Esther van Zyl - Actor

Esther van Zyl is a South African–born actor and theater-maker based in Lyons, Colorado, and a returning guest artist at Colorado MahlerFest. Audiences may remember her as Alma Mahler in The Marriage: The Mahlers in New York, presented at the University of Michigan and MahlerFest 39 (2026). She trained in acting and directing at Stellenbosch University, where her studies emphasized vocal technique, ensemble-devised work, and a “poor theatre” approach rooted in the actor’s instrument.

In New York she worked across theater, film, and television, and co-wrote and starred in the award-winning short Life After Her, earning a Best Actress nomination at the Madrid International Film Festival. Recent stage work includes POTUS with OpenStage Theatre & Company and Puck in Lyons Community Theatre’s outdoor A Midsummer Night’s Dream, in which she played recorder and drone flute. 

Drawn to psychologically rich characters and to work where performance and music meet, Esther is thrilled to join director Jack Tamburri and writer Michi Barall to explore both in an original one-woman show for MahlerFest 40.