The theatre contributions made by Lab Alumni have been acknowledged significantly by the Standard Bank Young Artist Awards, boasting 2023 winners Theatre Duo (Billy Langa and Mahlatsi Mokgonyana) for theatre. Others have chosen to apply their skills in several other industries, including publishing, radio, event management and marketing. Many are playing leadership roles in arts institutions and other contexts and remain committed to working in the communities that nurtured their growth as young artists.
The Market Lab’s full-time theatre and performance course, which runs from January to November each year, offers intensive training in a laboratory environment for emerging theatre practitioners to develop to a professional standard. The programme focuses on practical experience, and learning through experimentation, exchange, research and making. Each year, twenty first years are selected. This small group size allows for each students’ creative journey to be mentored. The Lab invests in ensuring that the curriculum continues to serve the interests and needs of young creatives in a rapidly evolving industry. Most importantly, young artists learn to adapt, to experiment, and to think of themselves as entrepreneurs. In these challenging times, The Lab’s aim is to think expansively about the relevance of theatre and live performance, and to find language that articulates what theatre-makers know how to do and where the current need for these skills is situated. Theatre-making skills help make sense of being human, they teach us how to be with people, how to hold space, how to participate in community, how to approach change, and how to solve problems creatively. These skills are needed now more than ever.
The high quality of artistic engagement between students, collaborators, audiences and theatre practitioners at The Lab is evident in the impressive array of awards that the productions created through or with the Market Theatre Laboratory have won – just this year, the Market Lab received a Standard Bank Bronze Ovation Award for their production Mehlala, directed by Lab alumnus Billy Langa, presented at the National Arts Festival 2024.
When the Market Theatre Laboratory opened its doors in 1989, the intention of its founders, Vanessa Coooke, Dr John Kani and Barney Simon, was to provide opportunities to talented youth from disadvantaged backgrounds who would not otherwise be able to pursue their passion for the arts or study further. This remains an integral part of The Lab’s purpose, along with a determination to assist young artists to build sustainable careers, and to create space and visibility for subaltern experiences, voices and identities.
Applications close on 30 September 2024 for study in 2025.
*No late applications will be considered.
For Queries contact:
Email: courses@marketlab.co.za
WhatsApp: 076 283 4459
Call: 011 838 7498
Instagram: Market laboratory
Facebook: The Market Theatre Laboratory
You Tube: Market Theatre Laboratory Official
For media enquiries please contact Bongi Potelwa at bongiwep@marketheatre.co.za or (011) 832 1641 ext 224 or 079 967 3441.
