The annual Artscape education and youth programme was launched last week and will showcase the cultural institution’s projects for the rest of the year.
The initiative includes the four Grade 12 setwork productions, which aim to expose learners to the required curriculum-based outcomes set by the Western Cape Education Department (WCED).
The setworks are presented in all three official Western Cape languages (English, isiXhosa and Afrikaans), including a subtitled translation for the Xhosa production Buzani Kubawo to engender inclusivity.
The Afrikaans production Krismis van Map Jacobs celebrates the legendary writer Adam Small and My Children! My Africa! of the iconic trailblazer Athol Fugard. Abrahamse & Meyer Productions presents Shakespeare’s Hamlet.
Meanwhile, the High School Drama Festival and Schools Arts Festival are just some of the projects aimed at furthering youth development by creating access to a professional stage as well as an outlet for creativity.
The Schools Arts Festival will see up to 15 schools per night dancing, dramatising and performing poetry and choral songs, among others, while the High School Drama Festival showcases the work of the budding literary creativity of learners.
The Youth Jazz Music and Youth Classical Music Concerts, respectively (the latter that has stood the test of time for more than 53 years), have seen participants excel as professionals both locally and internationally, including scooping major awards.
Marlene le Roux, chief executive officer of Artscape, said: “Learners and youth often express that these productions were their first visit to Artscape. Later, when they return as adults for the commercial shows, they are enthused about their appearance on the very same stage on which they see a professional artist perform, or they reminisce about the moment of their historic first-time attendance as a learner.”
She said their stories are a testament to the audience-development outcome.
“These are just a few of the changes that we seek to effect as we focus on arts education at our cultural institution – an avenue that has been recognised as a significant vehicle for youth empowerment in post-apartheid SA.”
Additional projects include the annual Rural Outreach programme that takes the theatre to the people in outlying towns of the Western Cape, giving those who would most likely never witness a production on a theatre stage the chance to the magic that is theatre.
