28 to Oct 3, 2026 Times: 11:00 Matinee & 20:00 Daily | 14:00Matinee Sat 3 Oct 2026 Booking: Webtickets online or at Pick ‘n Pay stores Written, performed and directed by: Lindokuhle Melaphi Mentor: Tiisetso Mashifane wa Noni Creative supervisor: Sylvaine Strike |
Lindokuhle Melaphi’s solo play, Until I Arrive is on in the Baxter Studio until October 3, 2026 – that is Saturday. I attended the opening, last night, Wednesday September 30. This is a rapturous quickie review. Please do not miss this compelling drama, written, directed and performed by Melaphi, with mentorship by Tiisetso Mashifane wa Noni and creative supervision by Sylvaine Strike. The production debuted this year at the 2026 Zabalaza Theatre Festival and won Best Script and Best Production. This current run is part of Zabalaza Finest of the Fest– which provides another opportunity to see the top picks of the 2026 Zabs.
The other Finest of the Fest play is Kinnes van Somers, developed and performed by Tamsyn Alexander and directed by Tamsyn Alexander and Hanro Cloete. Kinnes runs October 6-10.
There was a rapturous ovation for Until I Arrive. Melaphi blew me away – all of us –with her visceral performance, fleshing out multiple characters – physically and in terms of accent and voice, in this drama, which is howl, lament and a cautionary tale. It is about an absent father and a young woman who is always waiting for her father, who is a military man, so she becomes part of the army; to try and make sense of the absence, but I guess being present in his world. Her mother waits as well and that narrative is dovetailed with her daughter’s trajectory of waiting arriving – and leaving – set to a beat which pings of the military – precise, choreographed; sharp. The performance is crafted, with sharp precision, with Melaphi’s masterful use of movement and breath as she inhabits the protagonists and their conflicted emotions. A chair is prop, space, place, gun (terrifying). Humour and a sense of charismatic playfulness and clowning, offsets the darkness in the story.
The production runs for 60 minutes but I feel that it is a tad long and could be nipped slightly, with some cutting.
Tiisetso Mashifane wa Noni who mentored Melaphi for the Zabalaza, told me that she (Melaphi) is only 26. It is a remarkable achievement for this young artist. Her training includes Magnet Theatre and it is great that she has received this much deserved affirmation by the Zabalaza Festival. Lindokuhle Melaphi has arrived into the theatre sector. This is a tour de force performance.
Rapturous ovation at Baxter Studio, September 30, 2026: https://www.instagram.com/reel/Dd8sUQ7ouZ2/
✳ Until I Arrive – written, performed and directed by Lindokuhle Melaphi: Pic: Xolani Tulumani.
