The Playhouse Company, an agency of the
Department of Arts and Culture, will stage its first, newly-instated Okwethu
Community Arts Festival, at Umlazi’s Umlaza Cinema on December 14, 2018,
between 09h00 and 17h00. Entrance is free to all.
Featuring a programme that includes Dance,
Poetry, Music, Storytelling and Theatre performance, this outreach initiative
will become an annual event. It is open for all KwaZulu-Natal artists who would
like to participate, and who have successfully auditioned to take part on its
performance roster.
This year’s participants include the
following dance groups: South African Jinge; The Spirit of Amambo; Ubuciko
Girls; Isibani Productions; and Izintuthane (Umshado). Music Groups
participating include: Grateful Singers; Abakhethwa Gospel Singers; Next Level
Acapella; and Go Tell It. Theatre groups include Whilst We Were Dream;
Sikhuzene Arts Projects; Ithuba Labasha; and Born Legends Productions. Solo
artists appearing in the Poetry section include: S’thandiwe kaBlose Shinga;
Mfanafuthi Pota; Khonzeka Zulu; and Bright The Wordsmith.
The Playhouse Company’s Okwethu Festival
will rotate annually every December, eventually reaching all corners of
the province. The Playhouse Company is
committed to unleashing new talent and exposing young artists to training and
mentorship through the many development programmes offered by the institution,
with the aim of empowering them to perform on Playhouse stages.
The skills impartment initiative, besides
fast tracking the growth of community artists in their ability to work
professionally, is seen as an invaluable and far-sighted extension of the
Playhouse Company’s own Audience Development programme.
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