Theatre & Change in South Africa

Geoffrey Davis, Anne Fuchs

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2020
• eBook ISBN: 9781134362974
• Topic: Media & Performing Arts
• Subtopic: Theatre

First Published in 1997. Can South African theatre continue to maintain its autonomy and exercise its critical role? Can one rethink form and find new content? Can a concept of post-protest theatre be developed? How might theatre contribute to post-apartheid soceity?  These are just of the questions addressed in this book. The real and present difficulties South Africian theatre is facing, as well as possible future orientations, are clearly shown, at one of the most complex moments of political transition in the history of the South African society.  The authors include contributions from playwrights, actors, visual artists, poets, directors, administrators, critics and theatre academics. Their comments and thoughts portray the active process of reflection and reappraisal, redefining their artistic and political aims, searching for new and vital theatrical forms.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Series Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• Introduction to the Series
• List of Plates
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• “A Truly Living Moment”: Acting and the Statements Plays
• “The Many Individual Wills.” From Crossroads to Survival. The Work of Experimental Theatre Workshop ’71
• Whose Popular Theatre and Performance?
• The Performance Aesthetics of Township Theatre: Frames and Codes
• Theatre for Export: The Commercialization of the Black People’s Struggle in South African Export Musicals
• Theatre in Exile
• My Life in the Theatre of War: The Development of an Alternative Consciousness
• What is a Tribal Dress? The “Imbongi” (Praise-Singer) and the “People’s Poet.” Reactivation of a Tradition in the Liberation Struggle
• The Workers’ Theatre in Natal
• “An Interest in the Making of Things.” An Interview with William Kentridge
• Tooth and Nail. Rethinking Form for the South African Theatre
• Physical Images in the South African Theatre
• “I Will Remain an African.” An Interview with Maishe Maponya
• Politics and the Theatre: Current Trends in South Africa
• Theatre: The Political Weapon in South Africa
• “This Compost Heap of a Country.” An Interview with Barney Simon
• So What’s New? The Story behind the Play
• PACT: Can the Leopard Change its Spots?
• The Future of the Performing Arts Councils in a New South Africa
• “It’s Time to Have a South African Culture.” An Interview with Ramolao Makhene
• Appendices
• Notes on Contributors
• Index of Proper Names
• Index of Titles
• Subject Index