NAME: FIDEL F. NAMISI NUMBER: 0409466M COURSE CODE: DRAA213 DRAMA & FILM: SOUTH AFRICAN THEATRE
LECTURER: GREG HOMANN
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Intern Internati ationa onall theatre theatre practi practitio tioner nerss such such as Jerzy Jerzy Grotow Grotowski ski,, Bertol Bertoltt Brecht Brecht and Auusto Boal ha!e "een the source o# $uch inspiration #or %outh A#rican theatre rou roups ps such such as &he &he %erp %erpen entt 'lay 'layers ers,, &he &he Junc Juncti tion on A!enue enue &hea &heatre tre (o$p (o$pan any y, )orkshop )orkshop *+ and &he (o$pany at the Market &heatre-
&hrouh a detailed analysis o# any ONE play dealt with in the course, and a thorouh interroation o# the key principles o# the rele!ant international practitioner.s/0
— 1iscu 1iscuss ss how how these these $eth $ethod odol olo oies ies ha!e ha!e uid uided ed the the coll colla" a"or orat ati! i!ee process o# the play $akers-
— &hen e2pand on this to de$onstrate the ways in which the$atically and structu structural rally ly the selected selected te2t con#ro con#ronts nts the realit realities ies o# %outh %outh A#rican society-
Due D$e: %epte$"er 3 th-
)hen 'ercy Mtwa and M"oneni Ne$a approached Barney %i$on to colla"orate with the$ on the creation o# a play, they pro"a"ly had no idea that Woza Albert! would "eco$e an instant classic o# %outh A#rican theatre- )ith a script and stae that de$ands a power#ul per#or$ance #ro$ the actors, Woza Albert! has had the uni4ue co$"ination o# critical and econo$ic success in the !arious cities it has toured throuhout the world- 5ndou"tedly, this is partly due to the #act that the cra#tin o# the play was e2tensi!ely in#luenced "y the leadin theorists and practitioners o# conte$porary theatre, principally Jerzy Grotowski, Bertolt Brecht and Auusto Boal&his essay will i!e a detailed analysis o# the play, payin speci#ic attention to the way in which the key principles o# the a#ore$entioned international theatre practitioners in#luenced the play$akin process o# Woza Albert! In addition, it will look at how Woza Albert! con#ronts the realities o# %outh A#rican society, "oth now and at the ti$e in which it was written-
'ercy Mtwa and M"oneni Ne$a "ean workin on Woza Albert! in 67 when they $et on the set o# the play Mama and the Load, a $usical "y Gi"son 8ente.Mtwa, 6690 /- 1urin the township tour o# the play, Ne$a had "een contracted to work as an actor while Mtwa was a siner and dancer- &hey #ound that tey shared a co$$on desire to create $ore challenin and power#ul plays, palys that would con#ront the reality o# the %outh A#rica that they were li!in in, and there#ore decided to study the play$akin process $ore diliently and acade$ically- &heir studies led the$ to the disco!ery o# :Grotowski*s Towards a Poor Theatre and 'eter Brook*s The Empty Space- &hey stopped drinkin and s$okin and e2ercised theur "odies, their !oices and their resonators-; Althouh they had decided that they wanted to create a piece toether, they were yet to diceo!er what their su"
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&hey stu$"led upon it 4uite serendipitously- >One niht in their tourin "us?there was a heated aru$ent on the %econd (o$in- )hat would happen to Jesus i# he ca$e "ack @to %outh A#rica; .Mtwa, 6690 /-
&he !ery pre$ise o# the play, we there#ore see, is deeply rooted in its social conte2t67 was a period o# e2tre$e unrest in %outh A#rica- i!e years earlier, in 6+C, students in %oweto staed an uprisin that could only "e 4uelled "y the use o# $ilitary #orce- A state o# e$erency was declared, which continued well into the $idDeihties Ne$a and Mtwa #ound the$sel!es surrounded "y a !olatile situation o# e2tre$e tension- 'olitical acti!ists were "ein "anned, arrested, or e!en worse, $urdered- &he o!ern$ent was usin stronDar$ tactics to keep itsel# in power- &hus Ne$a and Mtwa undou"tedly #elt that a ood outlet #or their thouhts, which were pro"a"ly representati!e o# the senti$ents o# the $a
Howe!er, Ne$a and Mtwa were not #ools- In 67, all theatres in %outh A#rica could "e $ultiDracial upon application #or a per$it- &hese theatres
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Mannie Mani$, which had $ade its ho$e in Johannes"ur*s old Market in 6+C, where he "eca$e o# the Artistic 1irector o# the newly #ounded Market &heatre- Mtwa and Ne$a knew that %i$on*s >e2tensi!e e2perience in Black and nonDracial theatre and ?the work that he had done in the creation o# te2t with actors; $ade hi$ the per#ect person to direct their play- .Mtwa, 6690 /- %i$on areed, and the three spent si2 weeks workin intensi!ely to create the play that was to "e Woza Albert!
