Ellis and Bheki, the KwaZulu-Natal theatre duo of Ellis Pearson and Bheki Mkhwane (hereafter Mkhwane and Pearson), define their theatre as 'Theatre of the Imagination,' a hybrid (Hauptfleisch 1997: 49) of African and European performance styles. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2008.

Theatre is a political space which often reflects the social, political and personal conditions and consciousness of our society. It is also a place that allows for the speaking of private stories; a space that proffers the construction, re-construction, articulation and re-articulation of identities. Coloured, Indian and Bantu (1) identities were all defined ‘black’ within the simplistic categorisation of the complex, problematic apartheid (2) system that perceived individuals as either ‘black' (3) or ‘white’. As much as the apartheid system is one wherein the notion of ‘black’ shifted, it remained a system in which ‘black’ was often constructed as a homogeneous category of identity. In its zenith during the late 1940s, apartheid’s ‘blacks’ referred to the Bantu populace. Coloured and Indian identities were therein recognised as not ‘white’, and so were inadvertently considered ‘black’; perhaps just not ‘black enough’. Coloured and Indian identities were therefore located as vague and marginalised identities in a system that while on the one hand did not impose the same fierce oppression as inflicted on the Bantu, was also one which on the other hand excluded these groups from enjoying the benefits of being privileged whites. Then came the 1980s which saw a shift in the make-up of black/ness where apartheid ideology was concerned. With the birth of the invidious tricameral system which came to govern South African society until the emergence of a democratic nation in 1994, ‘black’ was now broken down and defined into its constituent parts: Bantu, Coloured and Indian. Although this system seemingly regarded each of these race groups, in that each was now named and thus acknowledged as opposed to simply being defined as the homogeneous category of ‘black’, it was nonetheless a system that separated and consequently gave rise to unequal power relations not only between ‘black’ and ‘white’, but now also within these three distinct black/nesses existing within ‘black’. Navigating the most historically marginalised of identities – the black female – this dissertation examines the construction of black South African female identities in the respective post-1994-produced play texts by six black South African female playwrights: Motshabi Tyelele’s Shwele Bawo (In Homann, 2009), Bongi Ndaba’s unpublished play text Shaken (see appendix A), Lueen Conning-Ndlovu’s A Coloured Place (In Perkins, 1999), Rehane Abrahams’ What the water gave me (In Fourie, 2006), Krijay Govender’s Women in Brown (In Chetty, 2002) and Muthal Naidoo’s Flight from the Mahabarath (In Perkins, 1999). This dissertation will in part engage character analyses of Bantu, Coloured and Indian female identities as articulated across the six play texts. Each category of black/ness will be explored in its own chapter, where the characters relevant to that particular black/ness shall be examined. This separation of chapters into these categories is by way of highlighting that endless differences in black/ness exist within the label ‘black’. While this particular separation of chapters is a perpetuation of apartheid discourse, as was the reality within South Africa’s history, and particularly from the emergence of the tricameral system onwards, the final chapter of this dissertation will be an attempt to dissolve these racial categories of black/ness as implemented by and within the legislation of the apartheid legacy. In a post-apartheid South Africa, it is not only Bantu women who are ‘black’, as Coloured and Indian women now claim ‘black’. This dissertation highlights the need to look at difference within similarity and multiplicity in the myriad black South African female identities that comprise the landscape of our contemporary, current and critical post-1994 theatre context, rather than to speak of a ‘typical’ black South African female identity. (1) This term will be italicised throughout this dissertation, by way of acknowledging its dual meaning. Within South Africa‟s historical context, „Bantu‟ was used as a derogatory term. The land set apart for black Africans during apartheid, known as Bantustans, affirms the disparaging nature of this term. Similarly, the belittling connotations of the term are noted in the system of Bantu education; a system specifically designed to fit the black African populace for their marginal role within apartheid society. For the purposes of this dissertation, the term „Bantu‟ will be used firstly, as a way to distinguish between the three categories of black/ness under exploration, where the term will be used to refer to black African South African identity, and secondly and most importantly, the term will be used as a reclaiming of black African South African identity from its historical derisive connotations. It is also important to note here, that