Sylvaine Strike

Sylvaine Strike, a South African actress, writer and stage director, helped start Fortune Cookie Theatre in 2000 and acts as its artistic director. Raised in Verwoerdburg, she earned a drama degree from the University of Cape Town in 1993 and later trained in Paris at the Jacques LeCoq School, finishing a two-year mime and clown diploma in 2000. For Fortune Cookie she directed productions including The Miser and Tartuffe, and in 2004 she helped create Black and Blue and performed in it. Her directing credits also take in Miss Dietrich Regrets, DOP and ECLIPSED. On screen she appeared in Jock the Hero Dog (2011), District 9 (2009) and television series such as Mad Dogs, Black Sails, The Hot Zone and Those Who Can't. Her awards include Naledi prizes for acting in 2004 and 2006, a Naledi best director award for The Miser in 2012, a 2017 SAFTA for Those Who Can't, and the Chevalier des Arts et Lettres in 2018.