As we ha!e already $entioned earlier, Ne$a and Mtwa had co$e across the writins o# Jerzy Grotowski, and these had $ade such a stron i$pression on the$ that the two chaned their li#estyles and started carryin out Grotowski*s e2ercises e!en "e#ore they had "eun creatin their play-
&hey relied on Grotowski*s
$ethodoloy o# creatin te2ts #ro$ the actors, also known as the workshop style o# de!elop$ent, to de!elop the play- Grotowski stronly #elt that the $ain creati!e #orce in the theatre was the actor @his "ody, his !oice and his thouhts- &here#ore the actor also needed to $ake e2ercise this power in the creation o# the te2t- &his syste$ o# play de!elop$ent was utilised e2tensi!ely in Grotowski*s Laboratory, which was his own theatre co$pany- .Grotowski, 6C70 9/-
&he colla"orati!e creation o# the piece also in!ol!ed the readin o# the Gospels and scourin the streets o# %oweto and Johannes"ur .Mtwa, 6690 /- &his was "ecause the pre$ise o# the play re4uired $aterial that would "e enerated "y the catalytic clash "etween a "i"lical #iure and conte$porary city li#e- Althouh this $ay ha!e "een a coincidence, this aspect o# the play*s production closely parallels Bertolt Brecht*s $ethodoloies- Brecht laid a lot o# e$phasis in the conte$porary political world, and he o#ten turned to history and #a"le in order to achie!e an insiht#ul
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)e see this $ethodoloy clearly at play in Woza Albert! Jesus, who is a historical #iure, is placed within the conte$porary conte2t and the resultin crisis pro!ides the pre$ise o# the play-
&he in#luence o# Brecht and Grotowski was $uch $ore #ar reachin than that, howe!er- &he essence o# Grotowski*s poor theatre, i# such a description could "e hazarded, could "e su$$arised as the deepenin and strenthenin o# the connection "etween the actor and the audience, which are the only two !ital ele$ents needed #or theatre to e2ist .Grotowski, 6C70 +/- As such, e!erythin that is not strictly essential to the per#or$ance $ust "e stripped away, "oth in the actor and in the set, as a sort o# puri#yin o# theatre-
&he #irst conse4uence o# such a $ethodoloy is that the play "eco$es less a"out the plot and $ore a"out the characters, as is seen in Woza Albert! &he plot consists o# a series o# apparent encounters "etween Morena and !arious ur"an dwellers, ranin #ro$ a coal seller to the 'ri$e Minister- Nothin really happens in the play, and a#ter se!eral such encounters the $ain characters ask Morena to resurrect their heroes o# the #reedo$ strule- &he real $essae o# the play co$es across in the !arious
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reactions that the characters ha!e to the prospect o# $eetin Morena. It re!eals the satirical nature o# the play, and ser!es to put so$e distance "etween the audience and the play itsel#, encourain the$ not to think a"out the e!ents in the play "ut rather a"out the underlyin $essae o# the play- Aain, we see the in#luence o# Bertolt Brecht uidin the colla"orati!e process o# the play$akers- Accordin to Brecht, a play should not cause the spectator to e$otionally identi#y with the action they are presented with- Rather, the play should pro!oke rational sel#Dre#lection and a critical !iew o# the actions on stae .)illet, 6660 F=/-
Another Grotowskian ele$ent o# production is the $ini$al use o# props- In the written te2t o# the play, the set is descri"ed as consistin >o# two upDended teaDchests side "y side a"out centre stae- urther upstae an old wooden plank, a"out ten #eet lon, is suspended horizontally on old ropes- ro$ nails in the plank han the raed clothes that the actors will use #or their trans#or$ations-; &hat is all there is on stae in ter$s o# props- All the other props are i$ainary, and the actors create the$ "y $i$in their use- &his is seen in the scene where the two actors pretend to pull a truck #orward .Mtwa, 6690 39/-
&he lihtin o# Woza Albert!
