18th Zwakala Festival at the Market Laboratory

The Zwakala Festival will be staging the 10 best community theatre plays selected from the Laboratory’s 20th Community Theatre Festival held in May 2011. The annual Community Theatre Festival is a celebration of the range of theatre works created by community theatre groups from across the country and a celebration of the diversity of South African theatre-makers and storytellers. The chosen works for this year’s Zwakala Festival are from community groups in Gauteng, KwaZulu Natal and the North West. One of the ten groups will be awarded the opportunity to perform on one of the Market Theatre’s stages.
What it means for the Winner:
Besides performing in one of the Market’s theatres, the winning Group will be closely observed by the Market Theatre’s Artistic Director, Malcolm Purkey, and the Artistic Team, including the Market’s Dramaturge, Craig Higginson, who will offer their professional expertise where necessary. The mentoring and upskilling will be of great value to the Group members who often do not have access to such professional assistance. In addition the Group’s transition into the theatre will be supported by Market Theatre staff from Production, Front of House and Publicity.
During the week of the Zwakala Festival, the community groups will be encouraged to watch current shows at the Market Theatre – to which they will have free access – as a means of offering them additional exposure to professional theatre.
The Zwakala Festival has been made possible by generous grants from the Royal Netherlands Embassy.