Open call: Zwakala Festival community theatre programme

Zwakala Festival is a mentoring and a showcase platform for community-based theatre practitioners residing in Johannesburg. The incubator programme is sponsored by the Department of Sports Arts and Culture. The programme aims to help emerging practitioners hone their skills through mentorship and propel them to professional status. The process also puts a strong emphasis on homegrown content to hopefully generate exciting new productions for the theatre-going public.

The programme’s main aim is to improve the skills of musical directors, writers, and performers. It empowers them to create and produce local content of a high standard and trains the next generation of community arts leaders and cultural entrepreneurs. It also takes them through a journey of both the creative and practical sides of producing a professional theatre piece.

Group leaders, writers and directors will receive specialised training and resources to improve the quality of their work and their leadership, ultimately benefiting the entire group.

Eligibility

• All members of the group must be South African citizens.
• Groups are to reside within boundaries of City of Johannesburg regions (A-G).
• Group members need to be between 18 to 35 years old.
• Only full-time theatre practitioners can apply; no students/learners allowed to participate.
• Groups must secure their own rehearsal venue for site visits and fieldwork. No rehearsal venue will be provided by Market Theatre. Market Theatre Foundation will not cover rehearsal venue hire costs.
• All groups must adhere to the confirmed site visit schedule, no deviations will be allowed. Failure to adhere will result in disqualification.
• Failure to comply with all the requirements will result in immediate disqualification.

Should you meet the above eligibility criteria, the following needs to be submitted for the application to be evaluated:

• A duly completed showcase application form.
• The total number of group members (not to exceed 10).
• Selected groups are required to provide minimal props, costume and furniture (where applicable) for the Ko Lapeng Showcase.

How to apply

When applying, groups must ensure that they are available for showcasing as well as fieldwork.

Site visits and fieldwork will be as per the festival schedule that will be shared with accurate dates per production.

Applications can be submitted via the Market Theatre website before 24 May.