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Tuesday, February 12, 2013

ACTOR’S GYM



This year, the Department of Drama and Production at the Durban University of Technology (DUT) will be hosting The Actor’s Gym on the first Monday afternoon in each month for several months.

The idea is to create a forum where actors (experienced, novice and the in-betweens) can meet and partner in new or rehashed projects or art works. The Actor’s Gym will provide a network for creators and performers alike and those interested in creating or invigorating projects would attend in order to find performance partners or fellow improvisational performers or enable new collaborators to conduct readings that may lead to possible new business ventures.

Actors will pay R10 to join the Actor’s Gym each month from. For this fee, they would have their project placed on an agenda housed with the Courtyard Theatre Manager (Mthandazo Mofokeng) and this R10 would afford the use of The Actor’s Studio - a Drama venue set aside in order to allow directors to seek out casts, fellow entrepreneurs to initiate new works, co-collaborators to network and frame new projects, etc.

All money collected will be used to fund worthy students in need of tuition fees.

The motivation for this new initiative is to create entrepreneurial opportunities for DUT drama graduates as well as all other graduates in KZN and to allow a platform for new works of art to conceptualize and evolve. It is hoped that the eventual regional benefits will assist in a rejuvenation of the arts in the region and negate pockets of artists in favour of new collaborations.

The Actor’s Gym runs until May on the first Monday afternoon from 13h00 from 15h00. All agenda items and the intention to attend can be emailed to Mthandazo Mofokeng on mthandazom@dut.ac.za or phone 031 373 2532.