Djo Ngeleka

Djo Ngeleka is a playwright, stage director, and actor. One of the distinctive voices of contemporary Congolese theatre, he explores the fractures and absurdities of society through poetic and political writing.

Recipient of the Visa for Creation grant (Institut français, 2018), he has collaborated with stage directors across Africa and Europe. His plays Le Lac (finalist, RFI Théâtre Prize 2022), Arbre à pépins (finalist, RFI Théâtre Prize 2024), and Ont dit, Oui (finalist, RFI Théâtre Prize 2025), question memory, power, and the human condition with a blend of irony and tenderness.

As co-founder of the FESTILU Festival, he is committed to creating theater rooted in reality – poetic, lucid, and deeply engaged in the social and symbolic transformation of contemporary Congo.