In this descriptive study, it was found that Pieter Fourieâs development as playwright
cannot be separated from the changing socio-political, religious dogma and
economic circumstances in South Africa during his childhood years, as a student,
and as a creative theatre artist. The influence of fellow artists, lecturers and
philosophers, and the situation and development in the world of the theatre to which
he was exposed as an artist, including the influence of it on his development as an
individual and writer, his involvement as professional theatre artist from 1940 to
2011, as producer and actor (1965-2005), as arts administrator at CAPAB (1957-
1986) and KKNK (1994-1999) are examined chronologically.
The research problem, methodology and research design and ethical consideration
are explained in short in this study. The playwrightâs role as folk theatre and informal
historian within time bound, geographical and demographical systems is clarified.
How these systems are reflected in the playwrightâs work is investigated. In addition,
the development and functioning of internal theatre systems within which the theatre
artist finds himself is explained. The influence of external systems, such as politics,
religion, censorship, etc. on his life as an individual, artist and theatre administrator,
is discussed.
In this biographical description, Fourieâs personal and artistic career is discussed
chronologically. The main corpus of the study undertakes a critical investigation of all
his published plays, as well as the professional staging of these plays by several
theatre institutions. Fourieâs career, initially as folk theatre writer in the realistic style
and later as highly respected playwright, whose experimentation in Afrikaans drama
is seen as shifting boundaries, is discussed in detail utilising literary publications,
reviews and personal interviews with Fourie and other roleplayers.
The study concludes that Fourie was exceptionally successful in writing accessible
folk theatre, despite how innovative his work was with regards to style and content.
In retrospect, his work was often predictive in nature or he fearlessly placed on stage
the true political and social circumstances in the country. His work clearly can be
seen as that of an informal historian. Finally, the study mentions the numerous
accolades he received, with the highlight being the Hertzog Prize for Drama and the
Honorary Doctorate (D.Litt.) in Drama and Theatre Arts from the University of the
Free State.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:ufs/oai:etd.uovs.ac.za:etd-08102012-152250 |
| Date | 10 August 2012 |
| Creators | Luwes, Nicolaas Johannes |
| Contributors | Prof HP van Coller |
| Publisher | University of the Free State |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | en-uk |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.uovs.ac.za//theses/available/etd-08102012-152250/restricted/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University Free State or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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