Monde Mayephu Creative Arts Foundation

09/09/2026

09/09/2026

MONDE MAYEPHU
Playwright • Director • Dramaturge • Drama Educator • Facilitator • Programme Designer
Monde “Jack” Mayephu is a South African playwright, theatre director, dramaturge, drama educator and facilitator whose work brings together artistic excellence, human development and social change. His practice is grounded in the belief that theatre can help people investigate their lives, confront difficult realities and imagine new possibilities.
As a founding member and mentor at Drama for Change, Monde has extensive experience in developing theatre practitioners, mentoring emerging artists and designing drama-based programmes for schools and communities. His work addresses issues such as bullying, teenage pregnancy, gender-based violence, peer pressure, inequality, leadership and community resilience.
Monde has also worked as a writing teacher and facilitator at the Market Theatre Laboratory and served as a sessional lecturer at the University of the Witwatersrand from 2022 to 2024. His work as an educator is centred on helping artists move from uncertainty to discovery—from an unanswered personal question to a clear, theatrically compelling story.
He is the creator and course leader of The Write Stuff, a solo-performance writing and development methodology that guides actor-writers through a structured journey of investigation, writing, dramaturgy, rehearsal and performance. The programme develops artists who can generate original work from their lived experiences, unanswered questions and observations of the world around them.
The Write Stuff methodology moves participants through the following creative pathway:
Unanswered Life Question → Research and Investigation → Central Dramatic Question → Character → World of the Story → Dramatic Structure → Writing → Rehearsal → Performance
The methodology also incorporates Monde’s SHOWED Method—See, Happening, Our Lives, Why and Do—which encourages writers to look beyond the surface of an event, investigate its underlying causes and connect personal experience with wider social realities.
His selected plays include The Pen, Play Me, Rain Song, Too Young to Die and The Red Door Case, which was presented at the Market Theatre in 1998. He has also worked as a writer and dramaturge on One City, Too Many Voices, a Johannesburg-based musical exploring gender-based violence, xenophobia, crime, corruption and the competing voices of the city.
Monde is currently developing The Master of Alibis, a one-person political-thriller series. Its first instalment, Season One: The Architect of Power, explores political manipulation, public belief, corruption and the hidden individuals who design systems of power while remaining outside the public spotlight.
His artistic philosophy can be expressed through the phrase:
“Love, not fear.”
Monde often uses love stories and intimate human relationships to investigate political and social questions. He believes that powerful theatre does not simply provide answers. It creates the conditions for audiences and performers to ask better, braver and more honest questions.
Through his artistic practice, teaching and programme development, Monde Mayephu is building a sustainable pathway through which emerging writers and performers can discover their voices, create original South African theatre and move their work from the classroom and rehearsal room to public performance, publication and professional production.
Vision
To develop courageous African storytellers who can transform personal experience, unanswered questions and social realities into original theatrical work.
Mission
To investigate, write, develop and stage stories that deepen understanding, challenge fear and contribute to artistic and social transformation.
Areas of Expertise
• Playwriting and script development
• Theatre directing and dramaturgy
• Solo-performance writing and development
• Actor-writer training
• Applied drama and theatre for social change
• Forum Theatre and participatory performance
• Creative facilitation and mentorship
• Curriculum and methodology development
• Artist-development programme design
• Community and school-based theatre programmes
• Leadership and facilitator development
• Project conceptualisation and artistic management
Professional Positioning Statement
Monde Mayephu develops writers, performers and community arts leaders through theatre methodologies that transform lived experience into powerful stories, public dialogue and meaningful social action.

30/04/2026

Already have acting experience and want to expand your horizons? ✍🏽🎭

Introducing The Write Stuff — where the actor meets the writer. In partnership with Monde Mayephu, this exciting new course at The Market Theatre Laboratory invites you to create, develop, and perform your very own solo piece.

From building powerful characters to crafting a story that moves an audience — you’ll take the stage in your own 10–15 minute production.

🗓 09 May – 26 July 2026 (Every Saturday)

🚨 Registration is OPEN NOW — everyday until 2 May
11AM – 6PM
Register online via WhatsApp: 068 455 0561

Ready to own your voice and tell your story? This is your moment. 🔥

14/04/2026

The Write Stuff: An Introduction to solo performance writing
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The Write Stuff: An Introduction to solo performance writing
The Write Stuff: An Introduction to solo performance writing
09 May - 26 Jul 2026
R3000
About
The Market Theatre Laboratory is excited to launch the latest edition to the part-time packages, partnering with Monde Mayephu, called The Write Stuff. This course delves into the art of writing and developing the solo act. Where the actor meets the writer in an attempt to develop solo scripts. A one-person show usually follows a clear, three-act structure: beginning, middle, and end. This course will introduce the actor to understanding the central character and conflict, then learn how to build toward a climax where the character faces a major challenge or realization.

