At the UJ Arts Centre, Motlatji Ditodi  is a ball of energy, eyes gleaming, energetic and inquisitive. She is spinning on the stage and testing out a variety of jovial poses.

This should perhaps be the ideal characteristic for any artist – an irrepressible zest for life.

Ditodi is a performer, pro-ducer and theatrical director who exudes wonder regarding life and her craft.

 Storytellers are by nature  keen observers of their surroundings and at times they translate these  findings into works of art. Ditodi is no different, currently writing a narrative in-fluenced by her obsession with technology and how it relates to our artistic storytelling discourse.

 “Technology is great, and there is power in the youth knowing more at a young age,” Ditodi says.

“But you can never beat the maturity and knowledge that you gain from purely being around for longer, which is something many people forget.

“Translating some of these aspects of our society is what we did with SA Shorts. The byline for the play is ‘Quickies for a microwave generation’.

This means we have to cater for a new generation of theatregoers, some of whom are always on the move. We need  to stay relevant if we are to attract these people.”

Ditodi worked on SA Shorts as assistant director, under the tutelage of director Alby Michaels.

The work features four short plays, giving new playwrights a chance to be heard. The plays have also been published.

Inevitably, the need to create new work in this way raises questions about a lack of interest in theatre.

 Ditodi feels  emphatic about this and pronounces an indictment on the current status quo.

“As powerful a medium as theatre is in South Africa, it is very elitist,” she says, with a hint of frustration.

 “We have a very small group of people who are theatregoers and we don’t really have a theatre-going culture, even though it is one thing that can heal us, I feel. 

There are powerful productions around and people don’t know about them. There are more theatres popping up than in the last few years, but there are no bums on seats.”

   Content is king in any field and this being Ditodi’s second directorial venture with Michaels, the first being Quiet Violence of Dreams, a graphic work, puts her at the forefront of alternative works being produced.

This is a cause that she is thoroughly committed to. Even though Ditodi majored in psychology, it is the theatre bug that has bitten hardest.

   “I wanted to be a psychologist after graduating, but the arts in me would have none of it,” she recalls.

“I had my directorial debut last year with Myth Of Andrew And Joe, and what an experience that was. You don’t need drugs in this industry  – you just need that exhilarating feeling of taking something from paper and putting it on stage.

“It is gruelling, tiresome and  almost masochistic, but it is great. I had sleepless nights, but seeing your work on stage is the best feeling ever.”