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ESAT: The Encyclopaedia of South African Theatre, Film, Media and Performance

Originally conceived and founded by Temple Hauptfleisch, ESAT is a national research programme, involving a large number of voluntary writers, researcher, editors and technical supporters.

The Editorial Board

Founder and project director: Temple Hauptfleisch

Editor - South African Theatre and Performance: Temple Hauptfleisch

Editor - South African Film: Freddy Ogterop

Editor - South African Radio:

Editor - South African Television:

Editorial assistant and researcher: Miriam Terblanche

Technical support

Web publisher: University of Stellenbosch, South Africa and the Libopedia project of the University of Stellenbosch Library Services[1]

Editorial offices: University of Stellenbosch, Department of Drama

The ESAT Entries

The entries for ESAT have been grouped in fifteen categories, managed and edited by one of the research editors. To access database material on the relevant category, click on the appropriate link below.

1. South African Theatre and Performance/Overview
2. South African Film/Overview
3. South African Media/Overview
4. The South African Context/General Terminology and Thematic Entries
5. South African Theatre/Terminology and Thematic Entries
6. South African Film /Terminology and Thematic Entries
7. South African Media/Terminology and Thematic Entries
8. South African Personalities
9. South African Venues, Companies, Societies, etc
10. South_African_Films
11. South African Stage Plays
12. South African Radio Plays and Serials
13. South African Television Plays and Series
14. A Chronology of South African Theatre, Film, Media and Performance
15. A Bibliography of South African South African Theatre, Film, Media and Performance

About ESAT

Introduction

ESAT: The Encyclopaedia of South African Theatre, Film, Media and Performance is an open access, internet based interactive resource for researchers interested in the evolution, history and forms of performance and media in South Africa. Deriving from the University of Stellenbosch's Libopedia[2] project, it uses the Wiki format and programmes and is published on the web with the assistance of the Drama Department (http://www.sun.ac.za/drama) and its former Centre for Theatre and Performance Studies, the J.S. Gericke Library and the division for Information Technology at the University of Stellenbosch (http://www.sun.ac.za/index.asp)

This work is based on research supported by the National Research Foundation. However, any opinion, finding and conclusion or recommendation expressed in this material is that of the authors and the NRF does not accept any liability in this regard.

Aims of ESAT

The key aim of the ESAT encyclopaedia[3] is to create a comprehensive database on the history and nature of South African performance, including theatre, drama, radio drama and TV drama, film, dance, puppetry, circus, oral performance and similar forms, and to make it available as a general reference work and resource for the use of researchers, students, artists, journalist and all other interested parties.

What is ESAT?

The Encyclopaedia of South African Theatre, Film, Media and Performance (ESAT) is an open access, internet based interactive resource for theatre, media and performance researchers interested in the evolution and history of theatre and performance in South Africa. Created in conjunction with the University of Stellenbosch's Libopedia, it uses the Wiki format and programmes.

The aims of the ESAT encyclopaedia are to create a comprehensive database on the history and nature of these art forms in South Africa and make it available as a general reference work and resource for the use of researchers, students, artists, journalist and all other interested parties. This first version of the encyclopaedia was originally intended to be a published mini-encyclopaedia and reference work called A Companion to South African Theatre and Performance (COMSAT) and is derived from a database collated by Temple Hauptfleisch and the Centre for Theatre and Performance Studies (CENTAPS)at Stellenbosch (with the help of a large number of associates and assistants) over the course of twenty years (1990-2010) (For more on this see Background, origins and history, Contributors and Acknowledgements).

The encylopaedia's editors invite the academic and artistic community to help in expanding and improving on this material in order to make which would make the results of academic and other research more readily accessible to the general reader and the theatre enthusiast. (For more on this see Updating ESAT.) In this sense the basic aim is rather to condense and collate available information on all South African theatre and performance forms (as far as they have been documented) in one place and in a handy and accessible digital format, rather than to undertake any comprehensive new research. Happily a great deal of little known and/or forgotten information has in fact come to the fore during the course of this project, and can be made available, though that was not the fundamental aim of this first version of ESAT.

The Research Team and Contributors

Founder and Project Leader Temple Hauptfleisch

Editors

Drama, Theatre and Performance: Temple Hauptfleisch

Film: Freddy Ogterop

Media: (Yet to be appointed)

The Cumulative Bibliography: Miriam Terblanche

Planning Committees and Research Support

Original Project Planning Committee (1990-1994)

Temple Hauptfleisch, Yvette Hutchison, Edwin Hees, Arnold Blumer.

Digital Planning Committee (2010-2013)

Temple Hauptfleisch, Ina Smith, Hilton Gibson, Miriam Terblanche.

Technical advisors to the project

On the Access-programme originally used: Petra Malherbe & Information Technology, University of Stellenbosch

Technical advisors on the Wiki-programme: Hilton Gibson and Tammy Bekker

Research Assistants

Felicity Grové, Abduragman Adams, J-P de Rosnay, Gaerin Hauptfleisch, Karina Hauptfleisch, Yvette Hutchison, Anja Huismans, Miemie Neethling, Petrus du Preez, Rebecca Smart, Miriam Terblanche and Hannah Borthwick.

