Inspiring a Generation is an ongoing annual programme, which gives four-five emerging artists a year-long mentorship in theatre for young audiences. The programme is run by partners, ASSITEJ SA and Theatre Arts Admin Collective. The mentorship aims to inspire theatre practitioners to make high quality  theatre for young audiences in South Africa. The title of the programme refers to our hope of building a new generation of theatre makers working in the area of theatre for children and young people, and through their work building a generation of children and young people who love and are inspired by theatre performance.

Each mentorship includes networking, workshops, mentoring, international travel and exchange, and the production of a playscript or play through mechanisms appropriate to the particular piece being developed.

2013

2013 Participants, who will do their exchange in Paris, France with the festival Ere de Jeu are:

• Tristan Jacobs
• Elliot Moleba
• Lereko Mfono
• Clara Vaughn

About the 2013 programme – “Correspondance”:

Professional artists will work with learners at the National School of the Arts to develop four plays aimed at a teen audience. Theatre for teens has tended to fall into certain categories in South Africa: overtly educational, very issues-based, or related to school setworks. We are looking for fresh, breaking boundaries productions which speak to today’s teenager in a voice they can identify with, and which challenge and inspire them to engage with theatre. These writers will engage with four writers at the French festival Ere de Jeu in Paris in November 2013, as part of the French-South Africa Season, funded by NAC and French Institute. They will also give workshops for French teenagers, and witness French teens encountering the South African production by Magnet theatre, “Every Year Every Day I am Walking”.

Focus: Teen audiences

Partners: ASSITEJ SA, Theatre Arts Admin Collective, Well Worn Theatre, National School of the Arts, Magnet Theatre, Ere de Jeu festival

Sponsored by National Arts Council and French Institute as part of SA-French Seasons of Performance.