The one thing, it's been said, that links all four of her plays - Tshepang, Hear And Now, Reach and Karoo Moose, which have all toured internationally to great acclaim - is that, no matter how bleak the future looks, her characters always have a shot at redemption.
She objects to the epithet on the grounds that it implies naivete; but whether that's true or not, it's hard to think of a better qualification for her new job as the artistic director of the Baxter theatre - a bastion of South African arts and culture, and one of the two most important theatres in the country.
Foot Newton, the fourth director in the Baxter's 32-year history, and the first woman to hold the position, takes the reins at a time when theatre audiences are said to be dwindling rapidly, with more and more people adding their voices to the chorus "theatre is dead".
Thankfully, the feisty 42-year-old doesn't agree with this grim assessment. In fact, she thinks that South African theatre is growing.
Business, she says, is "jolly good" - or she wouldn't have taken the job.
"I think [theatre is] even more essential and exciting and crucial than it was 20 years ago."
And what of the persistent notion that, without "the struggle", without the fight against apartheid, South African theatre has ceased to be relevant?
"I think that's outdated, old-school thinking," she says. "It might have been true once - for a while, between 1995 and 2001 writers found it hard to pin down what they wanted to say. But now we're playing to really good houses."
Foot Newton takes over at the Baxter from Mannie Manim, co-founder of the Market Theatre and the man who, in a fittingly theatrical turn of events, paid her her first pay cheque, back in 1991.
"It was R600 for the entire production," she remembers. "Of course, I was very poor."
She is no stranger to the Baxter. In 2005 she relocated to Cape Town from Johannesburg with her family, to take up the position of resident director of the theatre, a post that she held until 2007. So she has a pretty good idea of the size of the shoes she's filling.
"It's to Manny's credit that the theatre is rated as one of the top two in the country," she says. "And we've done it without a government subsidy. The Baxter raises its own funding to support itself. And for that we rely on the loyal audience he built by staging vibrant, exciting productions."
As a result of that success, Foot Newton won't be making any sudden changes.
"It's not about making changes, it's about letting it grow. I really, really want to focus on developing a younger audience, while maintaining loyal supporters," she says.
No small challenge, but Foot Newton seems up to it. That she is the first woman to hold the post is a point of pride.
"There are certainly lots of actresses but women aren't often in positions that allow them to make important decisions."
According to Foot Newton, it's counterproductive to try to imagine the "average theatre-goer".
"There's no such person," she says. "That's what's beautiful about it, we have such a diverse audience that we can present a really diverse programme, everything from musical revue to performance art."
Of course, that makes a thing like public taste difficult to classify but, even so, Foot Newton scoffs at the idea that people can't handle "serious theatre".
"I think there is something about dance that people are relating to in an emotional way; it's doing really well. Some people might find that the visual is more palatable than the verbal; I'm not sure."
In this regard she mentions the work of young choreographer Dada Masilo, who wowed audiences recently with her fresh take on Romeo and Juliet.
"On the other hand we've got I Am My Own Wife, a very wordy drama, which was sold out for 12 weeks. For me, dance is very exciting at the moment. Slam poetry is very popular too."
For Foot Newton, the key is to broaden our definition of theatre: "Theatre doesn't necessarily imply drama," she says.
The Baxter has a history of working with fine performers and artists, but Foot Newton is reluctant to name them for fear of leaving someone out.
One of her great passions has always been developing fresh new talent - 29 of 40 stagings were of new South African plays.
"I'm not doing it because I have to, I'm really excited by young people, and their thoughts and ideas."
One of her primary goals as head of the Baxter is to reach out to the community and establish relationships with the artists of Cape Town.
"My concern at the moment is to find the finance to create a young company that I can sustain, and find work for young actors in the community."
Foot Newton is not the sort of person to wax philosophical about the value of the theatre.
"I want to avoid saying things like, 'it holds a mirror up to society', or that a theatre is a place of truth, providing intellectual inspiration and enlightenment. We all know that about theatre: it's a place of engagement with our society."
Of the often-challenging nature of her material, she says: "We have to engage with both the light and the dark; it's part of being present."
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