Contributing Authors

(Their affiliation at the time of writing) and [abbreviations used in text] Arnold Blumer (University of Stellenbosch) [AB] Hannah Borthwick (University of Stellenbosch) [HB] P.J. Conradie (University of Stellenbosch) [PC] Eben Cruywagen (SABC) [EC] J-P de Rosnay (University of Stellenbosch) [J-P] Floyed de Vaal (University of Stellenbosch) [FdV] Petrus du Preez (University of Stellenbosch) [PDP] Julius Eichbaum (Scenario Magazine) [JE] Ian Ferguson (University of South Africa) [IF] Jill Fletcher (Cape Town) [JF] Gaerin Hauptfleisch (University of Stellenbosch) [GH] Temple Hauptfleisch (University of Stellenbosch) [TH] Edwin Hees (University of Stellenbosch) [EH] Stephanie Hough (Stellenbosch) [SH] Johan Hugo (University of Stellenbosch) [JH] Yvette Hutchison (Universities of Warwick UK and Stellenbosch) [YH] Enock James (University of Stellenbosch) [EJ] Marie Kruger (University of Stellenbosch) [MK] Mervyn McMurtry (University of Natal, Durban) [McM] Miemie Neethling (University of Stellenbosch) [MN] Miriam Terblanche (University of Stellenbosch) [MT] NELM, Grahamstown [NELM] Steve Ntsane (University of Stellenbosch) [SN] Louw Odendaal (University of Pretoria) [LO] Freddy Ogterop (Independent researcher)[FO] Dennis Schauffer (University of Durban-Westville) [DS] Rebecca Smart (University of Stellenbosch) [RS] Elma Young (Pretoria) [EY] Johann van Heerden [JvH] Hilda van Lill (University of Stellenbosch [HvL] Nthombifuthi Vezi (University of Zululand) [NV] Anton Welman (University of the Free State) [AW]

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank all the following for their support of the ESAT project.

Financial and institutional support

ESAT is an ongoing and constantly expanding research and documentation project, first conceived and planned in general terms while the project leader was head of the Centre for South African Theatre Research (CESAT)) at the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) (1979-1987). However it was only formally initiated in 1994 as A Companion to South African Theatre and Performance (COMSAT), when he founded the Centre for Theatre and Performance Studies at the University of Stellenbosch.

Besides benefitting from the institutional support of the various institutions where the project leader has been employed - The Human Sciences Research Council and the University of Stellenbosch, (see **), the project has also been supported financially over the years by means of a number of larger grants from a number of sources, among which the Centre for Science Development (CSD) of the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC), the National Research Foundation (NRF), and the Research Fund at the University of Stellenbosch. A particular word of thanks goes to the National Research Foundation (NRF) of South Africa for two 5 year grants to the Project Leader for the finalization of the project (2008-2012, 2013-2017), under its Incentive Funding Programme for rated researchers.

The project leader and his team would like to thank all these institutions for their wonderful support. In addition they would also like to thank the various Deans of Arts and Directors of Research and their staff, the Research Committee of the University of Stellenbosch and the Advisory Committee of the Centre for Theatre and Performance Studies for their belief in the project.

PLEASE NOTE:

The results and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the individual authors and in no way reflect the opinions of the Centre for Theatre and Performance Studies, the National Research Foundation or the University of Stellenbosch.

Individuals

Besides the funding and support of institutions, the COMSAT/ESAT research project - like any encyclopaedic project - has always been dependent on the help and support of a great number of individuals. The prime source of material has thus always been the largely voluntary contributing authors who supplied us with information and entries. Quite rightly their names are listed as part of the research team and I would like to acknowledge that support here and thank each and every one of them heartily for it. (See the list of "The Research Team and Contributors" above)

The fact is, the database is the result of a long cherished dream of mine, sparked by my years as head of the national documentation centre on the performing arts (CESAT, 1979-1987)and finally initiated in 1994 as a project of the Centre for Theatre and Performance Studies at the University of Stellenbosch. Over the years I have been supported by many advisors and contributors, who helped us gather and process this huge amount of divergent information. Without all of you it would not have been possible.

At a more personal level, I would like to thank a few specific individuals for their unstinting help with the vast administrative and documentary tasks we had to undertake over the past two decades, but particularly during the past five years.

First I must mention my many colleagues at the Centre for South African Theatre Research, who first got me interested in South African theatre history - notable among them P.P.B. Breytenbach (generally known as "Oom Breytie"), Rinie Stead, Joey Fourie, Astrid Schwenke, Paddy Terry, Eunice Reynecke, and many others. In many ways they planted the early seeds for the project.

Then there is my valued girl friday and colleague of almost seven years, Yvette Hutchison – a miracle of enthusiasm, competence and energy. Without her there would hardly have been a Centre for Theatre and Performance Studies and certainly no Companion, and her support is still strongly felt in what we do.

Third , there are our sub-editors and academic consciences, Edwin Hees and the late Arnold Blumer. Their support inspired and guided a great deal of the work done, not only on the COMSAT/ESAT project , but in the Centre for Theatre and Performance Studies, on the South African Theatre Journal and in the Department of Drama. We value them immensely and Arnold's tragic passing in 2004 was an immense loss to theatre scholarship in the country. (Indeed as have been the passing of a number of our other contributors over the years, including Louw Odendaal, Jill Fletcher, Julius Eichbaum, Anton Welman, and others.)

