The Writers Lab is about having fun and engaging with interesting people through creative events.
With a focus on writing and performance. The Writers Lab colloborates with writers, musicians, and artists of every kind to build a thriving creative community in Gauteng, and South Africa more broadly.
Some Writers Lab events are free, others might charge a fee to cover anything from venue hire, dues, organiser expenses, materials, professional services, etc. If we are charging will let you in our posts.
We hope you enjoy being an active member of Writers Lab and we hope to see you at a Workshop, or Reading very soon.
The reading: “Rain Blood Nation” by Tebatso “Prodykal Son” Mashishi. Was a success. The play went on to be showcased at the annual Kopanong Theatre Festival at the University of Pretoria in October 2018.
The play: “Rain Blood Nation”/ “Teen Blood Nasie” was directed by Sibusiso Mkhwinana.
We have some really cool things in the pipeline and we can’t wait to share them with you!
A conversation on playwriting, artistic and creative research
Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton
For centuries artists have understood the power that the right frame can have in presenting and enhancing their work. The very earliest art form that we know of had no borders, frames or lines of demarcation at all. However, it is clear that modern sense of theatre-making is always associated with some sort of border. These borders are there to contain, to divide, and to focus the audience’s attention. Extending the Frame was a conversations, hosted by Writers Lab, with playwrights on how to interpret and frame artistic practice. The conversation was an attempt to see where borders can be crossed, frames removed and collaborations created.
There are currently an extraordinary number of playwrights working in South Africa in varied and interesting ways; outside the framework of what we call mainstream. We recognize that artistic expressions of new stories offer us an extensive archive for testimony, opportunities for witnessing, and possibilities for research.
The aim of the dialogue was to open up discussions and public debate on ways of influencing writers, artists, audiences on what happens when we challenge how we frame our art. We hope to draw connections to writing, creating, adapting, witnessing, language and testifying. The conversation will offer a varied and interactive engagement. It is a varied and interactive programme that reflects on different ways of interpreting and framing artistic practice and production.
The details of the conversation were as follows:
DATE:Friday 31 August 2018
TIME: 11.00 – 14.00
VENUE: The South African State Theatre, Rendevous Theatre, Pretoria, South Africa
The Writers Lab 