Embracing the theme of supporting women in the arts this Women’s Month, the festival brings you a panel discussion centred on the Business of the Arts. The aim is to delve into important questions about how to balance artistic endeavours with the need to make a living from them. As this is part of the Women’s Month Festival, we will also be looking to address issues that women in particular face in the industry.

The panel features three heavy hitters in the industry who are navigating the creative and the business aspects of the arts, all working in different spheres - Tracey Saunders, Lizanne Peters and Christine Skinner. Hosting this discussion is Sue Diepeveen, owner of The Drama Factory, co-producer of the Women’s Month Festival and all-rounder in the entertainment industry. 

There is NO CHARGE for this event - you are welcome to make a donation to our charities should you be so inclined.

See more information for Bios of all the panelists

Tracey Saunders

Tracey Saunders loves words on stages and pages and all the places in between. She is a freelance consultant who works with numbers and words to support her theatre habit.

She has worked in the social justice sector in South Africa for 35 years in a wide range of organisations from Abahlimi Bezekhaya to Zabalaza. She was a rape counsellor and advocacy trainer at Rape Crisis where she served on the steering committee. A strong believer in the strength of the solidarity of womyn she was a member of The Western Cape Network on Violence Against Women, an organising member of the first One Billion Rising campaign in South Africa in 2013 and participated in the Total Shutdown Movement march to parliament in 2018.

Tracey is passionate about the possibilities of arts and culture to achieve social justice and believes that theatre and storytelling can change hearts, minds and the world. She has utilised her organisational development and financial skills at various organisations including FTH:K, a theatre company that creates theatre for the deaf community, Theatre in the Backyard, which creates site specific performances and Theatre Arts, an independent theatre venue in Cape Town that promotes accessibility for audiences and artists. She is a member of the Fleur du cap Theatre Awards judging panel and served on the National Arts Festival Artistic Committee where she curated the Arena Programme and convened the Standard Bank Ovation Awards Panel.  #LoveYourWork is where she juggles numbers, wrangles words, frames art and follows her favourite writer, Mary Oliver’s “Instructions for living a life. Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.”

Lizanne Peters

Co-founder of 2Sugars Productions. Lizanne trained at ACT Cape Town and works as an actress in film, TV and theatre in Cape Town. Theatre highlights include roles in Relationshit!, the Vagina Monologues and Emilia in Othello: A Woman's Story. Lizanne was also part of the ensemble cast, playing Darling Brown in (extra)ordinary (un)usual which won a Silver Standard Bank Ovation Award at the 2021 National Arts Fringe Festival. With Marlisa Doubell, she co-founded and rebranded 2Sugars Productions (previously the Sugar-daddy Theatre Company) which focuses on exploring independent theatre and film projects with the aim to bring engaging and thought-provoking work to local audiences.

Christine Skinner

Christine has worked as a public relations practitioner for nineteen years across the corporate, leisure and entertainment sectors. For the past twelve years she has run her own boutique PR business specialising in the arts and culture industries, assisting clients with their media and marketing campaigns