In addition there have been my hard-working research assistants over the past 20 years, namely Abduragman Adams, Hannah Borthwick), Petrus du Preez, Felicity Grove, Adam Haupt, Anja Huismans, Miemie Neethling, Rebecca Smart, and Adri van der Colff, who did so much of the fetching, carrying and cataloguing of material required by this kind of project. Combined with Yvette Hutchison’s restless drive and academic acuity, Gaerin Hauptfleisch's organisational skills and voracious reading on theatre matters, and former librarian Miriam Terblanche’s invaluable experience and commitment, our internal library has become an integral and essential tool for research and creative work in the Department and the Centre, as well as for this project. They deserve a huge hand.

I would also like to thank all my students at the University of Stellenbosch, who directly and indirectly, contributed so wonderfully to the material for this book over the many years through the research projects they undertook as part of my South African Theatre courses in the Drama Department. Their work directly and indirectly contributed substantially to the data contained in material for this book over the years. I can only thank them from the bottom of my heart for their enthusiasm and dedication.

And so, finally, I come to another extraordinary person: my wife Karina Hauptfleisch, who not only lent us her formidable skills as librarian, her natural inquisitiveness and her uncanny researcher’s instincts for no pay and very little recognition over the past twenty years of creation, but in so many ways she kept me sane with her robust yet mothering sympathy and advice in times of trouble and doubt.

Temple Hauptfleisch Stellenbosch 27th June 2010

Background, origins and history

1979-1993: Background and origins

The general idea of some kind of encyclopaedic documentation project arose while Temple Hauptfleisch was head of the Centre for South African Theatre Research (CESAT) at the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) (1979-1987). Working with the vast archives of over 400 000 items contained in the Centre's documentation centre gave rise to the notion of somehow writing up the history of South African theatre history and led to a number of subsequent articles and books on the topic.

In 1988 Temple Hauptfleisch moved to the Drama Department at the Universaity of Stellenbosch and the CESAT archives was moved to the State Archives, so the idea languished for a while. But then, as he began setting up a new research centre at the University of Stellenbosch in 1990 and the general idea of a published documentation of SA theatre history was specifically proposed as the core project of the Centre's overarching research programme on South African Theatre.

The project was thus planned in more specific terms and with the actual founding of , the Centre for Theatre and Performance Studies (CENTAPS) in 1994.

1994-2010: COMSAT

The project proper began as a research and documentation project, A Companion to South African Theatre and Performance (COMSAT). The aim was to involve a range of researchers and students to compile a general reference work on South African theatre and performance which would make the results of academic and other research more readily accessible to the general reader and the theatre enthusiast. In this sense the basic aim was rather to condense and collate available information on all South African theatre and performance forms (as far as they have been documented) in a single volume and in a handy format, rather than undertake any comprehensive new research. A key model for this project was Phyllis Hartnoll’s famous Oxford Companion to the Theatre.

The working procedures for the original COMSAT project were relatively simple. The basic framework of the project was conceived by Temple Hauptfleisch, while the detail principles for the publication – and especially the the format for the entries (see below) – were devised by the Project Committee in consultation with the Advisors. With these in hand the members of the Project Committee thereupon did a basic search of the most prominent books and articles on South African theatre and performance, in order to compile a gross list of possible entries for the Companion. The gross list was then honed down to a basic shortlist of about 2000 entries, which were apportioned out to possible authors.

This first version of the encyclopaedia focussed only on live stage performance and was originally intended to be a formally published mini-encyclopaedia and reference work called A Companion to South African Theatre and Performance (COMSAT) and was derived from a database collated by Temple Hauptfleisch and the Centre for Theatre and Performance Studies (CENTAPS) at Stellenbosch (with the help of a large number of associates and assistants) over the course of twenty years (1990-2010)

While the authors were working on the entries, the project’s co-ordinator Yvette Hutchison – with the help of Petra Malherbe of the University of Stellenbosch’s Data-centre, set about devising a computerized format for the various kinds of entries, utilizing the Microsoft’s Access programme. This would allow the team to continually update the basic information, and possibly publish revised versions of the book or go on to an online facility or a CD-rom based product.

When the original deadline for entries had come and gone in 1996, only 21 of the 80 people approached had accepted the contracts, 12 had submitted material, of which only 9 had had fulfilled their contracts completely and properly. (A few more submitted entries during 1997-8, bringing us to 11 contributors by 1999.) It became clear that the project was very close to getting bogged down. At a subsequent meeting, the Committee decided that the rest of the book would be written by Temple Hauptfleisch, assisted by Yvette Hutchison and some of the post-graduate students in the Department of Drama , while the two sub-editors – Edwin Hees and Arnold Blumer – would help with the final editing process.

As a result of all the aforementioned processes, the project expanded almost exponentially between 1994 and 2010, generating over 10 000 new individual entries and a number of sub-sections, including an overview of theatre and performance in the country, a chronology of theatre events (in the context of social, cultuiral and political events), a comprehensive bibliography and annotated lists of plays and performances.

This database of more than 2000 pages soon became a core resource for the research undertaken by the staff of the Centre for Theatre and Performance studies as well as the staff and students of the Drama Department. Gradually international enquiries also begtan to come in to the Centre.

In view of this interest the pressure to publish the material in some form began to grow. However, it slowly became clear that that (a) few publishers were really interested in a publication of this enormous size and (b) as the material still kept on increasing , much editing still needed to be done, and there was an enormous amount of information still lacking. Thus the research team began to explore other possibilities. The most promising seemed to be an online version of the database, done in consultation with the Stellenbosch University's IT section and the J.S. Gericke Library.

