sustained theatre

Further blogs from the Sector artists can be found be visiting this link The South Africa Blogs! Sector Artists Respond

Key extracts from the blog written by Regional Hub member Karena Johnson on her recent visit to Grahamstown Festival.

Karena Johnson

I must really be in South Africa – strange that it feels so much like being in the Europe, weather, concrete and the number of white faces.

I decided to start with the familiar and a company called the Market Theatre andTOUCH MY BLOOD.The play was good. A familiar story of growing up in the townships, the hopefulness of the new townships, going back to the village in hard times. A fascination with white folks because of the divide. The presents of white people in the lead characters life in childhood is a source of ‘good’ unfamiliar food and a block to the education at the school he wanted to attend. Threats of local gangs, becoming politicised. Fight with words or with stones, dilemma. The signature style of acapella singing, the story of survival and escape through intellect rising above the oppressors.

American reception, usual story of no money but on the upside connections. And of course the hope for black people the world over signified by Obama.

Went to see the piece everyone seemed to raving about I AM MY OWN WIFE. Venue was way out. As I walked with Bea I began to feel quite unsafe in this manicured quiet part of town. The occasional car drove past in this clearly ‘white’ neighbourhood. I know it is the new South Africa. I totally spooked myself when I heard a jogger running towards us my heart was in my mouth. That was the only drama seen that night as we were late by the time we found the venue. Had dinner where the owner offered a table outside though we asked for one inside he said there were none when there was. Finally we were seated. I was feeling hyper aware of the racist past. Paranoid, chip on my shoulder or reality? A familiar conflict – no-one impolite, all neat on the outside so how can you be sure?

SUNDAY

Attended a workshop on independent theatre festivals. I figure the people in attendance would have get-up and go to make international connections. It was also mad early in the morning. I was also interested in how I might develop a festival that connects with neighbourhood I work in especially in the light of being part of the LIFT/MOLTEN festival this year. The workshop was led by a South African woman who did exchanges with two Argentinean festivals. South-South exchange rather than north-south. There were some interesting tips and discussion on the philosophy of independence. The contacts made with the Argentinean festivals were the most interesting FESTIVAL DE TEATRO SUDAFRICANO and BAHIA TEATRO. An opportunity for an artist maybe? They are driven by quality of work, pay very little but host artists, companies while there and plug artists into wider networks.

Sustained theatre workshop:- Listening to the SA artists particularly those from big established companies I picked up the code for talking about race – euphemisms like underprivileged, no body said black, African, or white. Same language, different continent. Sustained theatre needs to be clearer on its agenda – especially in an international context – are we brokering relationships in the UK arts scene? Are we interested in touring SA groups to the UK? Can we really do that?

Children’s theatre piece ZINA AND THE MAGIC SONGBIRD. Zina is a princess with no friends – there is a drought and the last songbird is caught to sing to the sun and make it cry (rain) but the bird cannot sing. Zina befriends it and encourages it to sing it does and everyone is saved. The piece was performed in 3 languages, lots of songs – a bit like a mini panto complete with baddies and comedy chorus. The performers were good but under-directed and the script a little weak. The audience small and perfectly self segregated.

Sustained theatre reception:- Met and interesting man who had written a piecePRISON CODES. He said the SA system was the only one in the world where prisoners did not fight about race, power was all based on the number of your gang. He also had got the gangster seal of approval and was interested in touring to the UK. The show mostly in Afrikaans. I also met the Artistic Director of Made in the shade who were presenting PUSH at the festival. I got the chance to eat Kudu before the evening show.

I saw ORIGINAL SKIN a fascinating story about the deliberate racial mis-categorisation in the bad old days and the personal conflict this caused. A story of a mixed race woman categorised as white who then discovers her true ethnicity and African roots. A story of identity that I have seen explored in UK theatre but is so much more pronounced and extreme because the political and practical stakes are so high in SA. I really wanted to know what happened next as I suspect that is the more challenging a part of the story.

TUESDAY

I followed one true story with another MANTOLO the life of ANC soldier Sibusiso Masuku. A man who had survives imprisonment, nearly being hanged, being a forgotten prisoner, released and ending up contracting HIV, produced by the South African State theatre. Being in SA the real Sibusiso comes on stage to answer questions. It is a humbling experience to hear that story. But the most profound utterance for me was not said from the stage but from a young black South African man who would have had no memory of apartheid, ‘born-free’. He turned to an older woman in a electric torture scene and said “is that how it really was?” the woman laughed.