‘I think I should be able to talk about anything on stage, I shouldn’t be confined to roles and shows that only talk about race, prejudice and how much black people are suffering.”

At the interface of stand-up comedy, performance, video art, dance and concert, Ntando Cele searches for identity and authenticity in the life stories of black female artists of yesterday and today. In the ambivalent ambience of a nightclub, accompanied by composer and musician Simon Ho on the keyboard, she questions the persistence of racist stereotypes in the art world and explores the black female body in the light of exoticism, desire and exploitation. Using the role of Othello, traditionally played by white actors, she defines the framework that is granted 3 to a black artist on European theatre stages. If a black actor is not even allowed to play Othello, what kind of role should a black actress hope for?