2010-2011: The birth of ESAT

In May 2010 a meeting was held with Ms Ina Smith head of SUNScholar and Mr Hilton Gibson IT specialist for the J.S. Gericke Library, to create a website for The Encyclopaedia of South African Theatre and Performance (ESAT). This would form part of the University of Stellenbosch's Libopedia programme. The various templates were now developed, the staff were trained and transferal of the data to the ESAT file began in July 2010.

The new online version of COMSAT, now called ESAT, was conceived as a means of "publishing" all that material online, and thus making the results of all existing and emerging academic and other research more readily accessible to the general reader and the theatre enthusiast nationally and internationally. In this sense the basic aim is rather to condense and collate available information on all South African theatre and performance forms (as far as they have been documented) in one place and in a handy and accessible digital format, rather than to undertake any comprehensive new research. Happily a great deal of little known and/or forgotten information has in fact come to the fore in the process, and much is still being discovered as the project grows. However, that was never - nor is it - the fundamental aim of this first version of ESAT.

In this period the bulk of the original material was transferred to the new ESAT website by a number of student-assistants and Ms Miriam Terblanche, the project's research assistant and administrator. The entries were uploaded as they were, unedited as yet. The website was initially kept closed to outsiders, in order to facilitate the process of uploading material. However, at the end of 2011, the University opened up the website to readers and internet users, and a circular was sent out to alert potential users of its existence and inviting their help in expanding, correcting and improving the resource.

2012-2013: The expansion of ESAT

In 2012-2013, besides the continued uploading of new material and editing of the existing material, the scope of the ESAT Project was considerably enlarged by two crucial meetings:

In 2012 a meeting was held with Marisa Keuris and members of her archival project called SA Drama- en teaterbewaring ("SA Drama and Theatre Conservation"), which aims at creating a digital archive of materials on South African theatre, in association with similar international archives, such as . This association means that the ESAT project and the SADET project become partners, sharing information and each supporting and supplementing the other. Discussions on this matters continued into 2013.

In 2013 film specialist Freddy Ogterop approached the project team to suggest that we expand the scope of ESAT to include South African Film. This discussion led to the idea that perhaps Radio Drama and TV Drama may also be added to the scope of ESAT. Ogterop declared himself willing to join the research team and be the editor for the film section. This was immediately implemented, and the title of the project provisionally changed, even though the implications of these ideas are still being investigated.

Thus, the period of discussed here is characterized by three major initiatives:

(1) The scope of the Encyclopaedia expanded radically to include film, media and performance, and led to a restructuring of virtually the entire online publication. The editorial board finally decided to rename the project the Encyclopaedia of South African Theatre, Film, Media and Performance (but retaining ESAT as the acronym). In addition, provision was now made for three sub-editors, one each for Theatre and Performance; Film; and Media.

(2) A number of templates were developed tested and finalised for writing entries for the various sections of the encylopaedia (see ESAT Templates), not only to facilitate writing, uploading and editing of entries, but also for use in training new research associates, and to serve as guidelines for the growing number of contributors submitting material to the encyclopaedia.

(3) The ESAT project began to collaborate formally with the "SA Drama and Theatre Heritage" project at UNISA), as part of a national initiative to devise a strategy for the long-term preservation of theatre materials in South Africa.

Basic principles in editing and using ESAT

In order to undertake this project we needed to answer a number of questions and agree upon some basic principles. Some of the more important of these are briefly discussed here.

Language and style

The encyclopaedia is written in the academic form of South African English, which is largely based on British rather than American usage, as can be seen in the spelling of standard words such as theatre, colour.

The South African focus

There are two aspects to this issue, both which required simple and pragmatic solutions:

For many years it was fashionable to claim to be focussing on the entire region (“Southern Africa” ) in both academic and popular works of this nature, to avoid a number of awkward distinctions and accusations of parochiality. Thus a broader sweep would include Lesotho, the old “homelands”, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Swaziland, Botswana, even Mozambique and Angola, etc. However, those days are gone and “South Africa” as a specific regional designation, without the stigma of the apartheid-divisionism, seems to be acceptable now. And this is just as well, for not only has the scope of the book originally planned proven to be vast enough without the need to go beyond the borders, but it has become very clear that over the past four centuries South Africa has actually evolved into a unique and distinctive cultural region, in many ways differing from the rest of the sub-continent. However, this can naturally not be all that clear-cut, and some references will be made to activities and personalities from the neighbouring territories.

The South African focus is also important in terms of the actual process of choosing the entries for this encyclopaedia. After long consultations it was decided that the database is intended to reflect as much of the South African theatre work as possible (i.e. concentrating on South African involvement as writers, dirtectors, performers, designers, etc.), while only the more significant and influential of the thousands of imported works and shows would be taken up in the Companion. This is sheer pragmatism for the short term, perhaps later versions could expand beyond these limitations to provide a more comprehensive list of visiting performers. What this means is for example that while every attempt will be made to list every South African generated theatrical work (as text and/or performance) and every South African performer or artist, not every foreign play produced would be discussed in the list of Plays, or every visiting performer listed in the Personalities section, though the visting companies may be listed in the Venues and Companies section.

