African Theatre Flashcards
Protest Theatre (5)
- Social context (Apartheid Laws, Institutionalised racial segregation, desire for Morena, Struggle icons and exploitation of workers)
- examples (Woza Albert - protest of Apartheid; The Fall - Protest to institutionalised racism)
- Scenes in Woza (Coronation bricks scene, where Zulu boy rebels against Baas Kom)
- objective (To affect change within a society and/or the world, predominantly talks to social problems, political abuse and/or conservation issues; deliberately set out to show the evil that exists and demand change)
- System of institutionalised racial segregation (Apartheid played a huge role in segregating racial classes and then creating classism within the racial classes forming more racial segregation)
Woza Albert (6)
- Apartheid
- Workshop Theatre
- Epic and Poor theatre (physicalised and bare)
- Language (colloquial and South African based languages)
- Episodic
- Symbolises hope, the 2nd coming of Morena and inequality )
Why is Woza Albert called a protest play? (5)
- Social : Unemployment - Auntie Dudu scrummaging through empty bins; Racial segregation - Dompas used by the workers to enter ‘white only’ areas
- Political : Racism - control of the people due to their race; Decrease opportunities - workers with permits can’t find work.
- It had the objective of fixing the problems South African’s faced.
Main message of the fall? (reference to theatrical advice and support message) (8)
- Inclusivity / Institutionalised racism (exclusion of certain races from teams)
- Decolonisation (attempting to head towards a more afrocentric curriculum and away from the racist coloniser John Rhodes)
- Understanding (the protest had a reason to occur)
- Social Constructs (race, class and gender)
- Inequality (tertiary education is likely inaccessible for a majority of the country)
- Youth lead revolution (they are suggesting through their debates about how powerful the youth is)
- Rhodes and Fees must fall (work away from colonisation and inaccessibility of education and towards a more inclusive community)
Satyre? (6)
- Used to ridicule and evoke thought and emotion through the viewer or reader
- highly critical because it is used as a weapon of change.
- it uses ridicule, irony and sarcasm
- mocks human faults
- we laugh at ourselves, the actor and the issue.
- Woza uses a clown nose to almost separate the audience from the emotions and to show how such authority was considered as a clown
Evil (6)
- dramatic element (The aura created was a very toxic type masculinity atmosphere because of how the play was real and was based on the abuse this specific male went through and how he used masculinity as a front of protection)
- Music (Very little use of music except for his mother, this creates a very suspenseful mood in the air because of how the piano was related with the abuse he received and his mother)
- Lighting (there was simple yet affective lighting, he used the colour blue to show the passing of time and area, the colour red symbolised the abuse - very nicely it was a lighter shade of red used because it distanced the viewer and brought the viewer closer at the same time)
- sound (little sound used other than the scene with Silverman, representing the community gathering of the boys)
- costume (a simple boys school like outfit with a St John’s tie to show how the play was actually a personal experience)
- technical (great use of the scene transitions because they were directly on cue and created suspense and drew the attention of the viewer)
Workshop Theatre (5)
1 - Idea (construct an idea - in this case it was touring the country and wanting everyone to know about all that is happening)
2 - Observation or research (you need to have an in depth understanding of the topic you would wish to undertake as the one you want to reveal - in this case Percy and Mbongeni spent lots of time trying to study all of the people : Auntie Dudu)
3 - Improvisation (the need to improvise and start settling on scenes to use - Woza used workshop Theatre)
4 - Selection ( the process of choosing the scenes you have improvised to portray the most effective message)
5 - Scripting (writing down what you have done in order to have the back up plan incase something goes wrong)
poor theatre (9)
(Jerzy Grotowski)
- focus on the physical and vocal training
- well vocally and physically trained in order to communicate themselves effectively
- movement was developed so well that they were able to control even the smallest things in every detail
- it is our bodies that express everything about us
- they should be able to adapt every physical aspect (weight, posture, size) and transform into any character
- use of mime
- use of clowning
- use of gesture
- use of shape
directing (6)
- look at yourself as a director (be able to link text, provide view analyse body work and visualise the set)
- Poor theatre talks to the physical side of theatre - this meaning the set was as bare as possible so that therefore it could change into anything
- actors : voice (words evoking though in sound and assessing the entirety of sound in an area) and body (physicalised and characterised to portray stereotypes and ridicule or play into evoking emotion)
- technique (vocal and physical techniques need to be key
- Imagination is needed for the director to visualise how and what would be the most effective way to portray the piece
- Marketting (slogan, audiences, how)
The fall (3)
- Protest theatre
- effect change
- concerned with a social
and political issue - is episodic
- seeking to promote
action though emotional
response
- South African Theatre
- militant (in your face)
- weapon of change (it is
immediate)
- marketting
- images
- hashtags
- all used to caption the
essence and entice
audiences to attend
Helicopter extract
very physicalised because the men are playing the helicopter. The have to verbalise the sounds of the helicopter as well as present the dialogue. There is a great use of comedy as well as showing how they were forced and how it backfired. There was use of the ‘K-word’ and that shows that there was still a degree of racism.
practical reflection
- Reparation by Ameera Conrad
- it is barred examination of post-apartheid-apartheid South Africa. There is debt owed and the play explores how.
- The extract talks to white Fragility and how defensive white people get when the word ‘race’ is used.
- it looks at land, economy and blood
Who - Ameera conrad is a UCT graduate for drama who has won a Fleur Du Cap Theatre Award
What - Ameera is a writer, director and performer who has been apart of multiple celebrated productions
Where - Reparation is a play based in South Africa and my extract is an interview
When - the play is meant to be
post-apartheid-apartheid (in present times)
Why - The play is meant to put into aspect how different the country would be if the people demanded retribution rather than reconciliation. “the people demand reparations for the atrocities committed against them for hundreds of years by white settlers in South Africa” - this talks to how the roles have been reversed in an ironic way.
