This dissertation investigates the role of architecture in the conservation of intangible heritage with specific reference to the ‘Marabi’ culture, a vibrant township culture unique to Marabastad in the North West of Pretoria which played a formative role in the development of South African popular culture from as early as the 1930’s. Due to the relocation of its citizens, the demolition of the Royal Theatre (together with the decommissioning of the Empire and Orient theatres) and the increasing effects of global cultural homogenization Marabastad has become dislocated from its cultural heritage. The principle aim of the dissertation is to re-introduce aspects of Marabastad’s cultural heritage within it’s current context. The proposal intends to revive historical cultural practices by re-establishing the physical loci that once hosted them, which in the context of Marabastad, are the The Royal, Empire and Orient theatres. The proposed intervention focuses specifically on the site of the Royal Theatre which was demolished in 1967. The project aims to (re)introduce a multi-form theatre on the site which will once again facilitate the cultural practices unique to the Marabi culture. The architectural response is informed primarily by the following: 1. The historical function of the ‘Marabi’ theatre as a multi-use, adaptable space that had to accommodate a variety of functions such as town hall, cinema, school, church hall, events venue, dancehall and theatre. 2. An analysis of the existing historical built fabric of Marabastad (which reveals a complex layering of thresholds). 3. Programmatic requirements: Multi-form theatre with shebeen, informal restaurant, recording studio and artist accommodation. 4. Amalgamation of performance space with public space within a historical meaning framework. 5. Response to contextual conditions, both current and proposed in the 2002 Aziz Tayob Meyer Pienaar Integrated Spacial Design Framework. / Dissertation (MArch(Prof))--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Architecture / unrestricted

This text is a record of the preparation and rehearsal of a kabuki-inspired production of Madame de Sade by Yukio Mishima in an English translation by Donald Keene. The goals of this production were both artistic and pedagogical. I applied my knowledge of Japanese theatre and skills in directing skills in a new way to create a work of theatre with a cross-cultural aesthetic appropriate to both the play and the audience. This production also gave the cast of undergraduate acting students the experience of combining truthful and stylized acting and introduced them to both kabuki and Stella Adler acting techniques. This text details the process of preparing the text, the discussions, exercises and techniques used in rehearsal, the impact of design elements on the performance and concludes with some thoughts on future development of this production concept with a fuller realization of the kabuki-inspiration.

The aim of this research is to trace how the theatrical translation process, specifically within the genre of musical theatre, can be systematically approached by a director. Through practice-led research, this study documents the directorial process that was followed in order to translate the playtext of Bat Boy – the Musical from the American source context to the South African context. The intent of the process was to ensure that signifiers of the culture – as set out in the playtext – shifted to become indicative of the cultures of the performers who were cast in the production or target text. The first research phase addressed the theoretical framework of the study and the distinctions between theatrical translation, adaptation and variation were contemplated in order to substantiate the use of the term translation in the two-tiered translation approach suggested. In the second research phase, relevant dynamics in theatrical semiotic processes were used to analyse the playtext of Bat Boy – the Musical. In this, the first tier of translation, the dissertation surveyed the signs at work in the playtext taking cognisance of the ideological and aesthetic codes within the source text. Then, the corresponding social and textual codes within the socio-cultural domain to which the playtext was translated were investigated. The third research phase and second tier of translation occurred on the level of the mise-en-scène. Here, the directorial strategy was to engage the performers actively in the translation process, by including their respective artistic and cultural paradigms in the translation of the playtext and the characters contained therein. The translation of the playtext was explored within the cross cultural – and more specifically the intercultural – theatrical framework by allowing the multicultural and multilingual cast to source their diverse, cultural backgrounds and unique social codes as well as South African theatrical codes in order to place the musical in the South African context. The fourth and final research phase reflects upon the intercultural translation of Bat Boy – the Musical and considers, not only the efficacy of the directorial process for the translation of a musical theatre playtext from one cultural context to another, but also how this particular form of American musical theatre resonates within the multicultural and multilingual South African society. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria 2015. / Drama / Unrestricted