Lindiwe Matshikiza was born in London, UK, and came home to South Africa in 1991. She completed a BA degree and an Honours degree in Drama at Rhodes University. As a student, she was cast as the title character in Chris Mann's Thuthula: Heart of the Labyrinth directed by Janet Buckland- her first major role-, which ran on the main programme of the National Arts Festival in 2003. After graduating as one of the top Drama students of her year in 2004, she lived and worked in Cape Town as an educational theatre facillitator and freelance performer. It was during this time that she first collaborated with award-winning playwright Mike Van Graan, her breakthrough role being the lead in the two-hander Mixed Metaphors. The role earned her a Naledi Best Newcomer nomination, and led to her being cast in the one-hander Bafana Republic by Mike Van Graan, directed by Lara Bye (2007). The play has toured the country's leading theatres and festivals, and has earned Matshikiza outstanding critical acclaim, nominations on her performance (Aardklop Festival Best Actress Nominee, 2007; SA Comedy Awards Best Breakthrough Artist Nominee, 2007), and an SA Comedy Award for Best One-Person Show.
As an actor she has also worked with esteemed artists such as Andrew Buckland, Nicholas Ellenbogen, Jaco Bouwer, and Gary Gordon. She has directed for AREPP: Theatre for Life (Cape Town), and has led several drama workshops for various school's festivals and mentorship programmes around the country. Her stage directorial debut played at the 2007 National Arts Festival: Recess, a one-hander written and performed by New York based artist-activist Una Osato, which has subsequently played to sold-out houses in New York City.
Matshikiza is now based in Johannesburg and is active in a number of areas related to theatre, film, design and community social events. Having studied jazz singing and theory as part of her BA degree, she is an amateur singer, an interest that has fortified much of the performance work she has been involved in to date.
The Weinstein Company
