Mandile Mpofu

Boston

Reporter at Bay State Banner

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Articles

Actors’ Shakespeare Project tackles loss and light with August Wilson’s ‘The Piano Lesson’

Jan 23, 2025 | baystatebanner.com | Mandile Mpofu

Banner Arts & Culture Sponsored by Cruz CompaniesOver the course of his career, playwright August Wilson produced a repertoire examining the condition of Black America. His plays have become canon in the arts world, with some of them going beyond the stage, like his 1985 “Fences,” brought to the big screen by Denzel Washington and Viola Davis in the 2016 award-winning film.
Healey’s plan to eliminate broker fees met with approval and caution

Jan 22, 2025 | baystatebanner.com | Mandile Mpofu

Governor Maura Healey announced last week a plan to file a proposal that would do away with renter-paid broker fees in the state, a step taken by New York City last year. If the Massachusetts Legislature approves the proposal, the onus will shift from the default of tenants onto whoever hires the broker, Healey said, which is typically the landlord.
In state address, Healey touts achievements, vows reform to health care, housing and more

Jan 22, 2025 | baystatebanner.com | Mandile Mpofu

Governor Maura Healey leaned into the 250th anniversary of the country as she delivered her State of the Commonwealth speech on Thursday, Jan. 16, at the State House, promising reform to Massachusetts’ transportation, health care, housing, and education systems. Over the course of almost an hour, Healey laid out her plans for the year ahead, vowing to improve bridges and roads, ensure access to affordable health care, and invest in housing infrastructure while addressing the shelter crisis.
Game designer finds the ‘Sweet Spot’ with new interactive public art piece

Jan 7, 2025 | baystatebanner.com | Mandile Mpofu

Banner Arts & Culture Sponsored by Cruz CompaniesThe task of making a sculptural artwork stretched Michael Berthaud’s imagination. As a game designer, Berthaud was used to working in the digital realm. Last year, as part of art organization Boston Public Triennial’s “Accelerator Artists” program, which trains and supports emerging artists, the 24-year-old was given the chance to step outside of his daily medium and express himself using tangible objects to create a public art piece.
Organization supports careers for women and girls in building trades

Dec 3, 2024 | baystatebanner.com | Mandile Mpofu

Banner Business Sponsored by The Boston FoundationGrowing up, instead of reaching for dolls during her playtime, Shamaiah Turner opted for cardboard boxes and Lego. She interpreted this as an indication of an interest in a career in architecture. But a year spent working with Habitat for Humanity where most of the builders were women, an unusual sight in a male-dominated arena, steered her in a different direction.
Growing up in ‘Black Nativity’

Nov 26, 2024 | baystatebanner.com | Mandile Mpofu

Banner Arts & Culture Sponsored by Cruz CompaniesFor over half a century, the National Center of Afro-American Artists has presented a production of “Black Nativity,” inviting audiences into a musical take on the classic story of the birth of Jesus Christ based on Langston Hughes’s play.
Sisters grapple with traumatic legacy of busing in GBH documentary ‘Never Cried’

Nov 20, 2024 | baystatebanner.com | Mandile Mpofu

Banner Arts & Culture Sponsored by Cruz CompaniesLeola Hampton and Linda Stark never talked about it. They never asked each other if they were okay. It’s understandable, given the trauma the sisters endured. Hampton and Stark were teenagers when they were bused from their home in Roxbury to South Boston High in September 1974. After a long struggle for desegregation, Judge Arthur W.
Nearly a century later, Martha Graham’s impact persists

Nov 12, 2024 | baystatebanner.com | Mandile Mpofu

Banner Arts & Culture Sponsored by Cruz CompaniesWhen the Martha Graham Dance Company comes to New England this month, it’ll be for the first time in almost 20 years. As it ramps up to its centennial in 2026, the New York-based institution will bring four performances to Boston celebrating and honoring the legacies of icons like namesake founder Martha Graham.
Advocates: youth homelessness remains urgent, far-reaching issue

Nov 5, 2024 | baystatebanner.com | Mandile Mpofu

In the winter, Alan Mack, 27, will begin his undergraduate studies at Berklee College of Music, taking the next step toward fulfilling his dream of working in music production. But, just five years ago, Mack’s life was in limbo, derailed in an attack that left him partially paralyzed. Mack was 22 when he was shot in the back after getting caught in a crossfire at an intersection in a Boston neighborhood.
Step by step: Local artists paint dance lessons on Brookline sidewalks

Oct 23, 2024 | brookline.news | Mandile Mpofu

Caitlyn Kwan stood on the balls of her feet, as instructed by the footstep silhouettes painted on the ground beneath her and the directions that told her to “travel on your toes.”With her arms held out in front of her in a semicircle, she lightly walked four steps — right, left, right, left — before kicking her right leg up, a ballet move called a battement, and cycling through a series of spins, jumps and footwork.