POP Art turns six and celebrates for 24 hours
MABONENG – The theatre which takes stage productions to the next level is celebrating six years.
“POP Art celebrates six years of independent theatre with the annual 24 Hours in the City festival,” said co-founder, Hayleigh Evans.
Launched as a performing arts centre and fringe [space for alternative productions] theatre venue in 2011, POP Art has grown into a recognised institution in Johannesburg – through numerous successful partnerships – where performers come together to share new work and ideas and access opportunities.
In this, time management has created an in-house production company as well as many successful in-house brands and significant partnerships that have worked toward elevating the reputation of performing arts and artists.
“We couldn’t be prouder of the way in which the vision has grown over the years. The growth of the business is largely as a result of our constant discussions with fellow artists about what is needed to grow our industry,” said Evans.
“This is the exact reason that we have continued to celebrate our birthday each year with the 24 Hours in the City celebration. It is the ultimate event to reflect the key principles of the POP Art brand: collaboration and networking to inspire new work.”
Read: The Market Theatre and PopArt Theatre in Johannesburg collaborate in Greek adaptations
It’s a weekend-long festival where six writers, six directors and 24 actors have 24 hours to make six all-new ten-minute plays.
“Every year, we rally some of the best makers in the biz, including many Market Laboratory alumni, to get together and create this excellent evening of entertainment,” said Evans.
This year 24 Hours in the City takes place on 22 April at 8pm and will be extending even further, with the event being staged at the Ramolao Makhene Theatre at the Market Theatre laboratory.
POP Art has been given access to this brand new 180-seater theatre on the new Market Theatre laboratory premises in order to accommodate more audiences for the popular annual festival, because more audiences mean more bursaries. All proceeds from the event go toward bursaries for students at the Market Theatre laboratory.
Centre management has also committed to naming [bursary] recipients for two second-year students for 2017.
“The partnership between these two institutions is so strong because it’s about a professional theatre investing in the next generation of theatre-makers,” said Clara Vaughan, education officer of the Market Theatre laboratory.
Details: www.markettheatre.co.za
Edited by Beryl Knipe
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