AFDA proudly celebrates the selection of A Scar Named Home, an original postgraduate Live Performance production from AFDA Johannesburg, for the 2026 National Arts Festival (NAF) in Makhanda, one of Africa’s most significant platforms for artistic expression and creative innovation. The production will be staged from 30 June to 2 July 2026 as part of the Festival’s Fringe Programme.
The National Arts Festival, taking place from 25 June to 5 July 2026, brings together artists, performers, storytellers and audiences from across South Africa and beyond, creating a space where emerging and established voices can share work that reflects contemporary society, culture and creativity. The Festival remains a vital launchpad for new artistic talent and innovative performance-making.
Originally developed and premiered at the AFDA Johannesburg Experimental Festival 2026, A Scar Named Home is an Honours stage production that explores the experiences of four young people navigating survival within social systems that have failed them. Through themes of loss, poverty, neglect and disillusionment, the work examines how circumstance and systemic neglect shape identity, challenging audiences to consider the meaning of home, belonging and resilience.
The production was created and is performed by postgraduate Live Performance students Agisanang Galetuke, Azwidini Mashapa, Kamogelo Ramaboya and Molatelo Sebabi. The work is facilitated by Manoko Francisca Tlhako, Head of Live Performance Postgraduate Studies at AFDA Johannesburg, with stage management by Modipadi Mokgohloa, an award-winning theatre practitioner and senior postgraduate lecturer.
For the students, participation in the National Arts Festival represents an invaluable opportunity to engage with national audiences, industry professionals and fellow creatives while showcasing the calibre of emerging talent being developed at AFDA. It also demonstrates AFDA’s ongoing commitment to cultivating original South African storytelling that is socially relevant, artistically ambitious and rooted in lived experience.
The production joins a diverse 2026 Festival programme featuring more than 200 Fringe works spanning theatre, dance, music, visual arts and experimental performance, reinforcing the Festival’s reputation as a space where bold new voices can be discovered.
AFDA encourages students, alumni, staff and supporters to follow and support A Scar Named Home. The production’s participation at the National Arts Festival is a celebration of the power of performance to spark dialogue, reflection and social change.
Performance dates are:
• 30 June 2026 – 10:00
• 1 July 2026 – 18:30
• 2 July 2026 – 12:00 and 20:30
• 1 July 2026 – 18:30
• 2 July 2026 – 12:00 and 20:30
The production will be presented at the B2 Arena in Makhanda as part of the National Arts Festival Fringe Programme.
To follow the production’s journey and behind-the-scenes content, visit the student-led Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/eishh.productions