within the isiZulu language, the term simply means „people‟. (2) During apartheid, there was a simplification of the term „black‟. This dissertation recognises that the apartheid stratifications of Bantu, Coloured and Indian, under the „logic‟ of grouping „like‟ together (that is, apartheid‟s „black‟ group), was in itself a false logic, because it did not acknowledge that there exists within each specific racial stratification, different cultural groupings and languages. For example, this dissertation could have expanded the discussion on Bantu identity by examining Zulu, Xhosa, Sotho etc identities, the discussion on Coloured identities could have included analyses of Javanese, Malay, Cape etc identities and the discussion on Indian identity could have explored different cultural groupings within Hindu, Muslim, Tamil etc. It is understood that in a post-apartheid context, there exists endless differences and multiplicities within the black identities of Bantu, Coloured and Indian. This dissertation therefore offers a terrain in which these myriad black/nesses are explored as fluid and contested. (3) Throughout this dissertation, the racial categorisations of „black‟ and „white‟ are in lower case „B‟ and „W‟ respectively, for the political demotion of these terms in a post-apartheid context. This is by way of politically challenging the essentialist thinking that underpinned the racial segregation and inequality primarily embodied by these terms during apartheid. The terms „Bantu‟, „Coloured‟ and „Indian‟ shall be in capital „B‟, „C‟ and „I‟ respectively. This is for the purpose of drawing attention to the categories of black/ness in a post-1994 context, whereby each is acknowledged and visible individually, as opposed to being articulated as part of the false logic of a homogeneous black/ness. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2012.

The aim of this dissertation is to comparatively analyse the set designs for Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s (1756-1791) opera, The Magic Flute (1791), with specific reference to selected set designers from the 18th to the early 21st century. The selection was made in light of each set designer’s unique design concepts for The Magic Flute which were all realised as stage settings in a proscenium arch theatre. In order to analyse the designs, it is necessary to trace theatrical practices and chronologically examine the reforms that affected the visual and spatial representation of scenography from the 18th to the 20th Chapter one provides a brief overview of the development of the proscenium arch stage. It examines the architectural reforms that were made to the proscenium arch in order to accommodate deeper stages and changes in stage settings. In addition, Chapter one investigates methods that theatre architects used to alter the proscenium arch and forestage in order to create a unity between the audience members and the performance. century. The set designs for The Magic Flute by Emanuel Johann Schikaneder (1791), Karl Friederich Schinkel (1816), David Hockney (1978) and William Kentridge (2007) will be analysed within the context of this investigation. Chapter two further considers the architectural modifications that were made to the stage and auditoria of opera theatres in more detail, from the first U-shaped auditorium onwards. It is essential to consider the different architectural structures of opera theatres because in order for each designer to initiate their design concept, they would be required to consider the architectural limitations of their chosen auditoria. The architectural structure would be determined by the foyer area, the style and arrangement of seating and the size of the proscenium arch and stage. Chapter three, by means of a comparative analysis, considers the social and cultural influences on the design concepts of Schikaneder, Schinkel and Hockney and how they informed those of Kentridge for The Magic Flute. It also provides a brief overview of stage lighting, scenic styles and stage machinery used in opera from the 16th to the 20th Chapter four classifies the theatrical spaces used in opera theatres by examining three key areas in an opera theatre, in relation to the foyer, auditorium and stage area. This investigation will be conducted with specific reference to the Theatre Auf Der Wieden, The Royal Opera House, the old Glyndebourne Opera House and The Artscape Opera House. In addition to this it will examine the selected designers’ approach to their design concepts by comparatively analysing the stage settings of Schikaneder, Schinkel, Hockney and Kentridge for The Magic Flute and the stage technology that was used to realise their design concepts. Thereafter, the set designs for Kentridge’s production and how they were conceptualised from a South African perspective will be examined. century Chapter five summarises the ways in which scenography is influenced by architectural, cultural and theatrical discourses, from the analysis of the designs and concepts for The Magic Flute. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2013.

