Sol Rachilo - Revision history

Satj: /* Biography */

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Biography

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As a teacher

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Theatre performer and playwright

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Theatre performer and playwright

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As a teacher

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Sources

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Contribution to SA theatre, film, media and/or performance

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 == Biography ==
-Born [[Solomon Rachilo]] in Pietermaritzburg where his mother was a domestic worker but spent most of his life in Soweto.
+Born [[Solomon Ntsoeng Rachilo]] in Pietermaritzburg where his mother was a domestic worker but spent most of his life in Soweto.
 Died on 16 August 2026.

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 [[Sol Rachilo]] (1929-2026) was an actor, playwright, poet and drama teacher.
-Also known as '''[[Solomon Rachilo]]''', '''[[Bra Sol]]''', '''[[Uncle Sol]]''',  '''[[Solra]]''' or '''[[Solrah]]'''.
+Also known as '''[[Solomon Rachilo]]''', '''[[Sol Ntsoeng Rachilo]]''', '''[[Bra Sol]]''', '''[[Uncle Sol]]''',  '''[[Solra]]''' or '''[[Solrah]]'''.
 == Biography ==

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-[[Sol Rachilo]] (pseud. '''[[Solrah]]''', 1929-2026) was an actor, playwright, poet and drama teacher.
+[[Sol Rachilo]] (1929-2026) was an actor, playwright, poet and drama teacher.
-Also known as '''[[Solomon Rachilo]]''', '''[[Bra Sol]]''', '''[[Uncle Sol]]''' or '''[[Solra]]'''
+Also known as '''[[Solomon Rachilo]]''', '''[[Bra Sol]]''', '''[[Uncle Sol]]''',  '''[[Solra]]''' or '''[[Solrah]]'''.
 == Biography ==
-Born in Pietermaritzburg where his mother was a domestic worker but spent most of his life in Soweto.
+Born [[Solomon Rachilo]] in Pietermaritzburg where his mother was a domestic worker but spent most of his life in Soweto.
 Died on 16 August 2026.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 [[Sol Rachilo]] (pseud. '''[[Solrah]]''', 1929-2026) was an actor, playwright, poet and drama teacher.
-Also known as '''[[Bra Sol]]''', '''[[Uncle Sol]]''' or '''[[Solra]]'''
+Also known as '''[[Solomon Rachilo]]''', '''[[Bra Sol]]''', '''[[Uncle Sol]]''' or '''[[Solra]]'''
 == Biography ==

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 ===As a teacher===
-Besides his theatre work, he also had an 18 month stint as a journalist for ''[[Drum]]'' in the late 1950s, leading to a meeting with [[Athol Fugard]] and his first role as actor in ''[[No Good Friday]]''. He also worked as a social worker for a while in the 1970's, but left this after the 1976 uprising, in order to found and run the '''[[The Children of Soweto Action Centre Drama Academy]]''' in 1977, using the various art forms (music, fine art, photography and drama) to help young people traumatized by the turbulence of the time. It is widely celebrated as the first drama school owned by a Black man in South Africa during the apartheid era.
+Besides his theatre work, he also had an 18 month stint as a journalist for ''[[Drum]]'' in the late 1950s, leading to a meeting with [[Athol Fugard]] and his first role as actor in ''[[No Good Friday]]''. He also wrote for other journals and magazines over the years (e.g. for ''[[Applause]]'') and worked as a social worker for a while in the 1970's, but left this after the 1976 uprising, in order to found and run the '''[[The Children of Soweto Action Centre Drama Academy]]''' in 1977, using the various art forms (music, fine art, photography and drama) to help young people traumatized by the turbulence of the time. It is widely celebrated as the first drama school owned by a Black man in South Africa during the apartheid era.
 ===Theatre performer and playwright===

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 ===Theatre performer and playwright===
-He began working in theatre for [[Union Artists]] at [[Dorkay House]], alongside  luminaries such as [[Zakes Mokae]], [[Bess Finney]], [[Ricky Arden]], [[Norah Taylor]] and [[Cecil Williams]], making his professional stage debut in ''[[No-Good Friday]]'' (1958), and going on to plays like ''[[Sponono]]'' (1962), ''[[Gangsters]]'' (1984), ''[[Sizwe Bansi is Dead]]''.
+He began working in theatre for [[Union Artists]] at [[Dorkay House]], alongside  luminaries such as [[Zakes Mokae]], [[Bess Finney]], [[Ricky Arden]], [[Norah Taylor]] and [[Cecil Williams]], making his professional stage debut in ''[[No-Good Friday]]'' (1958), and going on to plays like ''[[Sponono]]'' (1962), ''[[Gangsters]]'' (1984), ''[[Sizwe Bansi is Dead]]'', ''[[Lakutshon Ilanga]]'' (1988/89).
 He also wrote directed a number of plays, including ''[[Three in Number]]'' (with music by [[Gideon Nxumalo]], 1967), ''[[The Township Housewife]]'' (1972), ''[[Grounded in Mshenguville]]'' (1989),

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 He began working in theatre for [[Union Artists]] at [[Dorkay House]], alongside  luminaries such as [[Zakes Mokae]], [[Bess Finney]], [[Ricky Arden]], [[Norah Taylor]] and [[Cecil Williams]], making his professional stage debut in ''[[No-Good Friday]]'' (1958), and going on to plays like ''[[Sponono]]'' (1962), ''[[Gangsters]]'' (1984), ''[[Sizwe Bansi is Dead]]''.
-He also wrote a number of plays, including ''[[Three in Number]]'' (with music by [[Gideon Nxumalo]], 1967), ''[[The Township Housewife]]'' (1972), ''[[Grounded in Mshenguville]]'' (1989),
+He also wrote directed a number of plays, including ''[[Three in Number]]'' (with music by [[Gideon Nxumalo]], 1967), ''[[The Township Housewife]]'' (1972), ''[[Grounded in Mshenguville]]'' (1989),
 ===Film and TV performer===

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 == Sources ==
 ''[[Sunday Independent]]'' 20 September 1998.
 [[Andile Xaba]]. 2021. 'Collective memory and the construction of a historical narrative, analysis and interpretation of selected Soweto-based community plays (1984–1994)'. Unpublished PhD thesis.

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 ==Contribution to SA theatre, film, media and/or performance==
-He began working as a performer in the 1950s, becoming one of the most revered performers and theatre makers of his generation, as well as a teacher.
+He began working as a performer in the 1950s, becoming one of the most revered performers and theatre makers of his generation, as well as an influential  teacher.
 ===As a teacher===