Girl Power!

At the core of Lunchbox Theatre is our goal to educate, empower and entertain. Our shows aim to raise awareness around the social and environmental issues in South Africa, while at the same time empowering both members of our audience and team, to speak out and take action in order to bring about change in our country.

In May this year we saw the first performance of ’Agony’, a show written, directed, and choreographed by Lunchbox Theatre team member and After Schools Activities Program Manager, Amanda Valela. Portrayed through a combination of song, dance, and drama the show centers on the topic of Gender-Based Violence in South Africa and features an all-women cast. It is performed by the ‘Isithatha Voices of Change Group’ – a group of 12 women between the ages of 13 – 20 years of age, all of whom were selected from our After Schools Activities Program.

It had been a long-standing dream of Amanda’s to write about the issues affecting South African women. In 2017 she began looking for ways to introduce the topic of Gender Based Violence to her work and created a single dance piece. This, however, soon grew to include music, monologues, poetry, and drama. When Lunchbox Theatre received funding for the project from the National Arts Council of South Africa earlier this year, Amanda finally had the opportunity to put it all together and create her show. Auditions were held and the cast selected and with the funding, we had received, we were able to afford each cast member a small stipend as remuneration for all the time and energy they put into developing the show.

We are so incredibly proud to have been a part of what these brave young women have created. They have put together the most phenomenal show, which they performed with such professionalism and integrity. For us, this is what Lunchbox Theatre is all about. Creating new opportunities for creative growth and expression and using this platform to deliver poignant messages to the communities around us – View our video.

Please contact us to book a show.