Marinda Engelbrecht brings theatre and food to the children of Africa and the Middle East

Marinda is known as a stage director but is also a qualified teacher, chef and student of the drama icon, Babs Sluiter. She describes the inner-peace she achieved between her chefs training and her love for theatre-craft like this…. “Good theatre nurtures the soul and good food nurtures the body.”

Marinda is the co-creator and stage director of Children’s Theatre with Margit Meyer. She is the author of the educational cookbook for children Kinder Kombuis and Marinda se Koskas. Marinda was also a TV presenter on DSTV of her own series Maklik metMarindaand co-presenter of Laat Die Potte Prut. She became famous as a finalist in the first Kokkedoor reality series in 2013. Marinda also stars in Marion Holm’s Afrikaans Food theatre production Voorskoot.

The Middle East Connection

“An Arabic businessman contacted us to bring our children’s theatre to Doha. It was part of an international reading series,” but Marinda was reluctant at first as the culture was foreign and she did not know the man. It was a massive leap of faith as she had to take responsibility for the entire cast as well as the production and unforeseen financial pitfalls.

“We never looked back since. The Arab people in Qatar are extremely generous, friendly and go out of their way to make the entire cast feel welcome. They booked our tickets, put us up in hotels and set us up in the most advanced theatres in Doha. It was a pleasure to work with these beautiful people. We learned so much about the culture and are all the richer for it. After we did our first performance in Doha, our sponsor asked if we could bring more of the Children’s Theatre productions to them. It was the greatest of honour to present almost all the classic fairy tales like Rapunzel, Jack and the Beanstalk, Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland, to name a few…. “

According to Marinda the theatres in Doha are impressively equipped with the best technology and lightning and Marinda and Margit were blown away with their professionalism, love for art and the lengths they would go to in educating the children residing in their country.

Introduced over 700,000 children to theatre… and aiming for more!

Over the years Marinda and Margit have introduced over 700 000 children to the theatre – it’s what they live for! They write all the music and scripts together and share the same goal: to get children away from the TV. “Introducing children to the theatre helps them cultivate their creativity and combats being “virtually” interactive – as children are now accustomed to being thanks to cell phones and computer games. It teaches children the declining experience of being present socially and physically inter-active,” says Marinda.

“Children are highly intelligent and perceptive. You cannot present a child with a mediocre production. They want the light- camera-action plus the excitement that goes with technology and drama. Finding the sweet spot though is always a challenge. After 20 years Margit and I are still moved to tears when our audience gasp, laugh or cheer with excitement.”

Yearly they organize busses to Cape Town for children that have never seen the ocean, the theatre or a city.

We always prepare those kids before they enter the theatre. “You got to make them feel safe as they would find something simple like a theatre chair scary, as they think they broke the chair as it automatically jumps into position after they get up! Just imagine how scary the ocean or the hustle and bustle of a large city would be to a small child seeing it for the first time? Nothing is more rewarding than introducing a little human being to something for the first time. One never forgets those little faces that literally light up with wonder and amazement.”

The cookbooks were actually born in the kitchen of Marinda’s childhood home. She grew up on a Durbanville farm in the Western Cape. “It was a loving home where food was a big part of the family dynamic, everybody gathered in the kitchen to share good times, laughter and emotional support in difficult times,” she says. She always wanted to create an educational cookbook and used her experience with children’s theatre to do so. The illustrations are bright and eye-catching. The book introduces two characters called Chef Salt and Professor Pretzel. The cookbook introduces reading savvy as well as science and maths. The books build self-confidence and creativity. Look for them at Exclusive books, Bargain Books, Takealot and Loot.

Marinda Engelbrecht’s life focus has been to bring families around a table or to entice them into a theatre. She would like parents to realize the depth that a love for theatre brings to a child’s life and the lasting benefit it gives. For the sake of the future of our children, we can only hope that the enormity of this dream will come full circle.