This dissertation explores the use of the Black performing body in the works Cards (2002) and Relativity: Township Stories (2006) by Mpumelelo Paul Grootboom and, iMumbo Jumbo (1997) and Big Dada: The Rise and Fall of Idi Amin (2001) by Brett Bailey. With specific reference to the colonial gaze, this dissertation attempts to locate the disruptions (if any) of the colonial gaze in these playwright-director's theatre. The first chapter provides an overview of South African Theatre history. This chapter examines postcolonial performance theory with regards to the past and the present situation in South African theatre. Locating postcolonial performance theory with postcolonial theory discourses and looking specifically at South African theatre history. It looks specifically at the effects of colonialism, not only in terms of economic and political disempowerment but also in terms of the psychological internalisation of subject position and identity. It provides a theoretical basis, through which critical analyses of both Bailey and Grootboom's work will occur. The second chapter examines the colonial gaze and the Black performing body. Jonathan Schroeder (1998: 58) believes that the gaze signifies “a psychological relationship of power, in which the gazer is superior to the object of the gaze.” In postcolonial theatre, through the transient nature of the performance language, one of the foci of this chapter of the dissertation is on how or whether colonial subjectivity can be re-envisioned: the disruption of the colonial gaze. In order to disrupt the colonial gaze, it becomes vital that the performing body on stage (should) become a key site of resistance. Postcolonial performance (and theory) aims to challenge the colonial imposition of identity through the human body in order for there to be a fragmentation of subjectivity. Postcolonial performance theory desires an important and effective meaning, particularly in the notions of representations and identities. The third chapter examines the work of Brett Bailey using the following two particular texts/ case studies and analysing them: iMumbo Jumbo (1997) and Big Dada (2001), in an attempt to locate disruptions of the colonial gaze with regards to the Black performing body or to expose the exoticism within the use of such notions as savage, primitive, strange, violent that are attached to the Black performing body in his works. In iMumbo Jumbo (1997), with an emphasis on the exotic, the sangomas, the ritual (real and performative), Bailey does incorporate indigenous performance forms into his postcolonial and intercultural theatre – however does the integration of these indigenous performance forms into a new theatre aesthetic subvert the colonial gaze? Or, rather, does it feed into a colonial fascination with African exoticism. Big Dada (2001) is a play about the rise and fall of Idi Amin – a ruthless dictator in Uganda who, according to Peter Stearns and William Langer (2001: 1064), caused a genocide which left over 300 000 Ugandans dead . This play has both violence and the exotic as signifiers attached to the black bodies performing. The fourth chapter examines the works of Mpumelelo Paul Grootboom, focusing particularly on Cards (2002) and Relativity: Township Stories (2006). The analyses attempt to locate disruptions of the colonial gaze with regards to the Black performing body; or to expose the extreme violence and carnality that is attached to the Black performing body in his works. With regards to Cards (2002), the question asked is: does the use of the carnal, the raw, the sex, perpetuate a vicious cycle of colonial prejudices within South African audiences within what should be a postcolonial South African theatre arena? The colonised subject's body (in this case, the Black performer's body) has always been an “object of the coloniser's fascination and repulsion (and, in effect, possession) in sexual, pseudo-scientific and political terms” (Gilbert and Tompkins 1996: 203) (my italics). This chapter examines whether or not what is occurring in Grootboom's work/ theatre specifically is that the roles into which he has placed his Black performers are within racist