SA Drama and Theatre Heritage

A research and archival project of the Department of Afrikaans and Theory of Literature at UNISA, and the UNISA Library Archive.

Origins
After the closure of the Centre for South African Theatre Research (CESAT) at the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) no specifically dedicated archive has existed to collect and preserve materials on for the history of South African theatre. While many institutions have collections of theatre materials, these are often not well known, not necessarily adequately  catalogued, and at times extremely difficult to access.

This archival and research project derives from the findings of research undertaken into festivals and theatre by students of the Department of Afrikaans and Theory of Literature at the University of South Africa (UNISA), which emphasized the dire situation in the country. In response to this finding, the Theatre Heritage project was initiated by Prof. Marisa Keuris and Ms. Lida Krüger, who set up meetings with a number of role-players throughout the country, including archivists, researchers and artists, and involving a number of other role players, including ESAT.

Aims
The aim of the project is firstly to establish a network of institutions which hold drama and theatre collections, to provide the theatre researcher with a starting point in his or her search for material about specific productions. A list of such collections is to be published on the project's website with hyperlinks (where possible) to the respective websites.

Secondly, the project is intended to provide a safe repository for drama and theatre material in the Unisa Library Archive and, if possible, to begin a digitizing programme for such materials to make it accessible on the internet. .

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Return to South African Theatre Venues, Companies, Societies, etc

Return to The ESAT Entries

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