(The following article
is made available in arrangement with the Arts & Culture Trust (ACT) and
the Dramatic, Artistic and Literary Rights Organisation (DALRO). See ACT’s
website http://www.act.org.za/)
Deadline for
applications: October 3, 2014
The Baxter’s Zabalaza Theatre Festival is calling for
applications from theatre-makers, directors, script writers, community groups
and theatre companies to participate in the 2015 Zabalaza Theatre Festival.
The highly popular development festival will take place at
the Baxter Theatre Centre from March 20 to 28 and the deadline for applications
is October 3 2014.
Productions which are selected from applications received
will first be auditioned and will then be invited to participate in the
Zabalaza mini-festivals, which are planned for January 2015, when the final
selection for the 2015 festival line-up will be made. Auditions take place from
October 6 through to December 12, 2014, so artists are strongly encouraged to
apply early.
The Festival organisers are looking for one or two-handers,
children’s theatre productions, puppetry, musical theatre, drama, comedy,
physical theatre and storytelling.
“As we are celebrating our fifth year next year, we would
really like to encourage artists to challenge themselves creatively and move
beyond their artistic comfort zones,” says Thami Mbongo, artistic director of
the Zabalaza Theatre Festival. “Our festival is about artistry and therefore
does not have any limits. The full range, in any genre, is most welcome to be
part of this event and, most importantly, we would also like to see more
diversity in terms of participants as well as audiences.”
Zoleka Helesi, Zabalaza co-ordinator, agrees, “We have seen
children’s theatre growing at a rapid rate each year on our programme and there
is a great demand from the audiences, especially schools. I want to encourage
artists and companies to create theatre for the little ones as well; we want
them to be exposed to and experience the magic of theatre.”
Previous festival participants are also welcome to apply,
provided that they bring an entirely different production. Those who auditioned
in 2014 and were not selected to be part of the programme may re-apply by
auditioning with the same production, provided that they can show that they
have worked on improving it.
The Zabalaza festival team has already been hard at work
searching for productions that will be part of next year’s festival. They
attended the Eden Drama Festival and Cape Wineland Drama Festival and the
winners of those festivals will form part of next year’s programme. The final
selection from these regions will be made in November.
“We would once again like to thank the Western Cape
Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport for their generous assistance and
support and for believing in the work we are doing,” says Bongile Mantsai,
Zabalaza PRO and financial manager. “We hope to grow the festival even more so
that we can continue to offer innovative aspects while reaching far more
communities and theatre-makers, so we appeal to corporates and the businesses
sector to help to achieve this goal. The aim is to develop it into an African
festival that serves other parts of our continent as well.”
Applications for the 2015 Zabalaza Theatre Festival close on
October 3, 2014 and entry forms may be obtained from the festival office at the
Baxter Theatre Centre, Main Road, Rondebosch.
Interested community groups and theatre-makers from outside
the Western Cape are also welcome to apply. The amount of funding available
will determine how many of these can be accepted. Applicants will be informed
of the result of their applications.
For further enquiries or more information contact Ziyanda
Mxokozeli or Zoleka Helesi on 021 680 3980, fax to 021 689 1880 or e-mail them
ziyanda.mxokozeli@uct.ac.za, zoleka.helesi@uct.ac.za or
baxterzabalaza@uct.ac.za
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