There has been very little research into play production in schools, as distinct from drama in education and theatre in education, and none at all with specific attention to the Eastern Cape. The proliferation of dramatic productions in the schools of the Eastern Cape during the 1960s and 1970s coincided with the establishment at Rhodes University of a Department of Speech and Drama. The particular interest of this Department in the educational aspects of dramatic work of all kinds led naturally to a desire to investigate what was being done, and had been done, in the schools in the area. Added to this, interest in the history of the Eastern Cape has been stimulated by the building of the 1820 Settlers' Monument, which was opened in 1974, to mark the hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the arrival of the British Settlers. In order to set the social and political scene for the beginnings of cultural activity in the schools, I have given a brief account of the historical events leading up to the English settlement in the Eastern Cape. Because the evolution of the towns has affected that of the schools, an account of this development has been included¹. To prevent this work from becoming unwieldy, the detailed investigation of the cultural milieu has been limited to that of two frontier towns and two seaports, as being the most representative in the Eastern Cape². So much that was done in the schools had grown out of the ideas brought from Britain and its public schools that it was necessary also to look at the basis upon which the schools in the Eastern Cape were founded, and the lines along which their ethos developed. To facilitate a consideration of the work done in play production and related activities over a period of approximately a hundred and fifty years, I have separated the account into four natural historical divisions: from 1820 until the turn of the century; 1900 to 1918; the period between the two world wars; and that which follows the Second World War. Of these, the first three have been considered from the historical point of view; but with regard to the years between 1940 and 1977 it seemed more interesting and profitable to examine specific trends and developments in dramatic activity within the schools. I wished, further, to find more detailed information about what is happening in the schools at present than could be gathered from school magazines and the local press. For this purpose, two questionnaires were sent to the schools. The evaluation of these will be found in Part III and in Appendix B. The investigation was confined to the English and parallel medium schools in the area. The catalogue of plays produced since 1860 which is given in Appendix E is not necessarily exhaustive, though as comprehensive as it was possible to make it. It has been drawn up from the information in school archives and the press, as well as that given in the answers to the questionnaires, but there are occasions when these sources do not give titles of plays (this is especially the case with one-act plays) and there are also times when productions may not have been reported, or magazines are missing. It is not the purpose of this thesis to give details of the best production procedures. Teacher-directors may find these in many excellent books on the subject, some of which have been suggested in Appendix F. ¹While not strictly part of the subject under investigation, a consideration of musical activity is relevant to developments in drama . A short section on music has therefore also been included in Appendix A. ²My researches have pointed to the fact that there is an interesting field for further investigation in the smaller towns such as Cathcart and Uitenhage. (Pref. p. ii-iii)

The purpose of this study has been to examine and define teacher questions and questioning techniques according to their function in the drama process. In order to develop a practical structure for describing these strategies, the design of the study has involved the following procedure: collecting data from the field on questions employed by two leading drama educators; analysing and describing recurrent types of questioning found in the data; organizing this information into a classification system that illustrates the skilful and complex ways in which teacher questions contribute to the drama experience. In the process of developing the classification system, the following general observations were made: 1. Questions were used extensively to promote the drama process. 2. The teacher employed a wide range and diversity of questions. 3. Definite patterns emerged in teacher questioning techniques. 4. Specific kinds of learning were emphasized by teachers within the drama. Conclusions; It is evident that the use of drama in education requires a complex and unique set of teaching strategies. If such strategies are to be accessible to educators, they must first be clearly identified and defined. Since the investigation into questioning techniques was intended as a preliminary step in this process, the focus was essentially directed towards identifying and classifying the components of methodology. However, in addition to the specific findings, there were a number of broad conclusions and implications which emerged as a result of the research: 1. Research carried out directly in the field has proven to be invaluable for the analysis of the intricate patterns of interaction inherent to the drama process. Without the richness of this perspective, the subtleties of the methods employed by the teacher could not have been adequately described. 2. The extensiveness of questioning strategies reveals that the teacher is an integral part of the social, creative, and educative structure of the drama experience by setting up potential areas of learning and shaping the ideas of the participants into dramatic form. Since teacher questioning plays such a vital role in the process it should be a key element in teacher training and professional development. Teachers need to become aware of the extensive range and diversity of questioning techniques as well as of specific terms with which to discuss the practice critically. The classification system provides a starting point for dealing with questioning in concrete terms. The arrangement of the system is not meant to imply, however, that there is a hierarchy for questioning, or that the drama process is based on a. linear or sequential theory of learning. Any one element of the taxonomy is as viable as another since questions are asked in response to the needs of the immediate situation. Questioning practice cannot be reduced to a means-end checklist - it must be approached holistically as a skill, a process, an attitude, an art. Only in this way will the teacher's use of questions effectively serve the needs of drama in education. / Education, Faculty of / Language and Literacy Education (LLED), Department of / Graduate

