Sixteen months ago, Savannah Steyn, 26, of Plumstead, started an internship at The Masque Theatre in Muizenberg, and come December, she will be an assistant director on the theatre’s festive season production of Red Riding Hood.
“We interviewed several people for the production secretary internship in 2023, and Savannah was our clear favourite from the start. She was just so focused and clearly had the organisational skills needed for the role, ” says Faeron Wheeler, the theatre’s programme manager.
Ms Steyn then moved into the role of a production manager intern.
“Savannah then showed her creative skills on top of that, working on props and giving major input into the set painting and dressing for Twelfth Night,” says Ms Wheeler.
More recently, Ms Steyn worked as a production manager on the theatre’s production of Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Nile which ends its run on Saturday August 31.
Ms Steyn says her mother, a writer of short stories and poetry, nurtured her love for reading and storytelling. Her father, she adds, had a passion for ballroom dancing.
Ms Steyn has a BA in theatre performance studies and a Master’s in applied theatre and drama studies from UCT and she hopes to one day open a college for production training to create more jobs in the performing arts industry.
“The arts are an overlooked resource in our economy, I feel. They offer so many opportunities,” she says.
Ms Wheeler adds: “I am incredibly excited to have her as my assistant director for Red Riding Hood this year and what that means for Savannah hopefully taking the reins for future productions.”
