Moderator: Jefferson Tshabalala 

Panellists: Albert Ibokwe Khoza & Kgomotso ‘MoMo’ Matsunyane

Albert Ibokwe Khoza is an internationally acclaimed, multi-award-winning South African performance artist, actor, choreographer, director, musician, and traditional healer. Working across theatre, dance, ritual, visual art, and performance installation, Khoza has established himself as one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary African performance. His work interrogates identity, spirituality, sexuality, colonial histories, and the politics of the Black body, often drawing on ancestral knowledge and embodied ritual practices.

A recipient of the prestigious 2023 New York Bessie Award, Khoza received international recognition for his performance in And So You See… Our Honourable Blue Sky and Ever Enduring Sun… Can Only Be Consumed Slice by Slice…, a collaboration with renowned choreographer Robyn Orlin.

His acclaimed body of work includes The Black Circus of the Republic of Bantu, Dear Museum!, The Red Femicycle, and Influence of a Closet Chant. These works have toured extensively across Africa, Europe, North and South America, appearing at major festivals and institutions in cities including New York, Amsterdam, Liverpool, Berlin, Barcelona, Maputo, Portland, and São Paulo. In 2026, The Black Circus of the Republic of Bantu received Naledi Theatre Award nominations for Best Cutting Edge Production and Best Solo Performance, further affirming its impact on the contemporary theatre landscape.

As both artist and healer, Khoza's practice seeks to confront historical trauma while creating spaces for collective reflection, healing, and transformation. Through a unique fusion of performance, ceremony, and social critique, he continues to challenge audiences and expand the possibilities of contemporary performance on the global stage.

Kgomotso ‘MoMo’ Matsunyane (b. 1988) is an actor, playwright and director. She has performed in numerous plays, films, and television shows and has subsequently been nominated for and won several awards including Hlakanyana The Musical, which won a whopping 8 out of the 14 awards they were nominated for at the 2023 Naledi’s. Matsunyane won Best Supporting Actress in a Musical for her role as Mawethu along with Best Ensemble and Best Production of a Musical;  Best Actress in A Leading Role (Have You Seen Zandile? (Naledi Theatre Awards 2014), Best Supporting Actress (Ankobia SA Theatre Magazine Awards 2017), Best Ensemble (Animal Farm; Naledi Theatre Awards 2015), Best Supporting Role (Tsotsi The Musical; Fleur Du Cap Awards 2018) amongst many others.

She has also recently acted in a new sketch comedy show called ROSA directed by Kagiso Lediga scheduled to play on the popular streaming network, Netflix in 2023. In the same year, Matsunyane was festival director for the acclaimed Zwakala Festival and will be mentoring the winning group as the show takes to the stage in October 2023.

MoMo has been a professional actor since 2004. She obtained an Honours Degree in Dramatic Arts from Wits University in 2012, majoring in Performance as well as Film and Television. In 2022 she performed in If A Tree Falls which was also directed by acclaimed director Janice Honeyman. In 2020, she performed in Switzerland in Converting Eviction.

In 2021, MoMo was the Head Writer of a new musical produced by Madevu Entertainment and UJ Arts Centre called Hlakanyana directed by Janice Honeyman. She was also cast in Standard Bank Young Artist Award Winner for Dance, Lulu Mlangeni’s NAF production Kganya which made its live debut at the internationally acclaimed festival Afrovibes in 2022 and it will also be playing at The State Theatre in July 2023.