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)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:rhodes/vital:2127 |
| Date | January 1980 |
| Creators | Dickerson, Mary Elizabeth Henderson |
| Publisher | Rhodes University, Faculty of Humanities, Drama |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text, Thesis, Masters, MA |
| Format | pdf, 390 leaves |
| Rights | Dickerson, Mary Elizabeth Henderson |
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