The Twilight Theatre Organisation has again opened its classes to aspiring actors in Alexandra. They will learn professional skills for stage and camera.
BUDDING thespians in Alexandra wanting to learn to act can register for classes with the Twilight Theatre Organisation until 9 March. Classes will run from March until June.

Professional actor Israel Makoe hails from AlexProfessional actor Israel Makoe hails from Alex“This programme was established in 2011, and it was supported well and it still has an enormous demand,” says the organiser and founder of Twilight, Thabo Makgaretsa. These classes were introduced to help battling actors in the township by equipping them with the necessary professional skills.

Classes focus on acting for theatre and for camera. “The outcomes expected from this training/coaching are professional skills or experience, which [will] later help the participants to pursue their careers or interest in the acting industry at a professional standard.”

Makgaretsa and Boikarabelo “Mike” Motaung, a graduate of Afda, writer and director, are the masterminds behind the initiative and introduced it when they identified a niche in the market. The two, having had extensive experience in theatre and film, realised success was only attainable with professional skills. They also want the classes to serve as a database for all actors in Alex.

“Twilight Theatre in association with Mogul Pictures has anticipated gathering an actors’ database through this training, which would ultimately help artists with opportunities to join professional casting agencies and internal opportunities to cast from this development in our future film and theatre productions and programmes such as Theatre Night,” he says.

Theatre Night has been hosted by Twilight four times already. It is a showcase of the creative works of Alex residents.

The first set of classes, held from May to July 2011, were held on Saturday mornings to accommodate those who worked and went to school during the week. The success of the original lessons means that this year’s classes will run three days a week, from Thursday to Saturday from 9am to 4pm.

To join the classes will not dent the wallet too much either: registration is R100 and the monthly fee is R500. All classes will take place at the Thusong Youth Centre, where Twilight Theatre is based. It can be found at 138 – 11th Avenue in Alexandra.

For more information on the acting classes, contact Makgaretsa on 011 024 8215/076 436 0415 or Motaung on 084 813 0778.

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