It’s all systems go for the Baxter Zabalaza Theatre Festival, which celebrates all things drama, music, dance and poetry.
This year’s festival will take place from March 24 to April 1, showcasing 37 productions from 189 participants.
Now in its 13th year, this year’s festival is the product of the successful hybrid mentorship programmes launched during the Covid-19 lockdown, which provides a developmental platform for theatre makers in the Western Cape.
Curated by award-winning director Mdu Kweyama, the festival will culminate in a gala awards ceremony on April 1, where accolades will be handed to various artists and productions. The production that bags the Best of Zabalaza award will enjoy a two-week run at The Baxter in August.
Kweyama said this year’s festival saw scriptwriting mentorship programmes and workshops for directors being provided, to ensure participants put their best foot forward.
“This year the mentorship collaboration has extended with double the number of mentors offering support to each of the main festival productions,” he said.
“It offers a mentorship aspect that upskills talented young people and then provides them with the platform to stage their play in a professional space like The Baxter,” explained Kweyama.
Kweyama said the number of participants had grown tremendously over the years to reach up-and-coming creatives in the industry. “We don’t do this for awards, but we are also seeing an increasing number of productions first staged at the Zabalaza Theatre Festival being picked up by other festivals in South Africa and even being recognised for Fleur du Cap awards.”
The Baxter’s spokesperson, Jade Adams, said this year the festival will pay tribute to writer, actor, director and mentor Khayalethu Anthony, who died last September.
“A special screening of his award-winning production, ‘The Champion’, will be shown on Family Day, Saturday 25 March at 5pm. Anthony’s work won the Best of Zabalaza award in 2013 and was published by Junket Publishers in 2014,” she said.
Tickets to the main festival are available on Webtickets or at any Pick n Pay store.
Weekend Argus