discourses, “with perhaps even more emphasis on their supposed violence and sexuality” (Gilbert and Tompkins 1996: 208). This chapter seeks to interrogate whether or not Grootboom in casting the Other, the Black performing bodies, as corporeal, carnal, instinctual, raw... with his use of full nudity, simulated sex, simulated rapes, violence, explicit language, misogyny, obscenities, murder, drug use and religious rhetoric – has reintroduced colonial ideologies and stereotypes? Is his theatre 'black Black humour'? Reinforcing colonial ideologies of the savage? Or does Grootboom's theatre (unconsciously) aid the location of the (sometimes) nude, sexual, black performing body in the arena/ site of resistance in order to fracture the colonial gaze to further the aims of postcolonial theatre. Relativity: Township Stories (2006) is a brutal exposure of township life and the story revolves around a serial killer, the “G-String Strangler,” who is hunting down young women at night. The play traverses the bleaker and more desperate sides of human nature. As described by Robert Greig in The Sunday Independent (2005), Relativity is a panorama of extreme emotions and violence. However, does this perpetuation of the image of the Black as violent or attaching these signifiers of extreme violence challenge the colonial imposition of identity through the human body? Seeing the Black performing body being attached to notions of extreme violence begs to ask the question: Does this subvert the colonial gaze or does it feed into a stereotype of the violent, savage Black? This dissertation is to be read as an examination of both Brett Bailey and Mpumelelo Paul Grootboom's theatre and the motives for the use of the Back performing body on postcolonial South African theatre stages/ sites. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2008.

This dissertation is an investigation of a creative pedagogical approach formulated to teach the Shakespearean play in a KwaZulu-Natal public high school, namely Grove End Secondary in Phoenix, Durban. The study explores how my formulated creative pedagogy for teaching The Merchant of Venice (1980) functions as an alternate creative teaching methodology to the current pedagogical approach, namely the text-based approach, which appears not to acknowledge the performative element inherent within Shakespearean plays. This study argues that through creative learning processes such as drama in education, creative drama, experiential learning, group dynamics and playmaking, learners can engage the performative aspect within the plays. The study also argues that creative learning processes can diminish the apprehension with which learners currently approach Shakespearean play study, since creative processes stimulate the learners’ imaginative ideas, as opposed to the educator-centered text-based approach, which requires little or no input from the learners during the learning process. Through the implementation of the creative pedagogy with eighteen learners from Grove End Secondary, the research aimed firstly, to evoke a positive attitude change from learners towards Shakespearean play study and secondly, to guide the learners towards a better understanding of the Shakespearean play narrative and Shakespearean language. The research was conducted through classroom action research. Research methods included data collection of journals, surveys, and questionnaires that were analysed throughout the course of the case study. Outcomes of the continuous data analysis reflected upon during the case study resulted in the adaptation of the creative pedagogy to suit the learners’ needs. The qualitative nature of this research led to findings which reveal that the creative pedagogy is an effective methodology for teaching Shakespearean plays, but is problematic when trying to integrate the educational aims of the creative pedagogy, with the constraints and structures of the current curriculum and public school system. The research also produces data which can benefit future inquiry into the creative teaching of Shakespearean plays in KwaZulu-Natal public high schools. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2013.

