TWIST PROJECT

The Twist Theatre Development Project launches in Durban.

The Twist Theatre Development Project is a dynamic networking project that focuses on the development of community theatre groups in KZN and on the creation of sustainable networks for theatre development.

The Twist Project has identified six community theatre groups in different regions of KZN and will link these groups with local institutes such as theatre organisations, the drama departments of theatre schools, theatre festivals and experienced theatre practitioners from South Africa and The Netherlands (including teachers, script-writers, and local theatre directors). These professionals and experts will work together on ten different projects to assist the selected community theatre groups to develop the quality of their work artistically, and to develop capacity to build the groups into self-sustaining bodies.

The projects include festivals, writing workshops, directing and performing projects, and international exchange. These six groups will be mentored over the course of two to three years in an attempt to build their skills, and for them to create socially conscious theatre projects that benefit their own communities.

Partners in the project include Twist Theatre Development Projects (a new KZN-based Section 21 company), Ekhaya Multi-Arts Centre, Eager Artists, The Performing Arts Network of SA: PANSA, the Department of Drama Studies of the Durban University of Technology, the Stable Theatre, the Musho Festival, and the National Arts Festival. The project is generously supported by funding from the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and by the KZN Department of Arts and Culture. Twist Theatre Development Projects is the facilitating organisation and has an office based in Durban.

The six community theatre groups have been selected through a process that has involved meeting with a wide range of groups and professionals working in the theatre industry in KZN. The participating groups include Just Don’t (Kwa Mashu); Ubuntu productions (Kwa Mashu); Umsindo Theatre Projects (Umlazi); Umphithi (Pietermaritzburg); Sakhisizwe (Mnqobokazi, Zululand) and Uthando Lwabaqulusi (Vryheid).

Seasoned theatre practitioners Edmund Mhlongo and Jerry Pooe will mentor these groups. The groups will also be exposed to a number of experienced South African writers and directors throughout the project, as well as visiting performing arts professionals from Holland.

The new work that the groups create with input from these individuals will be showcased in their own communities, as well as at the Isigcawu Festival at Ekhaya Multi Arts Centre; the Musho Theatre Festival in Durban, and at the Stable Theatre.

The theatre schools in KZN, including Durban University of Technology and the Drama Departments from UKZN will also be involved in skills development for the project, and the groups will benefit from a full workshop programme run at the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown.

The project organisers, including the Dutch director Roel Twijnstra and local theatre practitioner Emma Durden, hope that the project will gain groundswell and become a model for sustainable theatre development and long-term partnerships within the province.

More information from info@twistprojects.co.za