ASSITEJ SA - Cape Town

General information

ASSITEJ SA connects and supports theatre practitioners, companies, organisations, institutions and schools across the country, who believe in the transformative difference that theatre makes in the lives of children and young people. It is the national centre for ASSITEJ (International Association of Theatre for Children and Young People).

ASSITEJ SA believes that every child and young person in our country deserves access to the arts, and especially to live theatre, from the earliest possible age.

It focuses on: creating access to theatre for young people, supporting and developing emerging and established artists, empowering arts’ education, and connecting and advocating for the arts in the lives of young people. It works to improve the quality of theatre for young audiences in South Africa through international networking and exchange.

ASSITEJ SA has members that include actors, musicians, dancers, directors, choreographers, theatre educators, stage designers and dramatists, as well as theatre companies, organisations and institutions, critics and cultural journalists, culture officers, amateur drama groups, organisers and societies.

ASSITEJ South Africa works to promote international awareness of South African theatre for children and young people, by organising exchanges and guest performances and by facilitating contacts. Members are given access to a global network of information about festivals, performances, courses and seminars all over the world, with the potential to participate in these activities.

ASSITEJ International, established in 1965, is a World Theatre Network of THEATRE for CHILDREN and YOUNG PEOPLE that recognises the right of all children to enrichment through the arts and their own cultural traditions, especially theatre culture. ASSITEJ is present in around 100 countries across the world.

OUR AIMS:
• To work for the rights of children and young people to artistic experiences especially designed and created for them.
• To facilitate the development of creativity and the ability to reflect on their own needs, experiences and concerns through the creation and performance of original artistic work, ensuring at all times that these processes are for the benefit and enrichment of the children and young people involved.
• To work for the recognition and acknowledgement of theatre for children and young people.
• To work to improve the standing of South African theatre for children and young people through a commitment to developing work of the highest quality.
• To raise interest in and knowledge of theatre for children and young people among theatres, schools, organisers, the media, politicians and decision-makers in South Africa.
• To improve the common knowledge of theatre for children and young people, thus drawing the attention of national authorities to the importance of taking children and young people and the work created for them seriously.
• To give people working with theatre for children and young people possibilities of getting acquainted with the work of colleagues from other countries and cultures, thus enabling them to enrich theatre for children and young people in South Africa.
• To give children and young people opportunities to share and experience the richness of diverse cultural forms and practices, through interactions and exchanges both locally and internationally.
• To provide opportunities to improve knowledge about international theatre for children and young people, and to inform other countries about South African theatre for children and young people.