Ashraf Johaardien

Ashraf Johaardien (1974-) [1] is a South African playwright, poet, columnist, performer and arts manager.

Biography

Born in Cape Town in 1974. Currently (2014) lives in Johannesburg where he is the Head of UJ Arts & Culture at the University of Johannesburg.

Training

Studied drama at the Universty of Cape Town. Holds an International Baccalaureate from United World College of the Atlantic in Wales and a Bachelor of Arts Degree and an English Honors Degree from The University of Cape Town.

Career

Contribution to SA theatre, film, media and/or performance

He was one of the students who workshopped the original text of Suip! in 1993, creating and performing the character of the mute street kid ("Boy") in the UCT Drama production at the Grahamstown Festival. Other highlights as a performer include his solo performance of Ecce Homo! which he adapted from Body Blows: Six Performances by performance artist Tim Miller; and the title role in the South African film Sando to Samantha which has been screened at film festivals in Cape Town, Johannesburg, New York, Toronto, Paris, San Francisco, Chicago, Turin, Adelaide, Bologna, Brussels, Melbourne and Lisbon.

His own published writing has a sTrong focus on gay issues and includes Coloured Son X, Salaam Stories (SALAAM), Happy Endings are Extra, Stripped, Miracle, Ecce Homo! adapted from Tim Miller’s Body Blows. He adapted K. Sello Duiker's award-winning novel The Quiet Violence of Dreams for the stage in 2010.

His work has been performed and produced at mainstream theatres and festivals in South Africa, Ireland, the UK, the Netherlands and the USA. His work has been published by Compress, Just Done Productions Publishing, Oxford University Press, Waverly Books (Glasgow) and Umuzi (Random House). He also writes The Perfumed Closet, a monthly column published in The Pink Tongue (Independent Newspapers).

In 2012 he performed the one-man play iHamlet, an adaptation of Shakespeare's Hamlet by Robin Malan.