Magnet Theatre’s Full-Time Training and Job Creation programme is a 2-year programme for “youth who for one reason or another struggle to be absorbed into the training at the University”. For some, this may be a financial challenge, whilst for others, it may be due to low educational attainment or feeling out of their depth on a university campus.
The programme aims “to bridge the divide between the community and the University. Where this is not possible, it is to provide skills, expertise and a sense of direction to talented, marginalised young people so that they might become employable in the creative industries. The broad intention is of transforming the theatre industry from one that is white dominated to one that is more inclusive.”
In-house and visiting teaching artists encourage creative development through formal classes which explore “play, imagination, physical theatre, voice, dance, singing, improvisation, and playmaking.” Combined with supervised tasks, work experience opportunities, mentoring, and theatre visits, the training has remarkably successful results:
- 53 have graduated from Magnet Theatre, with the 5th cohort now almost halfway through their training
- 23 alumni have gone on to become the first in their family to attend university
- 9 of these have graduated, and 10 are still studying
- 71% of the others have found employment in the creative industries
- 8 alumni are currently employed at Magnet Theatre as technicians, actors, designers, and administrators
- 28 new productions have been created by the alumni
In June 2017, Dialogue taught a short series of workshops on documentation to the current Magnet Theatre trainees. Using what they had learned, they experimented with photographing what they got up to during the course of three typical days on the programme.
The following images were all produced by the trainees themselves, giving a unique perspective on their daily lives as theatre-makers in training.
The Full-Time Training and Job Creation Programme receives support from TK Foundation, Rand Merchant Bank, Oppenheimer Memorial Trust, Hosken Consolidated Investments Ltd Foundation, Rolf-Stefan Nussbaum Foundation, Ampersand Foundation, Potjie Foundation, Business Arts South Africa, Western Cape Government Department of Cultural Affairs and Sports Expanded Public Works Programme, Joan St Leger Lindbergh Charitable Trust, and Distell.
© Dialogue Community Performance / Magnet Theatre