Development at State Theatre 2.62

The South African State Theatre’s Development Department was established in 2002. In the past it has boasted the Lotto-funded programme 52 Seasons, which saw 52 independent and previously marginalised theatre practitioners stage their productions at the South African State Theatre (SAST) precinct for every week of the year. The Development Department now boasts important outreach programmes such as CADO (Community Arts Dramaturgy Outreach), which every year seeks to help 15 Community Arts practitioners with the upskilling of their productions through Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) fieldworkers; it’s 2 vibrant and important festivals, the Youth Expressions (YEF) and Vavasati Women’s Festival; and recently the Incubator Programme, a Department of Arts and Culture initiative that seeks to assist semi-professional Music, Dance and Drama practitioners in their quest to achieve their immediate goal of “breaking through” to the local and international professional playing field. Over and beyond these programmes and projects, the Development Department is also in charge of the SAST’s IndieSpotlight programme, which is about giving independent theatre-makers the platform and some means to stage their productions in the SAST main stages and thereby exposing them to larger audiences and the industry as a whole.