Roots to Resonance - Unisa and HDI Spotlight Lolo Vandal’s Multilingual Theatre Collaboration

The University of South Africa (Unisa), in partnership with the HDI group, mounted a theatre project that placed the music of Lolo Vandal at the centre of a multilingual stage production. The collaboration treated his songs as an active dramaturgical force rather than incidental soundtrack: verses and rhythms were woven into critical scenes so that music and text worked together to translate everyday human struggles into immediate, felt experience.

The production moved fluidly between English, isiXhosa and other vernacular registers, using code-switching and vernacular expression as deliberate communicative strategies that broadened access and sharpened meaning for diverse audiences.

Music As A Dramaturgical Force

The creative team invited Lolo Vandal to provide music that would heighten dramatic stakes and connect characters to audiences in ways that spoken dialogue alone could not. Directors and dramaturgs integrated his tracks at moments of emotional intensity, allowing the songs to reframe scenes, amplify tension, and create bridges across linguistic boundaries.

The result was a production in which music functioned as connective tissue: it translated abstract themes of dignity, resilience and everyday hardship into visceral moments that invited empathy and reflection.

Audience responses and community feedback emphasised how the interplay of language and rhythm made complex social themes more accessible and immediate.

Expanding Artistic And Professional Practice

For Lolo Vandal the collaboration offered a distinct professional and artistic encounter. Already recognised for his emergence from the Eastern Cape and for national exposure through radio, television interviews and studio work, he found in the theatre project a new context in which language choices in song writing were treated as strategic acts of communication and cultural stewardship.

Contributing music to a university-linked production sharpened his approach to multilingual lyricism, demonstrating how deliberate shifts in register and vernacular can expand a song’s reach, clarify its message, and deepen its social impact.

The experience reinforced his conviction that artistry carries civic responsibility and that music can be a vehicle for public pedagogy.

A Model For Creative And Educational Collaboration

The production also modelled an iterative approach to institutional engagement with the arts. By situating contemporary music within a pedagogical framework, Unisa and HDI demonstrated how language policy and multilingual practice can be enacted through creative practice rather than remaining abstract commitments.

The collaboration engaged students, community partners and theatre practitioners, creating spaces for dialogue about language inclusion, cultural representation and the role of the arts in higher education.

Creative teams reported that the integration of Lolo Vandal’s music opened new pathways for student participation and community outreach, extending the project’s educational and cultural reach.

A Defining Chapter In An Ongoing Journey

This chapter in Lolo Vandal’s career sits alongside other formative experiences that have shaped his artistic identity. From campus stages to national radio battles and studio sessions, his trajectory has been defined by platforms that recognised and amplified his voice.

The Unisa-HDI theatre collaboration stands as a meaningful waypoint: an instance in which an artist’s music was used deliberately to communicate across communities and to strengthen the social reach of creative work.