The Baxter Theatre has launched their own radio station during lockdown.
Baxter Radio is aimed at recording school set-works, children’s books, new South African works and classics.
These will be made directly accessible to The Baxter’s subscriber database and to community radio stations.
The initiative hopes to reach a wider audience and bridge the gap for communities who do not have access to the internet, the Baxter Centre said in a statement.
The centre said the initiative gives some artists the opportunity to work and provides an outlet for their creative talent.
Baxter CEO and artistic director, Lara Foot, explains: “I was concerned about the artists who are losing income during this lockdown and the many learners in communities who are unable to play outside and who do not have access to the internet.
“I’m not a fan of live-streaming because I believe that theatre doesn’t exist without the special connection between actor and audience. To distill theatre through a screen is what I call anti-theatre.
“However, the old and trusted medium of radio asks the audience to listen and engage, which is comparable to the form of theatre.”
“When I listened to the first editions of Baxter Radio, I was delighted and moved, and fondly remembered my childhood obsession of listening to stories on the radio.”
Marc Lottering will read Yusuf Daniels’ award-winning book Living Coloured(Because Black and White Were Already Taken), a series of short stories about an era of growing up on the Cape Flats.
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