(Nicole Monroe. Pic
supplied)
From Playhouse Passion Play to London's West End: Nicole
Monroe's mission to showcase South African talent
The toddler who appeared in the 2000 Durban Passion Play is
now a professional performer in London - and building bridges for KZN artists.
Twenty-six years ago, when the Durban Catholic Players'
Guild staged their millennium Passion Play at the Playhouse Drama Theatre, few
in that remarkable cast of 130+ volunteers would have imagined that one of the
toddlers in the crowd scenes would one day be working professionally in
London's theatre district. But that's exactly where Nicole Snell - now
performing under the stage name Nicole Monroe — finds herself today, and her
story represents something significant about the calibre of talent the KZN arts
community continues to produce.
Nicole's journey from that 2000 Passion Play to London's
immersive theatre scene reads like a testament to the kind of thorough,
multi-disciplinary training that has always been a hallmark of Durban's performing
arts education. After graduating from Maris Stella (where she won Best Actress
for the House Plays in 2015), she read Live Performance at AFDA Durban,
graduating Cum Laude and winning dual Best Actress awards — for both film and
stage — in her graduating year. That kind of recognition from AFDA, South
Africa's premier performance school, doesn't come easily.
But it's what happened next that makes Nicole's story
particularly relevant to our theatre community. Rather than seeing her AFDA
success as the endpoint, she used it as a stepping stone to postgraduate
conservatoire training in the UK, earning her Master's degree from Leeds
Conservatoire.
(Right: Nicole’s first stage
appearance as a baby in the Passion Play)
Now she's working professionally with major UK producers
like Selladoor Worldwide (known for touring West End productions) and Immersive
Everywhere, in productions including The
Paddington Bear Experience and The
Traitors: Live Experience.
What strikes one most about Nicole's approach is how
deliberately she's building not just her own career, but pathways for other
South African performers. She and her collaborators have established UK
production companies — Nicole Monroe Ltd and Flyinghippocrockaduck Ltd —
specifically focused on developing projects that can showcase South African
talent in the international market in the future. This isn't just career
ambition; it's the desire to foster a cultural ambassadorship of the kind our
arts community has always prided itself on.
The timing is significant. There are over 235,000 South
African-born residents in the UK, yet their stories remain largely untold on
British stages and screens. Nicole represents a generation of SA-trained
performers who recognise this as an opportunity rather than an obstacle. Her
background — from competitive choral singing (she won first place at the Summa
Cum Laude Festival in Vienna in 2019 as part of the KZN Youth Choir) through to
her work at the Durban Playhouse in productions like August: Osage County —
gives her the credentials to open doors for others.
What is particularly impressing is how Nicole navigated the
pandemic period. While many performers simply waited for the industry to
reopen, she pursued what she calls "purposeful parallel development"
— teaching English online, training as a bodybuilding coach, and even competing
in IFBB bodybuilding (achieving second place in KZN). This might seem
tangential to theatre, but anyone who understands physical performance knows
that this kind of body discipline and stage presence under scrutiny directly
translates to professional performing skills.
Her recent return to Durban to speak at Maris Stella about
her London experience wasn't just a nostalgic homecoming — she was ‘giving
back’ and maintaining a connection with the community that shaped her while
building international bridges. The girls she spoke to aren't just learning
about career possibilities; they're seeing first-hand that the training they're
receiving right here in KZN is internationally competitive.
Nicole's professional registration with Equity and her
listing on Spotlight — the UK's primary casting database — represent something
more than individual achievement. They signal that South African-trained
performers can take their place as equals in the UK industry, not as novelty
acts or typecasts, but as versatile professionals with distinctive training and
perspective.
What is most exciting about her story is the forward
momentum. The production companies she's establishing suggest she's thinking
beyond individual roles to creating content that can employ South African artists
and tell South African stories for international audiences. That's the kind of
cultural export strategy our arts community has always needed more of.
From that first stage appearance as a baby in the Passion
Play to her current work developing prospective productions in London, Nicole's
journey exemplifies something essential about KZN's contribution to the
performing arts world. We don't just train artists; we develop cultural
ambassadors who carry our stories, our training methods, and our collaborative
spirit to stages across the globe.
The little girl who appeared in the crowd scenes of the 2000
Passion Play is now creating space for the next generation of South African
performers to find their own international stages. That's a legacy the Durban
Catholic Players' Guild — and all of us who've been part of this community over
the years — can be genuinely proud of.
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