"It was clearly the Government (by a great section of the electorate) that brought politics into the theatre, and we, the producers, the actors, the theatre-goers must pay the price for it." Alan Paton. This thesis attempts to analyse the way South African Theatre is developing against a background of social transition within a political framework which has enforced a policy of separate development based on racial distinction and ethnicity. Signs of political reform are beginning to show - not only as a result of pressure from within and without - but also because economic interdependency between the groups is breaking down barriers as the third world sector of the population aspires to the attractions of the first world urban sector. Polemical issues in the performing arts, which have risen out of the prevailing socio-economic climate, range from global attempts at cultural isolation of South Africa to such pragmatic matters as absorbing into actor-training programmes the various sectors of the community with their particular ethnic and linguistic identities preserved in an apartheid system. The research takes into account the history of the South African people and the various modes of theatre which have evolved as a result of natural and, later, imposed segregation of the various cultural groups. It examines, too, the dominant cuItural trends imported from Europe which have formed an infra-structure for South African theatre from training programmes to theatre managements, as well as criteria for critical assessment of theatre as a codified form of dramatic performance. It analyses the politically sensitive but vital issue of arts funding where most sponsorship emanates from public sources. It looks at actor-training programmes in terms of cultural service to the community and the diverse needs of the performance industry and takes into account the changing focus in some tertiary drama departments in an effort to adapt to transitional social conditions. It also takes cognisance of the prevailing mood of social consciousness amongst those artists who sense the need to move towards a theatre which expresses the collective experience of the South African situation. Whether this is possible in a country as culturally diverse as South Africa and whether the socio-political climate and reform measures which the government has adopted are conducive to the growth of a genre of theatre uniquely South African in its synthesis of endogenous and exogenous traditions - a theatre that will have cross-cultural appeal - is one of the major thrusts of this research. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1988.

'The core of the theatre is an encounter. The [character) who makes an act of self revelation is, so to speak, one who establishes contact with himself. That is to say, an extreme confrontation, sincere, disciplined, precise and total - not merely a confrontation with his thoughts, but one involving his whole being from instinct and his unconscious right up to his most lucid state'. (Jerzy Grotowski, in Catron, 2000:19) This dissertation investigates the construction of the marginalised self, an identity, and the impact that context, pre and post-apartheid South Africa, may have on that constructed masculine identity. This examination of the self is mediated through the medium of theatre. It is this 'encounter', which theatre offers, that becomes an important instrument through which the self, society and social issues may be examined and critiqued; and it is through this critique that change may be sparked and brought about. This investigation of the self, the construction of a masculine identity, is looked at through the writings of, amongst others, Stuart Hall (1996 (a) & 1996 (b); 1997), Lawrence Grossberg (1996), Judith Butler (1993, 1999), Robert Connell (1987; 2002) and Robert Morrell (1998, 2001(a) & 2001 (b)). Further discussions around the construction of identity and its relationship to context (a multicultural and multiracial context) is examined via the writings of Richard Schechner (1991) and Patrice Pavis (1992). The theatrical forms of self-standing monologues and stand-up comedy are useful forms through which 'protest' against the status quo may be engaged. These forms are utilised by Quincy Fynn (self-standing monologues) and Kaseran Pillay (stand-up comedy); and it is through their performance works Walking like an African (2004) and My Cousin brother (2003), respectively, that this dissertation looks at their challenges to hegemonic forms of masculinity. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2006.

This thesis examines the emerging intercultural dialogues around disability, performance dance and children in the multicultural context of KwaZulu-Natal. It focuses on creative dance (or modem educational dance), as it has emerged in KwaZulu-Natal schools post-1994. The intervention of the arts and a holistic approach to education is examined by appropriating Rudolf Laban (1948), Smith-Autard (1992) and other guiding principles for dance education. The thesis presents an analysis of how creative dance has come to influence notions of contemporary performance dance. This has provided a framework to argue in favour of dance making by untrained (sic) dance teachers and children with and without disabilities. The period under investigation post-1994 coincided with fundamental transformations within the South African cultural landscape, including the following: restructuring of performing arts council, the merging of former separate education departments and the strengthening of disability consciousness within human rights culture. These topics are briefly discussed. The transformation of the arts at The Playhouse Company in KwaZulu-Natal contributed to changes within dance development programmes. These dance development works addressed previously marginalized communities, including the disabled. The potential shifts to mainstream notions of performance dance by children with