is also !ery si$ple- &his is in keepin with the
$ethodoloies o# Grotowski, who liked to keep the lihtin o# his sets si$ple so as to lay $ore e$phasis on the encounter "etween the actor and the spectator- &he sound e##ects are actually produced "y the actors the$sel!es- &hey si$ulate the sounds o# sirens, house#lies and electric hair clippers- &he resultant e##ect is that the audience is no way distracted #ro$ the actual per#or$ance o# the actors "y the trappins o# sound, liht or scenery .Grotowski, 6C70 F=/-
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&he $ethodoloies o# Bertolt Brecht also in#luenced the colla"orati!e process o# the play$akers- Brecht "elie!ed that theatre should #ocus on political issues, especially in its the$es and plots .)illet, 6660 7/- 'lays should pro!oke the audience to think critically a"out the political, social and econo$ic situation that pro!ides the conte2t #or the play- As such, the audience should not "e too enrossed in the plot or the characters o# the play itsel#, "ut rather in its underlyin socioDpolitical the$es and $essaes- In order to do this, Brecht de!ised a nu$"er o# techni4ues to #oster this :alienation e##ect* as he liked to call it .)illet, 6660 6/- &hese de!ices were used e2tensi!ely in the cra#tin o# Woza Albert!
or instance, the use o# son has the e##ect o# re$indin the audience that all they are seein is a per#or$ance- Woza Albert! uses $any sons and e!en dance, which add to the ele$ent o# spectacle "ut without really enrossin the audience-
&he sons,
howe!er, do ha!e a stron underlyin political $essae- or instance, one son, entitled Woza Kanye Kanye, calls the audience to co$e toether "ecause >whites are swines .sic/ and they call "lack people da$ns .sic/; .Mtwa, 6690 3F/- &he son at the end o# the play is a"out the ord resurrectin the "lack heroes o# the strule- &he political $essae in it is that the audience should cele"rate the li!es o# these heroes and not let their deaths ha!e "een in !ain-
&he actors also play $ultiple characters, which was a de!ise that Brecht used to create a distance "etween the audience and the te2t .)illet, 6660 F9/- In Woza Albert! the actors play the roles o# prisoners, prison wardens,
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i$pression that they truly "elie!e the$sel!es to "e this wide array o# characters nor do they e2pect the audience to "elie!e so either- Rather than $i$ickin real people, the actors portray these roles as representati!e o# the di##erent roups o# people in %outh A#rican society .)illet, 6660 F+/-
1irect address was yet another techni4ue that Brecht used to achie!e the oal he had in $ind #or his theatrical per#or$ances .)illet, 6660 =3/- &his techni4ue is also utilised e2tensi!ely in Woza Albert!
It does not, howe!er, ha!e the e##ect o#
distancin the audience, "ecause the audience e!entually ets used to it and sees it as yet another co$ical e##ect in the play- One such instance occurs when one o# the characters turns to the audience and says that "lack people really know how to lie&he resultant e##ect is 4uite co$ical, and results in the audience "ein $ore ri!eted than it was "e#ore .Mtwa, 6690 F/-
(o$parin it to the classical constructs o# the theatrical discourse as co$piled "y Aristotle, it $ust "e said that Woza Albert! departs radically #ro$ the classical Greek #or$ o# theatre-
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BIBLIO%RAH'
Grotowski, J- 6C7- &owards a 'oor &heatre- New ork0 %i$on and %chuster-
)illet, J- .ed-/ 666- Brecht on &heatre- New ork0 Hill and )an-
)illia$s, R- .ed-/ 6+C- 1ra$a #ro$ I"sen to Brecht- Great Britain0 'enuin-
Mtwa, '-, Ne$a, M- K %i$on B- 669- )oza Al"ert ondon0 Methuen 1ra$a-
Boal, A- 6+6- &heater o# the Oppressed- ondon0 'luto 'ress-
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