Art as a Weapon for Change, Social Justice, Social Cohesion, and Reconciliation
John Kani
According to the Washington Post (February 14, 2025), John Kani is “Perhaps most famous now for playing T’Chaka in the movies “Captain America: Civil War” and “Black Panther,” [but] Kani has been a theatrical force for over half a century. Born in South Africa’s Eastern Cape, he gravitated to acting, joining forces in the 1960s with playwright Athol Fugard.” His celebrated acting career stretches five-plus decades, from his native South Africa to across the world.
Onstage, he gave Tony and Obie Award-winning performances in the plays Sizwe Banzi Is Dead and The Island — which he also co-wrote. Both shows enjoyed American and South African revivals. Kani also received an Olivier Award nomination for My Children! My Africa!
Among Kani’s dozens of films are Captain America: Civil War, Black Panther, Murder Mystery, and Disney’s 2019 remake of The Lion King (voicing Rafiki).
As a playwright, Kani’s art has also traveled the world. Nothing But the Truth — a play that is now studied in South African schools — won three Fleur du Cap Theatre Awards, an Excellence in International Theatre Award, five Naledi Theatre Awards, and the Olive Schreiner Prize, with productions mounted around the world.
Countless awards and honors have been bestowed on Kani throughout his career, among them honorary doctorates from the University of Durban Westville, Rhodes University, The University of Cape Town, and Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University; the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation Award; and the Fleur du Cap Theatre Award for lifetime achievement. In 2005, he received the Order of Ikamanga from the President of the Republic of South Africa, recognizing his contribution to the struggle for the liberation of his country through his work in the arts.
Kani is a patron of the Market Theatre Foundation; in 2015, the Foundation named the main theatre in his honor. In 2017, Whites Road in Port Elizabeth, South Africa’s city center was renamed John Kani Road. The following year, he took home a gold medal from the Kennedy International Committee on the Arts. Kani is also the recipient of the prestigious Sortugui Afrique Cinema Honor in Burkina Faso. Most recently, he was awarded the Voices in Freedom Award by Shared Interest, in New York. Previous recipients include Nelson Mandela and Bishop Desmond Tutu.
Adapted from: https://mlasa.com/actors/john-kani/
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