When Makambe was seven years old, her family left their native Zambia. Makambe would spend the rest of her childhood in Guyana, the British Virgin Islands, and the Cayman Islands, surrounded by people and stories from around the world.
She would find herself a keen observer of human behaviour, language, culture, racial politics, and a multitude of lived experiences that colour the wide umbrella we call the ‘African diaspora’. Little Makambe would investigate. She would dream. She would play pretend. She would write.
As an adult, Makambe is now a multiple award-winning playwright and actor.
She has performed on stages across Canada at theatres such as The Stratford Festival, Soulpepper Theatre, Obsidian Theatre, Prairie Theatre Exchange, Black Theatre Workshop, Verb Theatre, Handsome Alice Theatre, Prairie Theatre Exchange, and more. On-Screen acting credits include Star Trek (CBS), Grand Army (Netflix), and Titans (HBOMax).
Makambe is best known for her solo show, Our Father’s Sons, Lovers and Little Brothers, which she has performed across Canada. Our Fathers… garnered two Dora Mavor Moore Awards and three Betty Mitchell Awards. It has also been published by Playwright’s Canada Press.
A graduate of the University of Lethbridge, Makambe was the Urjo Kareda Artist in Residence at the Tarragon theatre (2020/21) and a finalist for the Gina Wilkinson Prize (2023).
Makambe is proud to make work that is ambitious both in depth and scope, and that unapologetically celebrates and interrogates Black experience. Her intention is to be of service through her ability to tell stories, and she strives to do so with integrity, humour, compassion, rage, curiosity, courage, freedom, respect, irreverence, magic, openness, authenticity and whimsy.
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