When Sion Symonds won a role in Troika’s production of the South African musical Sarafina!, he really wanted to get the accent right.

As the musical’s narrator, Colgate, he had to master not just an accent, but speak three different South African languages: Xhosa, Zulu and Sotho.

Xhosa is considered one of the most difficult languages for English speakers because of its complexity and tonality.

“Xhosa and Sotho both use clicks,” he said. “Zulu is also really different, phonetically, to English.”

It was challenging, but he was determined that he would not just poorly mouth the words. Troika had people on hand to help with the language pronunciation.

“They created a space where we could talk to them a lot and ask for instruction when it came to language and linguistic differences,” Mr Symonds said. “I was anxious about it because this is an important story, so I wanted to honour it as best I could.”

Mr Symonds was thrilled when audience members came up to him afterwards to compliment him on his accent.

“I was proud of that because I worked really hard on it,” the 23-year-old said. “It was a priority.”

Now that the production has ended, he is still learning Zulu through Duolingo.

“I am just starting to get good,” he said. “I am not going to stop now.”

When he was younger, Mr Symonds thought he would become a lawyer. To that end, he completed a bachelor of science in global politics at York University in Toronto, Canada.

A year after graduation, his mind started to change.

“My older brother encouraged me to follow a path that honoured my actual interests, creative and otherwise, rather than following a path externally projected on to me.”

He is now three months into doing his master’s degree in contemporary performance at the University of East London.

“At the moment, my challenge is settling back into the university environment after taking a year off,” he said. “This is my first time in London. I’m very much enjoying, but it is about adjusting to not being in Bermuda once again.”

Performing in Sarafina! confirmed he was on the right track.

“It was an absolute pleasure,” Mr Symonds said.

In high school he was in BHS’s 2018 production of Shrek the Musical, but this was his first time with Troika.

“I had never been in such a forefront role before,” he said. “It was definitely daunting right up until the last night. When you get on stage you realise this is not a television screen. They can see you and you can see them.”

When he auditioned, Troika cofounder Shoa Bean was so impressed that she said: “Where have you been?”

“That was a real compliment,” Mr Symonds said. “I was very touched and grateful to have been selected by Troika.”

He felt that Bermuda has a lot of talent, but many locals are shy about sharing it because the community is so small.

The subject matter made the musical emotional for everyone in the cast.

“This was a production about South Africa, and yet I have never been more in touch with my Bermudian identity and Black excellence as a whole,” Mr Symonds said.

During the show he could tell that the cast was doing a good job because the audience seemed so invested in their monologues.

“You would hear people making noises of agreement or disagreement,” he said. “You always hear the laughter, and you might hear booing or outrage, but when you hear inflections like gasping, you know you have them.”

When another actor, Rickai Richardson, as Silence, gave a monologue about his father being brutalised by the police, audience members were shaking their heads, or saying: “What!"

“I thought we are really delivering this story,” Mr Symonds said.

Sarafina! was so popular that several extra showings were added.

“I was baffled when that happened,” Mr Symonds said. “That just shows my ignorance. I didn’t think Bermudians cared about protest art in this way. I’m so grateful to have been proven wrong in such a grand fashion.”

Although the play was written in 1986, about events in 1970s South Africa, Mr Symonds said the plot still resonates today when you look at political events in places such as Palestine, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

“It is very emotional to recognise that these people are not far removed from us,” he said. “This is our story as well.”

Through his master’s he hopes to cultivate his technical and intellectual ability.

“I want to become not only a talented creative, but an informed one,” Mr Symonds said. “Sarafina! is a testament to the fact that protest art is important, and art that centred on real experiences is important. I’m hoping from this degree to become not only a better actor, but an informed performer.”

His goal is to become a “professional creative”. He also writes poetry that he has shared at Chewsticks’ open-mic nights and for the Department of Culture this year.

“I have been lucky enough to find spaces in various different creative capacities,” he said. “I have been able to engage with writing, acting and the visual arts.”

He is inspired by Chadwick Boseman, an American actor who appeared in the 2018 movie Black Panther.

“I am impressed by his technical ability,” Mr Symonds said. “If I could just be creative and create meaningful works, or be a part of meaningful works like Sarafina!, I would be happy.”

He does not have any other productions coming up at the moment, but he would definitely be interested in performing in another Troika event.