SophiaTown

Question 1

Historical & socio-economic context

Answer 1

-SophiaTown had a large amount of friction between landowners and renters as conditions were poor
-SophiaTown was remembered for its jazz, arts and literature which made it a vibrant town
-gangs and crime was widespread, dangerous but booming place
-Native Resettlement Act (permitted the removal of blacks)
-Forced removals began and residents were moved to Meadowlands township

Question 2

GENRE

Answer 2

-Protest theatre
-Workshop theatre
-Township musical
-Epic theatre
-Realism
-Melodrama
-Physical theatre

Question 3

Protest Theatre

Answer 3

-highlights the injustices of Apartheid
-invokes an emotional connection to the characters
-laws, resistance movements and political figures

Question 4

Workshop Theatre

Answer 4

-workshopped by the Junction Avenue Theatre Company
-improv
-selection and polishing the script
-episodic structure

Question 5

Township Musical

Answer 5

-play is broken up by the use of song in multiple languages
-music and sound add to the atmosphere of the play

Question 6

Epic Theatre

Answer 6

-EPISODIC STRUCTURE
-Alienation
-Narration
-Breaking the 4th wall
-Use of song and dance
-Use of social symbolism & Gestus
-Brechtian stage design

Question 7

Realism & Melodrama

Answer 7

-characters are interesting and representative of types
-some characters are exaggerated and comical (Charlie, Princess and Fahfee)

Question 8

CHARACTERS & PLOT

Answer 8

-Mamariti (mother to Mingus & Lulu, shabeen queen)
-Jakes (writer of Drum magazine, renting at Mamariti)
-Mingus (gangster)
-Princess (Mingus’ lover)
-Lulu (schoolgirl)
-Charlie (Mingus’ sidekick (coloured man))
-Ruth (white Jewish girl)
-Mr Fahfee (political member of ANC)

Question 9

Setting & Staging

Answer 9

-65 Gerty street
-Mamariti’s home
-Stage is shifted to the needs of each scene by the characters during song
-design is Brechtian (newspaper clippings)
-costuming is realist and accurate to that period

Question 10

Themes

Answer 10

-Defiance & Resistance
-Identity
-Memory & Loss
-Segregation, Diversity & Reconciliation
-Violence

Question 11

Defiance & Resistance

Answer 11

-Ruth defies the laws & her family by moving into SophiaTown as a white woman
-defiance of Bantu education
-Charlie resists being left behind

Question 12

Identity

Answer 12

-Who are we?
-hurtful and oppressive
-Multifaceted and evolving

Question 13

Memory & Loss

Answer 13

-remember what happened during apartheid
-recalling the loss and remembering the shortcomings and lack of unity
-Charlie’s loss of community & purpose
-Jake & Ruth’s lost opportunity for love

Question 14

Segregation, Diversity & Reconciliation

Answer 14

-Charlie is separated when the relocations happen because he is not black
-Ruth can return to safety and ‘normal’ life after the removals
-Diversity of world views
-Reconciliation only came 40 years later

Question 15

Violence

Answer 15

-Mingus & Princess (domestic violence)
-Gang violence
-Institutionalised violence by the government
-Psychological violence of injustice
-Racial violence