The ImpACT award winner for Theatre 2012, Phillip Dikotla, has scooped up the Olive Schreiner Prize for Drama for his play Skierlik. The production also won Best Play at the 2013 Zabalaza Festival, was written in 2010, and was first staged the following year at the Mmabana Arts Centre, in the North West Province. Described as both powerful and shocking, the play is based on the 2008 racially motivated murders that took place in Skierlik, an informal settlement, which shook the country.
The story in Skierlik unfolds through the monologues of Thomas, who has to return to the place from which he was forced to leave. Recently made a widower, he reveals a harrowingly emotional journey, going through stages of forgiveness and bitterness, anger and hopelessness, and change and acceptance.
Though told primarily in English, the story incorporates physical theatre, Tswana and other vernacular languages.
In conversation with Karabo Legoabe, ACT Programmes Coordinator, Dikotla mentioned that the play ‘developed a lot over time.’ It raises questions in order to determine the actual causes – both insidious and obvious – of the murders. ‘Being a young person, I have never experienced apartheid. The murders in Skierlik was the first incident that made me consider the apartheid-like, or race-based, situations that still occur today,’ Dikotla said.
Pieter Jacobs, CEO of ACT comments: “It is tremendously rewarding to see Arts & Culture Trust ImpACT Award recipients blossom as their careers unfold. We congratulate Philip with his latest achievement and wish him all the best with his future endeavours.”
The play has also earned Dikotla a double Fluer de Cap nomination and an award for Best Performance in a One-Man Show.
With regards to his future, Dikotla revealed that, though Skierlik makes him feel like he’ll never write another play again, he would like to create new and challenging work. ‘The point has always been to tell the stories’ Dikotla said. In fact, comedy is his primary passion and first love.
For more information on the Arts & Culture Trust’s ImpACT Awards, please click here.
Phillip M. Dikotla is 24-year-old South African playwright, actor, and comedian who graduated from The Market Theatre Laboratory in 2010. He is the 2012 Arts and Culture Trust Impact Award recipient for theatre. He is part and cast of the Naledi Award winning production Sekwatlapa (2010), he is the writer and performer Skierlik,a play which was published by Junketts Publishers and received the Best Production Award at the 2013 Zabalaza Festival, a Standard Bank Ovation Award in 2013 and a Fleur De Cap award in 2013. He develops plays in workshop environments, writes, and performs in many theatre plays. He is also a founding member of Arch Entertainment. His passion for stand-up comedy and improvisation has landed him appearances on “Gare Dumeli” (SABC 2) and more recently “Tshisa III” (SABC 1).He has worked with a variety of directors, and performed in different productions such as: Skierlik, Vuka Matchelle, Reconciliation, Matters of the heart, Dr Roto, Ordinary, Ngwanaka, Monnamolora, invasion 2.0, and Narrative Dreams, just to mention a few. As a writer he has written, Skierlik, Ordinary, Trekker (the story of Dimitri Tshafendas),Gae, The fatherland, David II, Buru (co-written), and currently working on his new play titled khukhu. As a comedian he continues to perform around South Africa.