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Young Likho Mango is full of praise for his co-stars in the award-winning playwright’s latest work, as he shares his dreams for the future
At just 13, Likho Mango from New Crossroads in Cape Town is paying his own school fees from his earnings as a promising actor.
Likho has big dreams of becoming a star, particularly on stage – and if that does not work out, he plans to become an accountant since he is good with maths and figures, he says.
And indeed, the youngster recites family cell phone numbers and dates off the top of his head.
His acting dreams are on track as he is set to make his theatrical debut alongside local stars Tshamano Sebe and Anna-Mart van der Merwe in the latest work by internationally acclaimed and award-winning playwright Athol Fugard.
Called The Painted Rocks at Revolver Creek, the play will open at Cape Town’s Fugard Theatre on August 23.
Young as Likho is, he has already experienced tough times. This week, his eyes grew teary during an interview with City Press after rehearsals at the theatre.
Likho recalled arriving at rehearsals two days earlier with no food to eat at lunch. That same day, he did not have breakfast either.
“The cast is like a family to me. There are people who I can relate to regarding matters that are eating me up inside,” he said.
“There was this day when I had no food, as my mother did not have money. And they all mothered me, they all fathered me. They gave me food: pasta, some spaghetti with lamb, bananas and eggs. I felt so much gratitude.”
Next to Likho sat his co-star, Sebe (53), perhaps most famous for portraying Biza in the SABC2 sitcom Stokvel, as well as for his critically acclaimed movie role as Vuyani in the 2013 Eastern Cape-based thriller, Of Good Report.
During the interview, Sebe was a reassuring presence for Likho. “Actually, it [Likho’s experience] became a real story of our country,” said the older actor.
“We saw him sitting and crying. He was so emotional; there was so much crying.
“I was the only one able to communicate with him in his language, so I asked him what was wrong. It was so difficult for him to express that he had not eaten.”
But things may be looking up for Likho and his family. On Monday, his mother Lizeka got a job at the restaurant Nü at the Virgin Active gym in Cape Town’s Wembley Square.
Lizeka told City Press that she was proud of her son, who is paying his own school fees at Trafalgar Secondary School in District Six. Because of his good grades, the school’s principal has given Likho time off to practise his acting.
In October, Likho joined casting agency Optim Talent and has since played Jomo in the BBC1 war drama Our Girl, and Vusi in the Xhosa drama series Isikizi for Mzansi Magic.
Last month – on July 11 – there was much excitement at the family’s home when they piled into the lounge to watch his first television appearance as Vusi.
The audience included Lizeka, Likho’s two uncles, his aunt, his two brothers and sister, their cousin and a few friends.
Said Likho: “When they saw me on the TV, at first they screamed, and I had to say: ‘Be quiet, we have to watch!’
“My mum has been very encouraging. So has my agent; she has been telling me that she has faith and hope in me.”
For Fugard’s play, he had to learn 30 pages of lines to portray Bokkie, who is taken in by Elmarie (Van der Merwe), and ends up living with a farm worker and self-taught artist, Nukain Mabuza (Sebe) – inspired by an actual farm worker who lived in pre-liberation, segregated South Africa.
Likho shared the role of Bokkie with Siya Jantjie.
At rehearsals this week, City Press observed co-directors Paula Fourie and Fugard at the helm.
Sitting to the side, Fugard (84) was not feeling well and could not be interviewed.
Sebe said starring in this play was emotional and a career highlight. “It is a heavy play. It is unlike other plays Athol has written.
I think he has done something very, very special.
“It is a tribute to Mabuza, but also to many [other] individuals who, like my father or the fathers of so many of the new generation, lived difficult lives,” he said.
“It was impossible for them to make a living, or to make a better living for themselves.
“Our past is very sad, but there is humanity in each of us.”
Sebe lives in Cape Town with his wife Birgit. They have three daughters who, he said, helped him learn his lines.
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