disabilities have provided an opportunity to theorise the practice of dance in special education and its relation to performance dance in the multicultural KwaZulu-Natal setting. Chapter one begins by firstly problematising disability, which it argues is an occurrence constructed by medical, social, political, historical, cultural and gender identities. Chapter one goes onto explore the changing concepts of dance for children with disabilities by offering a critique of existing notions of performance dance for children with disabilities. Distinctions between social dance. performance dance, dance therapy and educational dance are clarified and the practice of children's dance is contextualised. Chapter two argues that 'disability' within a context of multiculturalism in South Africa could be seen as a culture in and of itself. It does this by accessing the critical writings of Schechner (1991), Pavis (1992), Brustein (1991) and others. Definitions of 'culture' are problematised and the debates: high art vs culture, fusion, multi-, intra-, and inter-culturalism in the South African context are explored. Chapter three looks at three specific dance projects, which emanated from The Playhouse Company. The case studies explore how children between the ages of 8 - 18, who are defined as disabled, have engaged with dance and have had little or no interaction with the performing arts particularly as performers. It critiques and evaluates these projects in order to make conclusions around the following: the need for training of dancers and choreographers with disabilities and to underscore the role of the media in the disabled's plea for access to the performing arts. The idea of integrated 'enablers'(children and adults) with disabled children in the same performance dance work was innovative. Such inclusion and re-dress, as also expressed by The White Paper 6 on Special Education are supported by this thesis. Many children and their teachers have, through these creative movement and dance projects, begun to challenge notions of disability and of performance dance within the 'mainstream' performing dance environment as they emerge as potential artists in their own space. The thesis concludes by offering suggestions for how dance by those defined as 'disabled' is understood, critiqued and reported by reviewers and researchers of dance. It is hoped that these suggestions would strengthen the wider acceptance of notions of dance that emerge from a range of previously marginalised groups. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2001.

This dissertation explores the effects of a Prison Theatre project conducted at the Youth Centre at Westville Correctional Centre in 2010. It explores the relationship between change and increased levels of Social Capital that staff and offenders attribute to the performances. The centre houses male offenders between the ages of 18 and 25. The project was of particular interest because it involved offenders, correctional staff and management. The plays were made using a problem-posing methodology that involved the audience in proposing solutions. These were documented and circulated to management, staff, and offenders. The plays addressed three topics. The first topic was chosen by the cast, and the other two topics were chosen by the management. The topics were: Increasing self-esteem in the Youth Centre (Chosen by offenders); No smoking policy (Chosen by management); Sexual assault (Chosen by management). I interviewed the cast, a sample of the audience, and correctional staff and managers. The data was analysed in terms of levels and elements of Social Capital (Putnam, 1995) and included Negative Social Capital. I have not found other examples of research in the field of Prison Theatre that have made use of concepts related to Social Capital to analyse the impact of theatre projects. This research therefore establishes a new area of focus for the field of Prison Theatre. The findings proved that the theatre project was an effective means of increasing communication between members of different gangs and between correctional staff and offenders in a non-threatening manner. This provided opportunities for changes in relations of power and increased problem solving in the correctional environment. As a result two systemic changes occurred. The staff provided feedback on offenders‟ requests and complaints and designated smoking areas were created. The findings demonstrate how notions of Social Capital can explain how theatre affects change in a correctional context because it focuses on social dynamics rather than systemic issues. This is important in a correctional environment where offender‟s ability to effect systemic change is limited. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2011.

Sounding the Body’s Meridian examines the ways in which notions of belonging are constructed through the display of bodies in performance, specifically the registers of private and public body that have been revealed in the theatre‟s attempts to locate a post-liberation notion of South African-ness in historical narrative. The author investigates various ideas of the imagined community constructed in postliberation performances of South African history as a form of embodied historical-social intervention. This investigation is undertaken with specific reference to claims that are made of South African identity in terms of its public culture, especially the inscription of nationalist ideology as a performative act that operates both upon and through the „citizen‟ bodies that it mediates. The study pursues a notion of the body so mediated, and (perceived) essential “characteristics” that describe its claims to authority and “authenticity”: the “meridian” or line of essential energy that activates its power to signify on behalf of other bodies like it in the debate and transaction of social values. / Thesis (M.A.) - University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2009.