Contextual information

Much as it would please us to include as much contextual information as possible, this was just beyond the scope of the project. So, though is would be delightful to provide facts about the forces and influences that shaped the theatricals system(s) and facts about the individuals and issues that serve as themes and characters for and in plays and performances, this was not normally possible. However we trust the essays in Part Two will be of some use. As may be the readings suggested in the Part Three, Section 6: Bibliography.

The period to be covered

This digital version of ESAT covers the period from the earliest records of theatre and performance in the country to the year 2000. For events following 2000 AD there are many digital and internet sources currently available, so the empobhasis of this project will be the periods preceding that. Thus, in effect , most of the available records, and thus most of the focus of the encyclopaedia, date from the 19th and 20th centuries. However, since the database is an ongoing activity, these dates will naturally be extended into the next century and millenium as we progress, and possibly back into the past as new information is revealed, especially about the pre-colonial period.

The cut-off point for inclusion of personalities and venues

This is a thorny issue. Many similar publications and databases take the obvious and easy way out: no one is included who is still alive. However, that would mean that such influential individuals as Athol Fugard, Gcina Mhlope, Marthinus Basson and Zakes Mda , for instance, would not be included – which is patently ridiculous. So, we have originally decided to take only individuals older than thirty in 2010 as a general rule (but the occasional extraordinary exception could of course occur), which would make the general cut-off date 1980. Anyone born after 1980 would normally still be building a career, and will be considered for inclusion only later. However there is a flexibility about this, left to the judgement of the individual biographer and the editor. And besides, this is a living document, and the cut-off date will keep changing as we move along.

As for theatre companies and other organisations, here too we have a difficulty. Since the 1990s the number of companies and service organisations proliferated exponentially, but many have had equally fleeting careers (as an extraordinary number of theatre enterprises seem to had over all ages). Do we list them all? The existence of such directories as The Limelight and Contacts, and especially the appearance of the South African Handbook of Arts and Culture in 1998, has helped us here, since they do list most contemporary theatres, companies, etc. Since then, these services have shifted to mumerous websites. So a simple link to them would suffice. The emphasis in this Encyclopaedia is thus on historical events and the companies, organisations and venues that impacted on theatre and the entertainment industry, and thus only lists established contemporary companies and organisations. In this context therefore the word “established” would normally refer to a company that that has been or was in existence for 5 years or more, though it too may be applied flexibly, allowing for the appearance of a company etc. that seems to presage something more influential within the context of the times.

Dance, Opera, Musicals, Cabaret, etc.

Contemporary and post-modern practice internationally, as well as in the country has largely obscured what used to be very distinctive borders between the various forms of performance. For the purposes of this database there will be a general thematic entry on each of the forms listed (as well as others), but not all ballet’s, operas, and musical productions will be covered in detail, since this would take us well beyond the modest scope of this initial project. I can however foresee that a larger, more integrated database and/or publication will have to undertaken later.

Film, Radio and Television

When I started with this project, the same applied to the hugely influential electronic and filmic forms, i.e. Film, Television and Radio. However, since performers tend to work in these areas at the same time, the personalities section contained many film, TV or radio performers. Therefore, when Freddy Ogterop joined us as editor of a film section, it seemed logical to prepare for a full section on Media (Radio and TV) as well. So, in the current publication, the fields covered include film and media.

Accuracy

While we have done our best to check all our facts, given the enormous number of entries and cross-references included in this digital encyclopaedia, we are bound to make numerous mistakes. Again we would appreciate receiving corrections and comments, so as to rectify things in the database. (See the next point on names and dates, as well as “Updating ESAT” at the end of this introduction.)

Names and dates of companies, venues and performances

Just a brief note on a familiar problem to all theatre historians. All artists are notoriously sloppy and inaccurate in their day to day administration and documentation of events - and immensely creative in naming things. So much of the material - usually culled from a variety of sources - is rife with discrepancies, inaccuracies or pure speculation. For example: in the 18th and 19th centuries, as well as the work of notable practioners of the 20th century (Gibson Kente comes to mind for instance), the names of companies, theatre venues, and even plays would change from event to event, depending on whims of the people involved, circumstantional issues, or misquoting by those reporting on (or remembering) events. To take but one example: the British officers who performed in the barracks in Cape Town in the first half of the 19th century called themselves (or were known) by any of more than ten names, including the" Garrison Players", “Garrison Amateur Company”, “Garrison Amateur Theatrical Company”, “(Garrison) Amateur Players”, “Garrison theatricals” and “Gentlemen of the Garrison”, and so on. And the amateur (and professional) theatre was even worse, for they were constantly breaking up and reforming to found new companies. The motto "Door Yver Bloeit de Kunst" for instance was used by at least four companies over the course of the 19th century, some clearly related, some not. And then there were companies which used the motto as a name as well, while others had both a name and a motto - and some even two names or two mottoes. In Kente's case again, the names of his plays varied as he travelled, apparently determined by such circumstantial matters as the size of an available banner. (Thus Mamma and the Load became, at times, simply The Load.) It is the African equivalent of the appalling publisher (and film industry) habit of having American and British titles for books and films. There are reasonable sounding motives for it, but it makes the life of the chronicler hell.

In dealing with this we have tried to offer as many possibilities as we found, and tended to put them together as one entry, with sub-sections, where it seemed reasonable. But readers are asked to understand that what we have may just be a (hopefully informed) guess and a proposal of a possible scenario. So we would urge readers to also consult the references given and if they have information, to let us have it.

