The Wasp, a gripping psychological play, earned Ndayola Ulenga the award for Best Director category at the recently concluded Namibian Theatre and Film Awards (NTFAs).
Ulenga, a multi-talented actor, singer and theatre maker, stepped confidently into the director’s chair for The Wasp, the debut production from her company NU Theatrics. The play originally written by British playwright Morgan Lloyd Malcolm was first staged in London in 2015. With sharp performances and clever staging, the production came alive for Namibian audiences in 2024 and soon after became a crowd favourite.
At its heart, The Wasp is a tense, two-hander about old friends whose reunion at a coffee table soon spirals into something dark and unexpected. The story follows Heather and Carla, who reconnect after 15 years apart. One friend is now living a polished, successful life, while the other struggles on the fringes of society.
Their conversation dives deep and takes many turns, as conversations between old friends usually do. In the midst of it all, unresolved pain and buried conflict surface in startling ways. We soon discover how desperate both women are to escape the realities of their lives, Heather in search of a healthy family of her own, and Clara in pursuit of financial freedom.
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Audiences have described the play as “unsettling,” “twisty,” and “driven by razor-sharp dialogue,” bringing Namibia the kind of night at the theatre that makes you think long after the lights go down.
NU Theatrics’ production won praise for honest, raw performances from both leads, Ulenga and NU Theatrics co-founder Gloria Del Mar Ndilula.
Ndayola Ulenga joins fellow award winners in theatre, such as Patrick Sam for Coming Home Dead, while productions like Naked Spaces lead in other categories such as Best Stage Production and Best Supporting Actor to mention a few.
For Ulenga, theatre has never been just about performance. When asked who she is, she laughed at how difficult it was to answer. “We are all constantly evolving,” she said . “Ndayola is a great many things, and whatever it is that she wants to be.”
She described herself as curious and deeply inquisitive about existence itself. “I spend a lot of my contemplative time exploring the nature of our existence,” she explained. “Above all, I am a humanist. When we dehumanise someone else, we inherently do the same to ourselves.”
That fascination with humanity sits at the centre of her work.
Ulenga’s love for theatre began early. Growing up in Windhoek, she performed ballet productions at the National Theatre of Namibia, experiences she still describes as magical. She was also drawn to dramatic skits in youth groups and found herself captivated by musicals on film, including Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music.
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But loving theatre and building a life around it are two different things. It was only in 2025, after trying more conventional career paths, that Ulenga made a firm decision. “There was really nothing else I could be in this life, apart from an artist,” she says. “So I committed to the arts and decided that this is the hill I will die on, proverbially speaking.”
Pursuing the arts in Namibia, she admitted, is complex. Funding is limited, infrastructure is fragile, and audiences are still growing. Yet her award signals that serious theatre work is not only possible here, but recognised.
When asked what pushed her toward directing, her laughter filled the air once again. . “Honestly, a bit of all the above,” she said , referring to control, curiosity, frustration and vision. Acting gave her insight into character and performance, while directing allowed her to shape the full emotional and visual world of a piece.
With NU Theatrics, Ulenga is focused on building intimate, challenging work that invites audiences to sit with discomfort. “I question. I unravel. I challenge,” she said. And whether on stage or behind it, that restless curiosity has clearly shaped her path.
This remarkable win is just a testament to the brilliance she continues to bring to the stage. We anticipate the many extraordinary productions still to come.
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