THE MARKET THEATRE LABORATORY ANNOUNCES THE RECIPIENT OF THE 2025 BARNEY SIMON RESIDENCY PROJECT
With the support of the Barney Simon Trust, the Market Theatre Laboratory offers one residency a year to a selected theatre-maker, following a public call for applications. The intensive residency provides a space for theatre-makers to develop a new work, investigate artistic process, and take creative risks on what has only existed as a concept to the theatre-maker before the residency.
The Market Theatre Laboratory is proud to announce Thuto Lesedi Gaasenwe as the recipient of the 2025 Barney Simon Residency Project. We look forward to engaging with Gaasenwe in our theatre, studios and learning spaces as she will be sharing her creative process with the Laboratory students. She will arrive at the Market Theatre Laboratory on 03 February 2025, and will present her creative outputs at the end of March 2025.
Gaasenwe will be exploring her latest concept, “Sentebale/Se Ntebale” – a theatrical piece that dares to confront the harrowing reality that is child trafficking. Sentebale, which means “don’t forget me” in Setswana, intends to immerse the audience into the heart of an epidemic that has stolen the futures of countless lives, whose names are lost in the shadows of silence and neglect.
Gaasenwe’s creative exploration will take on the shape of a comprehensive research process that will include real-world statistics and personal stories in collaboration with survivors, experts and organisations to ensure that the narrative is grounded in the lived experiences of those affected.
Her intention is to locate the work in song, physical theatre, and experiment with English and Setswana as the languages of choice, exploring the use of the Setswana/Sesotho folktale, Tselane le Dimo, as a storytelling device.
Thuto Gaasenwe’s artistic journey began as a child in Mahikeng, at the Mmabana Arts, Culture & Sports Foundation, where she discovered her passion for storytelling and theatre-making. After initially pursuing Civil Engineering, Gaasenwe graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Live Performance from AFDA. She is a multi-disciplinary artist who works both on stage, on screen, and as a theatre-maker. In 2019, Gaasenwe co-founded INTSUSA, an all-black, all-female theatre company. Their debut production, A Place of Knowing, directed by TheatreDuo, garnered critical acclaim, earning them a Bronze Ovation Award at the National Arts Festival in 2019 and an invitation to the International Youth Arts Festival in the UK. That same year, she showcased her artistic bravery in her first one-woman show, Daddies of Sugar, written and directed by J. Bobs Tshabalala and performed at The Market Theatre Laboratory. Gaasenwe is a drama coach to young learners in school. She is a poet, and continues to take to the stage as a performer, with her most recent performance as Lady in Brown in Ntozake Shange’s Tony Award-winning choreopoem, For Colored Girls, staged at the Joburg Theatre in 2024.
Speaking on what this new concept means, Gaasenwe says: “This offering not only builds upon my previous experiences, but also amplifies my commitment to social justice, advocacy, and the power of storytelling as a means of healing and transformation. This play is not just an isolated project; it is an integral thread in the fabric of my overall body of work, continuing my mission to provide a voice to the vulnerable and engage audiences in meaningful conversations about justice and humanity.”