The same naturally applies to dates, since few programmes or posters, even today, provide dates of production, and people's memories are terribly unreliable, even about their most treasured experiences. And then, of course there are those who consciously change the dates to suit their own versions of their history or the history of a company or venue. So, once again, where we have found discrepancies or differences of opinion we have tended to provide both alternatives, except where the authority for one date may be overwhelming. In this respect then, this companion must be seen as a guide only, not a definitive source.

Critical perspective

Because this is a general reference work, compiled by a very large number of authors and editors from an even larger variety of sources, there is hardly any possibility of a single, coherent and specific “critical perspective” in the publication, beyond a demand for excellence in research and accessibility of information. Each author would naturally have an own perspective, even an own “agenda”, and we have accepted this. However, the informational aim was stressed and the general principles of “inclusiveness”, “factual information” and “subjective objectivity” have served as guidelines when commissioning articles and editing them for the original Companion and hence also for ESAT. If any specific theoretical perspective may be said to invest the project at this particular point in its evolution, it would inevitably be that of the project leader and general editor, whose ideas concerning theatre in South Africa are contained in the article South African Theatre and Performance An Historical Overview by Temple Hauptfleisch and Marie Kruger

Terminological problems

Another important point of agreement we had to reach was that of a set of working definitions for key concepts to be employed.

As if the English language itself were not inconsistent enough, the terminology used in discussing theatre is particularly complex and confusing at times, greatly influenced by regional and sociocultural context (E.g. European and American theatrical terms do not always correspond, while literary scholars and theatre practitioners employ radically different terms for the same thing, or may attach totally dissimilar meanings to the same term. South Africa has its own share of idiolectic variations.) Terms also change markedly in meaning over time.

The encyclopaedia does not set out to define general theatre or media terms. This is done excellently in a number of well–known companions and dictionaries. The Afrikaans theatre dictionary (though somewhat dated) does the same for Afrikaans teminology. However, there are naturally certain terms that have specific relevance to or meaning in South Africa (e.g. "alternative theatre", "township musical" , "kabaret/cabaret", "ntsomi", "bioscope", "fliek", "toyi-toyi", etc. ), and there are some general terms which we have used in specific ways for our purposes. A number of terms are therefore briefly mentioned below and most of them will also be discussed more fully under their own heading in the section on South African Terminology and Themes. Without arguing the case for each one in this introduction, I do want to point out the specific decisions we made concerning terminology, are largely based on general contempary South African usage.

Terms used in specific ways:

(Click link to see further discussion on the issue.)

Actor/actress To avoid problems of gender, the neutral term performer is generally used, except where speaking about a specific person. However, the use of Actor as a general term referring to both male and female performers has come into vogue in some circles since the late 1990's. It will ot be used in that way here, however.

African(as in “African theatre”, “African economy” and so on). The notion of "Africanness" is widely contested today, and we certainly do not want to become embroiled in a debate about it. As used here the term "African" is not an evaluative term, implying any kind of uniqueness or exoticism, but merely a regional indicator, referring to the entire geo-political area we know as Africa today and to all the indigenous cultural forms, processes and artefacts created and used in that region.

African languages. Traditionally in South Africa this refers to languages of African origin (more particularly Bantu origin) in South(ern) Africa. (Indeed they were formerly referred to as Bantu Languages). Lately this has come to include other local languages such as Afrikaans and San. However, we use it here to refer to all the indigenous languages of Africa, not jut those spoken in Southern Africa.

Afrikaans (on its own or in combination, as in “Afrikaans theatre”, “Afrikaans literature”, etc). Used as a noun, this refers to the indigenous language (a derivative of 17th century Dutch, under the influence of local conditions, notably the impact of other languages, such as French, English, German and a range of local languages and languages spoken by the slaves broguht out from the East.) Spoken by about six million people in South Africa, a large proportion of them not white. According to the 2001 census for example Afrikaans is the first language of over 80% of Coloured South Africans (3.1 million people) and approximately 60% of White South Africans (2.5 million). Around 200,000 black South Africans speak it as their first language. Large numbers of Bantu-speaking and English-speaking South Africans also speak it as their second language. It is also the most common first language in the southern section of Namibia. When linked to products or outcomes (e.g. “Afrikaans theatre”) it refers to work produced in that language or by people speaking Afrikaans – not necessarily to a social, ethnic or political entity of some kind (e.g. “Afrikaners”).

Afrikaners: The term has been much debated, but basically it is used to refer to a specific group of white South Africans who see themselves as a distinct cultural and ethnic grouping, identified by their language (Afrikaans), their European based social structures, religious affiliation (Calvinist reformed – one of the three “sister” churches) and political orientation. Also referred to as “Boere” (or “Boers” in English). See below.

Apartheid. Used in the politcal sense to refer to the political philosophy of the Nationalist Party and the institutionalised racism of the period 1948-1990. Of late it has become usage to spell it with a lower-case “a”, indicating that it is used as a common noun. This is fine when we refer to it as a form of general racism (e.g. “in Australia apartheid-style thinking led to the aborigines being hustled into inhabitable regions…” ) However, for the most part in this publication we tend to talk about a specific political movement, so in such cases have decided to retain former usage, which uses a capital “A”.