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This research investigates contemporary South African performance within the context of prominent social and cultural change following the political transition from an apartheid state to democracy. Specifically, it looks at the relationship between a popular comic variety show The Most Amazing Show (TMAS), and aspects of contemporary South African society and culture, particularly relating to prominent efforts to affect post-election transformation of South African society and culture through the construction of a South African 'rainbow nation'. By analysing TMAS in terms of broader historical, performative and discursive contexts, it engages a relational reading of the performance. The study argues that TMAS both challenges and participates in the manner in which rainbow nation discourse constructs South African society and culture. Firstly, it considers the performance's construction of hybrid South African identities, including white Afrikaans, white English and white masculine identities. It argues that these reconstructions undermine the tendency within rainbow nation discourse to construct cultural hybridity in terms of stereotypically distinct identities. Secondly, it considers TMAS' construction of collective experience and social integration, which subvet1s the often glamorised and superficial representations of social healing and integration that are constructed within rainbow nation discourse. The analysis makes prominent reference to the notion of 'liminality' in order to describe the manner in which TMAS constructs significance within the tension that it establishes between oppositional, and often contradictory, positions. Furthermore, it attempts to establish a link between this notion of liminality and no6ons of theatrical syncretism that are prominent in contemporary South African theatre scholarship, and emphasise processes of signification that are constantly shifting and unstable.

Voice training has been influenced by separatist attitudes which have allowed for classes which train the body to be separate from those which train the voice. This study acknowledges that to train an actor in separate compartments and then expect the completeness of human expression in performance, is to train under false pretences. There is a need to address the imbalance of separatism and this is examined within the context of voice training. An holistic approach to voice training forms the basis of the argument, which focuses on the need to re-educate the notion of physicality in voice training. Chapter one proposes an understanding of the notion of physicality by drawing on the attitudes of selected theatre practitioners towards the physical nature of the theatre encounter. The expressive energies of the actor's body are responsible for the physicalisation of a play; for this reason the movement of voice and speech is not only examined as source movement, but also as the movement of an actor's response and communication. Chapter two examines some practices which led to attitudes of separatism in voice training, and introduces prevalent practices which are attempting to involve the energy of the physical experience. Chapter three proposes that the Alexander technique be used as the foundation for an awareness of individual physicality. Where chapter one examines the theory of this notion, chapter three proposes an experiential understanding of the same. The Alexander technique is a training in effective body use and it's principles are fundamental to an awareness of body use and functioning. It is argued that these principles should underlie a re-education of physicality. The final chapter of the thesis argues for physicality in South African voice training programmes which would complement the physicality of contemporary theatre forms. It is hoped that this study will provide further incentive for the continued review and adjustment of drama training in South Africa.

In the introductory chapter the problem of this study was set forth in terms of certain questions concerning objectives in dramatics in the high schools of Virginia. The subsequent chapters recorded a search for data which might yield acceptable answers to these questions. Thus, Chapters II and III related the manner in which a list of objectives has been formulated. Chapter IV recorded the development of an instrument for discovering whether the objectives listed were those toward which dramatics activities were being directed in a given group of schools. It also gave the statistical results obtained from its use in 61 Virginia high schools. The chapter is to present an interpretation and summary of these data. Logic would suggest that the interpretation of data begin with a consideration of the questions. / M.S.

The purpose of this study is to make an investigation into the studies made and judgment expressed concerning the function of dramatization in the elementary school.

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Thesis (M.Ed.) --University of the North, 1992. / Refer to the document

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