Dion van Niekerk
Dion van Niekerk (?-) is an actor, director and academic.
Contents
Biography
Training
He studied at Rhodes University, and was awarded a BA in English and Drama (1991), BA Hons in Drama (1992) and a MA in Drama (Distinction) (2002). He was awarded a MFA in Theatre and Dance from Tulane University, USA (2006).
Career
He taught several courses at Rhodes University, both full-time and part-time, from 1994 – 2003 and again from 2006-2007, and for 2010. In 2011, he was resident director for Ubom! Eastern Cape Drama Company. He was Project Officer (Full time) for the National Arts Festival (2012 - 2015), and subsequently took up a role as lecturer in Drama and Theatre at the University of the Free State.
Contribution to SA theatre, film, media and/or performance
As actor
He appeared in a number of productions while studying and working at the Rhodes University Drama Department. These include: The Crucible (1990), Through Blue (2000).
Other roles include:
He in God and Fetish Engineering by Stacy Hardy (1994), directed by Stacy Hardy, produced by Red Couch Productions
The Judge in Whose Life is it Anyway? (1994), directed by Rohan Dickson, produced by Not-too-shabby Productions
Winnie-the-Pooh in Winnie-the-Pooh (1994), directed by Kalmia Hayes, produced by Doggone-it Productions
Sigmund Freud in A Portrait of Dora by Helene Cixous (1996), directed by Christo Doherty and Stacy Hardy, produced by Red Couch Productions
The Father in Planetmachine by Kevin Fell (1998), directed by Kevin Fell, produced by Fellt Theatre
Sir Toby Belch in Twelfth Night (2003), directed by Paige Newmark, produced by ISEA
Hamlet in Hamlet and Corin in As You Like It (2007), directed by Paige Newmark, produced by the Shakespeare Society of South Africa
Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet (2011, Ubom! Eastern Cape Drama Company)
Imprv-oh-ccasion (2016), co-directed with Thys Heydenrych, performed at Vrystaat Kunstefees, Bloemfontein
Kilo in Suiker by Hugo Claus (2016), directed by Nico Luwes, performed at Vrystaat Kunstefees, Bloemfontein
Jaap in My Liewe Meneer Malan (2017), written and directed by Nico Luwes, performed at Vrystaat Kunstefees, Bloemfontein
Popeye in Is die Bar al Oop? (2017 and 2018), written and directed by Nico Luwes, performed at Inniebos Festival, Nelspruit and the Vrystaat Kunstefees 2018
Dunlop in Sarah by Jan Brink (2017), directed by Stephanie Brink, performed at Vrystaat Kunstefees, Bloemfontein
Meneer Grootkop in Tambootie die Pop (2018), directed by Gerben Kamper, performed at Studio 2, PACOVS, Bloemfontein
He was employed by the New Orleans Shakespeare Festival At Tulane, a Shakespeare repertory company in New Orleans, for two seasons (2004-2005).
As director
He has directed a number of productions, including:
1991: Bouncers (Rhodes University Drama Department)
1993: Songs My Lover Stole (Rhodes University Drama Department)
1998: The Love of the Nightingale (with Andrew Buckland, Rhodes University Drama Department)
1999: An Experiment with an Airpump (Rhodes University Drama Department)
2002: Blood Wedding (Rhodes University Drama Department)
2003: The Lorax (Ubom! Eastern Cape Drama Company)
2006: Big Love (Rhodes University Drama Department)
2011: The Land of the Cranes (Ubom! Eastern Cape Drama Company)
2011: Romeo and Juliet: Remixed (Ubom! Eastern Cape Drama Company)
2011: Phases (Ubom! Eastern Cape Drama Company)
2011: Carol’s Christmas (Ubom! Eastern Cape Drama Company)
2015: Gouelokkies (PACOVS)
2016: Improv-oh-ccasion (on the Vrynge at Vrystaat Kunstefees)
2016: The Lover (UFS Drama Department)
2016: The Birthday Party (UFS Drama Department)
2017: Pygmalion (UFS Drama Department)
2017: Tok Tok (Missing B Productions at the Vrystaat Kunstefees)
2017: The Hate Crime Project (UFS Drama Department)
2018: The Bald Diva (UFS Drama Department)
2024: Ons wag vir Godot (Vrystaat Kunstefees)
Sources
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