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Summary Zakes Mda’s dramatic productions extend many frontiers, including polemics. Like some of his Southern African fellow-dramatists, the apartheid plays of Mda lent to the deprivation of the marginalised group a sardonic voice of condemnation that characterised the era. Most of his theatrical events were remarkable as they scanned the sordid worlds of hopelessness, disillusionment, betrayal and degradation. His dramaturgy was mostly wry, coarse and ‘dark’. In his post-apartheid plays, there seems to be a change of gear as the playwright gravitates towards satire – a blend of amusement and contempt. This study attempts to deny Mda his traditional role as a tragic and comic dramatist and situate him as a writer of satire. The aim is to demonstrate, by means of a scholarly critique of two plays – The Mother of All Eating (2002. Johannesburg: Wits University Press) and You Fool, How Can the Sky Fall (2002. Johannesburg: Wits University Press), how Mda acted as the consciousness and the conscience of his society by using satire as an instrument of censure to castigate the politically dominant groups betraying the masses in both Lesotho and South Africa.

Taking Meyerhold’s Biomechanics, I will analyze four key principles: otkaz (the preparation for action), pocil (the action with meaning), stoika (the end of the action) and tormos (the brakes or control of an action). Using a practice as research approach as outlined by Nelson (2013, p.10) I will explore these principles at three stages of theatre production: 1. The training of the actor, 2. Rehearsals and 3. Performance. The findings of the research are presented in three formats: the theatre production, the thesis and edited footage of the whole process from training to performance. The research brings an understanding of how these principles, developed by Meyerhold throughout his career until his death in 1940, can be applied to contemporary British theatre practice. First taking otkaz, pocil and stoika - how can they can be used to train an actor from the very basics of the construction of a physical score to the development of character and ensemble? I will then include tormos, to bring a depth of understanding to how this and the tripartite can be applied to performance. They provide the tools for an actor and director to approach a production, giving a clear method with which to communicate to an audience. Through this process it is possible to see the principles of Meyerhold’s Biomechanics within a contemporary British theatre context. To understand how the fundamental parts of Biomechanics can be used today to find meaning within an actor’s movements, to find purpose within a production and be used to create theatre which ‘grabs us by the lapels’ (Leach, 1989, p.174).

Thesis (M.F.A.)--Boston University

Thesis (M.F.A.)--Boston University.