Finally, diving into how they resolve the conflict in a way that brings emotional closure to the story.?The course culminates in the performance of your own 10 – 15-minute solo production, as the author and the actor.

The course begins on 09 May 2026 – 26 July 2026. Attendance in all sessions is required to successfully complete the course. The class takes place once a week, Saturday for 3 hours, 08h30 to 12h00.

Once you have purchased your ticket, please register prior to the start date with the course administrator on one of the following dates: 28 April 2026 – 02 May 2026 between 11h00 – 18h00 at the Market Square Complex.

Please note once you purchase this ticket, there will be no refund. You are rather encouraged to take the course on the next cycle.

07/03/2026

he Monde Mayephu Method™
Principle: The Unexplained Question
At the heart of every powerful story lies a mystery the writer does not yet understand.
A script should not begin with an answer.
It should begin with a question that unsettles the writer.
The audience is drawn into the story because they sense the writer is searching, not explaining.

09/02/2026

The Monde Mayephu Method™ begins from not knowing. It recognises that most performers become artists because they are seeking clarity about something life did not explain. Through disciplined curiosity, writing, and embodiment, participants investigate the questions that first drew them to theatre. Agency emerges not as a lesson, but as an artistic consequence — the performer taking responsibility for meaning, form, and presence.

27/01/2026

THE MASTER OF ALIBIS

Written by Monde Mayephu

A One-Man Play — Season 1: The Architect of Power
The Master of Alibis is a one-man political thriller conceived as a five-season theatrical work. Season One, The Architect of Power, introduces Elias — a fixer, strategist, and invisible architect of influence who operates behind public institutions without ever appearing on the ballot.
Addressing the audience with forensic calm, Elias dismantles the myth of power as charisma or ideology. Instead, he reveals how political ecosystems truly grow: through systems of permission, narrative correction, and strategic silence. As he traces the rise of a powerful public official, the quiet regulatory force of a spouse who edits reality, and the fatal disruption caused by a truth-seeker who believed systems were meant to make sense, the audience is drawn into the machinery of governance itself.
There are no arrests, no public collapses, and no clear villains. The crisis does not explode — it stabilizes. What unfolds instead is Elias’s transformation from problem-solver into infrastructure: a figure so embedded in the system that removal would feel like vandalism rather than justice.
Performed entirely by Elias on a bare stage with a glass table and a briefcase of documents, The Master of Alibis rejects spectacle in favor of precision. Silence, breath, and restraint become the primary tools of power. Other characters exist only as forces, functions, and absences, reinforcing the play’s central thesis: power does not survive by defending itself, but by making itself indispensable.
Season One concludes without resolution, leaving the audience with a disturbing clarity — not about who is corrupt, but about how systems learn, adapt, and endure.

Call now to connect with business.

16/01/2026

Want: This is what the main character desires or pursues throughout the story. It’s typically a specific goal or objective that they believe will bring them happiness, success, or fulfillment. The “want” often drives the plot forward as the character takes actions to achieve it.

Need: This is what the main character actually requires on a deeper, emotional or psychological level. It’s often something they may not be aware of at the beginning of the story, but through their experiences and interactions, they come to realize what they truly need for personal growth or fulfillment. The “need” relates more to the underlying theme or message of the story.

So, the saying “want is plot, need is theme” highlights the distinction between the external, surface-level desires that drive the plot forward (the character’s “want”) and the internal, deeper emotional or psychological journey that underscores the theme of the story (the character’s “need”). While the “want” primarily dictates the events and actions of the plot, the “need” explores the character’s inner transformation and the broader message or lesson conveyed

15/01/2026

From Pen to Performance. 🖋️🎭

Got a story inside you that’s ready for the stage? The Write Stuff is back! Join us at the Market Theatre Laboratory for a journey of discovery, creativity, and performance.

Don’t just write it—stage it. Discover your voice and see your words come to life.

📲 Enquiries: WhatsApp us at 068 445 0561 for more info.