Nthabiseng Malaka is The Centre for The Less Good Idea’s Scenographer and Costume Designer, and a theatre-maker who works across stage, film and television as a production designer, art director, set dresser, and props master.

Through her work with theatre, Malaka has designed for numerous well-known South African productions. Her first Naledi Theatre Award nomination for costume design was for the 2018 production of Shoes and Coups. In 2019, she was also nominated for a Naledi Theatre Award for her set design for Strange Land.

Malaka’s practice has always been informed by change. Raised in a rural village by her grandmother, she has had to welcome change, adapting to every location she moved to, and the different kinds of people she was surrounded by. She approaches life and art with this same openness – always receptive to a new challenge, a new venture, and the acquisition of new knowledge and skills.

For The Centre, Malaka has designed sets and costumes for Seasons 8 and 9 as well as for The Centre’s 2020 production of Waiting for Godot. For Season 9, Malaka also created Goraa Goreng?, a project that incorporated scenography as installation.

Photographer | Zivanai Matangi