Background
The Klein Karoo National Arts Festival’s (KKNK) flagship project Teksmark, supported by the Nasionale Afrikaanse Teater-inisiatief (NATi) and the Baxter Theatre Centre in Cape Town, has become an institution on the annual arts calendar.
Playwrights, actors, festival directors and other industry players come together in the Mother City annually to discover and explore new ideas for plays, and see these developed into fully-fledged productions that tour the arts circuit in South Africa. This ground-breaking initiative of the KKNK was honoured in 2018 with a special Fleur du Cap award for Innovation in Theatre.
Since the inception of Teksmark in 2016, several script ideas have been developed into multi-award-winning theatre productions such as Marina Albertyn’s Milk and meat; Bauke Snyman's Wandering; Amee Lekas's The Dance of the Water Maiden, Du Toit Albertze's The Mermaid Complex and Herschelle Benjamin's In Slawenhuis 39.
Cognisant of the roots of the festival, Teksmark is coming home to the Klein Karoo, with the first Teksmark Oudtshoorn taking place on Saturday, 29 May 2021 – and all residents of the greater Oudtshoorn region and Garden Route are invited to enter their script ideas.
Teksmark Oudtshoorn takes place in two phases and all writers (whether established or emerging) may participate – provided they are from the greater Oudtshoorn region or Garden Route. Teenagers (16 years and older), students and adults can attend the workshop or submit proposals.
Phase 1: Scriptwriting workshop
This workshop will be presented by Neil Coppen and Ilse Oppelt in Oudtshoorn (at the Toekomsrus Community Centre) on Saturday, 17 April (08:00 - 16:00) and Sunday, 18 April (08:00 - 15:00).
Over the course of this interactive two-day workshop participants will, under the supervision of Coppen and Oppelt, be guided through the principles of identifying and shaping initial story ideas. They will cover aspects of research, story development, plot construction, characterisation, genre, dialogue and more. The mentors will provide careful instruction and guidance to the scriptwriters, helping them to arrive at ideas which they feel confident to take into final development.
This workshop is aimed at scriptwriters who need assistance with their script ideas but is not a prerequisite for submitting a proposal and attending the Teksmark Oudtshoorn event in May.
Attendance is free, but bookings are essential as space is limited due to COVID-19 regulations. To secure your seat, contact Shandré Harris on 044 203 8600, send an email to teksmark@kunste.org.za or send a message via WhatsApp/Telegram to 060 848 8131.
Phase 2: Submit your proposal
In this phase of Teksmark Oudtshoorn, any playwright – established or emerging – can submit a proposal to the organisers to be considered for further development into a fully-fledged production.
Over the course of this interactive two-day workshop participants will, under the supervision of Coppen and Oppelt, be guided through the principles of identifying and shaping initial story ideas. They will cover aspects of research, story development, plot construction, characterisation, genre, dialogue and more. The mentors will provide careful instruction and guidance to the scriptwriters, helping them to arrive at ideas which they feel confident to take into final development.
This workshop is aimed at scriptwriters who need assistance with their script ideas but is not a prerequisite for submitting a proposal and attending the Teksmark Oudtshoorn event in May.
Proposals must be sent via email to teksmark@kunste.org.za by Wednesday, 5 May at 16:00.
Please note
- Scripts and suggestions in all South Africa’s official languages will be considered.
- Multilingual productions are welcomed.
- Only scripts that have never been professionally performed will be eligible.
- No handwritten proposals will be considered. All documents must be submitted in Microsoft Word.
Contact the KKNK office at 044 203 8600, or send an email to teksmark@kunste.org.za if you need assistance with your submission, which includes help with typing, if required.
The following information must be included when submitting your proposal:
- Title of the script
- Author's name and age
- Author’s contact details (cell phone number, email address, physical address)
- Proposals must include a summary of the script idea and themes in the play, a short outline of character descriptions, and at least five pages of dialogue. Full scripts are welcome, but not required.
Receipt of proposals will be acknowledged in writing via email. If the author does not receive acknowledgement of submission within three days, please contact the KKNK office on 044 203 8600, or send an email to teksmark@kunste.org.za to confirm that the proposal was received.
Teksmark Oudtshoorn is a KKNK/Kunste Onbeperk NPC project for the Klein Karoo Arts Academy.
