Gomora actress Siyasanga Papu will star in the award-winning play Xova, which returns to the South African State Theatre from June 29 to July 3.
Papu will play the lead role of Zukiswa, a young Xhosa woman facing the harsh realities of solo parenting in a heavily disadvantaged family. She takes over from Charmain Mtinta who also took the baton from Zimkitha Kumbaca in 2019, both raising the bar on the character during their times.
Pupu is widely recognised for her role as Pretty Molefe on Mzansi Magic’s weekday telenovela Gomora, for which she received a Royal Soapie Awards nomination. Papu has managed to strike a balance between TV and theatre throughout the 16 years of her performing arts career.
The actress will star alongside Aphiwe Dumeko, who plays Thozama in an all-female cast masterpiece, written and directed by Best Director Naledi Award winner Joseph Komani.
Papu said Zukiswa is complex and rooted in who she is.
“She is a mother with a hard past, also leading a hard life. She is a strong character who was forced to be strong by circumstances. She is also filled with fear and that makes her very protective, and this is also how she shows love,” she said.
Papu described her character as most typical African adults who struggled with expressing themselves when growing up. This then led to her having a lot of issues bottled up inside and she now projects that on her own child.
“As an actor, it is always great to be challenged by a role, especially ones that are very far from who you are as a person.”
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