Theatre Art shines light through loadshedding

As South Africans we’re all too familiar with the disappointment one feels when the power goes off. 

Load-shedding is adversely affecting our lives and our economy. 

For the theatre arts sector, load-shedding has severely disrupted the time frames for performances. 

With this in mind, the Creative Director of Theatre Arts in Observatory, Caroline Calburn came up with the idea of having `Theatre in the Dark’. 

From the 15th February, 11 plays will be performed at night without any reliance on Eskom’s electricity. 

"I'd been trying to schedule seasons of work around a load-shedding schedule, usually stage 6. I went through complete insanity to try to book shows last year and thought what it would be like to schedule a season that doesn't require load-shedding. And I thought oh well, we'll just have to do it in the dark."
-Caroline Calburn, Theatre Arts creative director 

Not all the performances are in a pitch darkness as some plays will use alternative energy sources. 

"We're a tiny a little theatre in a suburban road and the entire street is dark. But when you open the theatre doors, it's like a magical light comes out. Its like a jewel box and you just want to step into it."

-Caroline Calburn, Theatre Arts creative director 

"There's something magical about the dark and we've come to resent it. Load-shedding is a form of violence and theatre needs to be an antidote to that. It's that feeling of being in the softness of the dark in which you can have a shared experience with someone."

-Caroline Calburn, Theatre Arts creative director 

To book, visit theatrearts.co.za.

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