Bantu (Lit. "man"). The term used by colonials to refer to people of African origin. **?? It is back in vogue today, replacing other - more demeaning - terms. *****

Black (as in “Black theatre”, “Black South Africans” and so on): While this usage has been challenged in a variety of ways over the years, this publication utilizes the American usage which has generally been followed in South Africa from the middle of the 1970’s, namely to use “black” in this context as a political term to refer to anyone (or any activity undertaken by someone who would have been classified as) “non-white” or “non-European” in former years. This implies that the term is a blanket term for used to be referred to as Africans (Zulus, Xhosas, Sotho etc.), as well as the so-called “coloureds” and the Indians and other Asian peoples in the country. The individual groups are referred to as “Xhosa, Coloured, Indian, white, Afrikaans”, and so forth, as the need may arise.

Boer (literally “farmer”). A term used in the plural (“Boere” in Afrikaans, “Boers” in English) to refer to white Afrikaans-speaking South Africans. Originally a positive identification (especially during and after the South African or “Anglo-Boer” War), but later in in the 20th century, often used pejoratively by non-white South Africans, as an alternative to “Afrikaners”.

Director and Producer: In South African usage we tend to follow the American rather than the British convention, and do so in this publication as well. Thus the director is the person responsible for the general interpretation of the play, for the conduct of the rehearsals, guiding and advising performers. (Referred to in Afrikaans – as on the European continent – as the regisseur.) The producer is the person responsible for the financial and management side of a production. (In British usage: the manager)

Drama, Theatre and Performance: The word drama is used in its narrower literary sense, to refer to the body of written and printed texts, and not as a general equivalent for theatre (see below). Thus, “English drama in South Africa” would refer to the texts of plays written in English in South Africa, not to the performance of such or other English plays in the country. (The latter would be termed “English theatre in South Africa”)

The word theatre, on the other hand is used as a broad, non-specific term (eg. as it is used in the title to this work), this would refer to the entire cultural activity (everyone and everything involved in all the theatrical events – i.e. live stage performances done before audiences in order to amuse, instruct or as part of a ritual event). Thus “South African theatre” refers to all theatrical events or performances taking place in South Africa – formal, informal, traditional, African, European, musical, tragic comic, etc., and all aspects of it: management, artistic, technical and receptive processes and participants. (It is therefore inclusive of “drama” and “performance”). Similarly “British theatre” would to all such performances and events done in Britain, etc. It is however one of the (many) quirks of the English language also traditionally used in a more specific sense, to to refer to the building or space in which performances take place (as in The Market Theatre). Inevitably it is used in this way here as well, where the preferred term (venue) is inadequate or misleading or it appears in the name of a venue (the Market Theatre, the State Theatre).

Performance can also be used in multiple ways. The basic and familiar sense of the term – and the sense in which it is employed in this work - is a reference to the act of performing as a performer (on stage, in a performance space). E.g. “He gave a good performance as Hamlet”. A second, equally conventional use of the term refers to a particular presentation of a work of theatre before a particular audience. (E.g. “We went to see a performance of Hamlet.”) This would be a reference to one specific theatrical event by a given set of performers, at a given time, place and in a given venue. (A series of such performances by the same group of performances would be referred to as a production of the play – see below) A third meaning, which has become prominent during the second half of this century, derives from the theories and practice of Victor Turner and Richard Schechner, notably their important and influential writings about what they term performance theory. They use the term to refer to something much larger and more encompassing than the second meaning of “performance” described above. It points to the entire theatrical event, i.e. the sum of all the processes involved in performing before an audience (including social, political, contextual, performative, ritual and ceremonial acts leading to and shaping the actual performance on stage, as well as its reception during and after the event.) This would naturally also include many performance forms that may seem unconventional in European thinking about theatre forms. In many ways these ideas must (and do) underlie the thinking of this book and contemporary writing on African and South African performance forms. (See the chapter entitled Theatre and Performance in South Africa: An Overview of Major Trends). However, to avoid confusion, the basic idea of this expanded interpretation – i.e. “all the processes and influencing factors involved in a performance before an audience” - will normally be expressed by the more conventional term used above, namely “the theatrical event” (see below).

English (as in “English theatre”). The reference is to the language, which has its own distinct vocabulary items and pronunciation, referred to as South African English. However, much of it is originally Standard British Pronunciation, though with regional variations. Since the 1970's the influence of American English is on the increase. Also, there is a great deal more mixing of the various languages in the country. (See Jean Branford: The Dictionary of South African English, **). In combinations the reference is to writing in English by any South African, no matter what his or her ethnic or linguistic origins.

European (as in “European drama”, “European conventions”etc). Simply any drama or theatre practice deriving from Europe. The notion of Eurocentrism (and the rejection of that) featured quite strongly in the 1980-1990's, but seems to have dissipated a little by 2000.

South African (as in “South African theatre”, “South African languages” and so on): This refers to the geo-political area we know today and to the cultural forms, processes and artefacts created and used in that region.

Production: This refers to the play as prepared for performance and put on over a period of time, and consists of the entire process of planning, rehearsal and performance.

Theatrical event: This refers to the entire complex of activities, processes, influencing factors and individuals involved in the presentation of a single performance before an audience at a particular time under particular circumstances. (See Performance above.)

Theatrical system: This refers to the whole network of activities that go into the making of theatre in South Africa – starting from the creative activities of writers, performers, designers, directors, etc, through administrative and other basic and support activities, such as marketing, ticket-sales, agencies. It also includes external matters (Censorship processes, copyrighting, publishing, sponsorship, etc). The notion is a simplified version of the more complex ideas espoused by general systems-theory. (For further discussion of this see and Hauptfleisch, 1997.)

