KOKO: A journey through memory and identity on stage
The Owela Live Arts Collective Trust presents KOKO, a powerful semi-(auto)biographical theatre production written and performed by Ndayola Ulenga.KOKO is the first production developed through the Live Art Biosphere (LAB), a mobile residency initiative supporting the conceptual and professional growth of emerging artists. An earlier version of the work, Stories from Childhood, debuted at the Otjomuise Live Arts Festival in 2022.
Presented in three parts, KOKO explores Ulenga’s parents’ childhood stories during apartheid, blending personal loss, ethnic tension, and youthful joy against the backdrop of a township and armed struggle. Eschewing traditional acting, Ulenga uses narration, music, and movement to reflect on identity, memory, and place.
The production features songs significant to Ulenga’s childhood, reimagined in her voice to connect past and present experiences. Walking is a key motif, symbolising survival and the passage through Namibia’s varied landscapes – streets, bushes, and mountains – in pursuit of freedom and belonging.
The work also draws visual inspiration from Actofel Ilovu’s linocut We Are Namibians Too (Maya and Paula), linking historical and contemporary struggles shaped by difference and intergenerational memory.
Ulenga, born and raised in Windhoek, trained in Cecchetti Ballet, holds a Bachelor of Social Sciences in Drama and Sociology, and studied at the Identity School of Acting. She recently passed her Grade 8 Trinity College singing exams with distinction and is currently pursuing a professional diploma (ATCL). Her theatre credits include acting in three Multichoice NBC films and directing The Wasp through her company NU Theatrics.
The 50-minute solo performance runs from 12 to 14 June 2025 at the Theatre School, 63 Robert Mugabe Avenue, Windhoek, starting at 19:00. Tickets cost N$80 at the door.