2014 Theses Master's

Writing Avalon: A new South African township play, A dramaturgical casebook of a new township theatre play set in democratic South Africa

Radebe, Lunga John

Due to its significant role in the fight against apartheid, it is no surprise that South African township theatre will always be upheld and romanticized as a thing of the past. It is often described as such because of its inextricable link to protest and resistance. As a result, the majority of plays that were published during that time have now fallen into the South African theatre canon. However, there has been a substantial amount of theatre emerging out of the township since South Africa’s democratization in 1994 - even though this theatre is arguably less prominent than that of its predecessors. This very work, much like that of pre-1994, continues to speak to the country’s socio-political and economic conditions. In a thorough examination of my dramaturgical journey in writing the play Avalon, this casebook seeks to unpack my processes as a township theatre playwright, in a humble attempt to further the discourse and understanding of how township theatre can still function and be understood today.