Guide to using ESAT

While ESAT uses the Wiki programme and does make provision for a search function, the database has also been constructed rather more traditionally, like a printed encyclopaedia, with an index to the various entries (called The ESAT Entries, see below) The entries have been grouped in fifteen distinct categories, managed and edited by one of the research editors. To access database material on the relevant category, the reader has two options:

Use the Search function

Go to the Search block at the top of the page (or type: Alt+F) and type in the search word/phrase.

Use the Index

Go to The ESAT Entries (below) and click on the appropriate link , then follow instructions on the landing page.

Two important notes for all readers

Time-frame and focus on pre-21st century people and events

Because so much information about contemporary arts is already available on the Internet, the aim of this first phase of the project is primarily to provide information about the earlier periods in our history, or what one might think of as pre-21st century theatre, film, media and performance; that is: material from older print publications and manuscripts, not always readily to be found on the Internet yet. For information on more recent, post-2000 events, readers are therefore urged to use the various search engines available, and consult the many South African and international Internet resources, such as LitNet[4], Artslink[5], ESAACH[6] and Wikipedia[7], as well as ESAT itself.

It is work in progress

In addition to the time-frame, this initial, experimental, stage of the project (2011-2014) is very much work in progress, a phase in which all the raw material in the database is simply being put onto the web; largely unedited. The main idea has been to make this information available to all users as soon as possible, therefore the material has been used much as it was received - incomplete as it may be at this stage - and therefore it may contain quite a bit of duplication of information, many lacunae, some uncertainties and even possible errors. (In many cases asterisks [*] are used in the text to signal our own awareness of gaps or possible errors .) There will definitely be numerous issues, people and institutions that our readers may know about, but we have not got to yet or are unaware of, and therefore have no entries as yet. Many entries are currently still only mere (unsorted) collations of information, and still require close editing. (The phrase "TO BE EDITED" is at times put in at the head of the entry, to indicate such cases.)

We would therefore like to invite all readers to help us in improving, editing and expanding this material. Should you wish to comment, alter or add to a particular entry, or to the encyclopaedia as a whole, please go to the next section Updating ESAT and let us have your input.

Updating ESAT

The ESAT database – and indeed the project as a whole - is intended to be, above anything else, a resource for the theatre scholar, researcher, practitioner, critic and/or theatre lover. Something to be dipped into and used as the need arises. We trust that in its present Wiki-based format it serves that purpose.

However, as any reader will no doubt quickly realize, a project such as this can hardly be complete or even fully correct, in all the details about the thousands of performances, people, organizations and places involved in South African theatre and performance over the course of the ages. Besides the sheer bulk of potential material to be fitted into our database , there are also problems with the availability and reliability of our sources and our information. To add to the confusion we have found that authors often contradict themselves and each other, at times taking speculation as fact, or turning to speculation themselves to fill in gaps. We have sought to indicate where such disparities or doubts occur. (See A Warning to Readers of ESAT)

Thus the ESAT database can only really provide a sample of the more prominent information available at a given time, nor can it ever really be completed as a project. There are no doubt many gaps and inaccuracies of our own in this first version of ESAT and for this reason we would like to stress that it is a first version, one to be updated and corrected on an ongoing basis. To help us in this process, we would like to invite readers to supply us with any information we might require to improve the Companion for later editions.

Submitting contributions to ESAT

All researchers, artists and other interested parties are invited to help us expand, improve, update and correct ESAT. Any information, contributions, relevant comments, material or information can be sent to the following address. If you wish to send whole entries, you may wish to do so using the ESAT Templates explained below.

The ESAT address

The Editor: ESAT, Department of Drama, University of Stellenbosch, Private Bag X1, MATIELAND 7602, South Africa.

E-mail address: satj@sun.ac.za

Fax number: (+ 27) 21 882 9141

The ESAT Templates

We have devised the following templates for the varous categories in the encylopaedia (see next section), and we invite you to use them when preparing material to submit to us. To find the appropriate ESAT Template for your purposes, click on the category below:

1. Film ESAT Template
2. Personalities ESAT Template
3. Radio Plays & series ESAT Template
4. Stage Plays ESAT Template
5. Themes and definitions ESAT Template
6. TV Drama & series ESAT Template
7. Venues, Companies, Institutions etc ESAT Template

Please use the headings outlined in the appropriate category to write up your entry/entries for inclusion in ESAT. Do so in a Word document, and then mail it back to us as an e-mail attachment satj@sun.ac.za, or in a letter to the address given above, and we will upload it onto the website.

The ESAT Entries

The entries for ESAT have been grouped in fifteen categories, managed and edited by one of the research editors. To access database material on the relevant category, click on the appropriate link below.

1. South African Theatre and Performance/Overview
2. South African Film/Overview
3. South African Media/Overview
4. The South African Context/General Terminology and Thematic Entries
5. South African Theatre/Terminology and Thematic Entries
6. South African Film /Terminology and Thematic Entries
7. South African Media/Terminology and Thematic Entries
8. South African Personalities
9. South African Venues, Companies, Societies, etc
10. South_African_Films
11. South African Stage Plays
12. South African Radio Plays and Serials
13. South African Television Plays and Series
14. A Chronology of South African Theatre, Film, Media and Performance
15. A Bibliography of South African South African Theatre, Film, Media and Performance