PACT Playwork

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• Performing Arts Council of the Transvaal

In 1974 Robin Malan renamed PACT Youth Company, calling it PACT Playwork. Theatre in Education (TIE) now formed the basis of their work. In programs for schools the objectives lied beyond the retelling of the story and socio-political issues were highlighted.

In a program on Romeo and Juliet with Peter Terry as director, for example, the text was used as a springboard to explore the notion of prejudice in South Africa by including easily identifiable scenes which were scripted by the actors to center on the friction in Northern Ireland and the parallels, and differences between Northern Ireland and South Africa were debate by the audience. Other TIE-productions included All in a Tangle, about factory workers, The Lamont Case, about the tarring and feathering of an Afrikaner dissident and Going on at Dingemalerie-Donag-Dell of which only half the play was scripted and the rest changed from one performance to the other, depending on the audience’s reaction.

After Malan left in 1978, having clashed with the authorities about his work, Alwyn Swart took over as director of PACT Playwork. He devised and directed socially pertinent programs based on Afrikaans literature and extended TIE to nursery schools. In addition to its TIE work, PACT Playwork also presented at least one children’s theatre production each year. Swart was replaced by Peter Terry in 1988??*.

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See also National Youth Theatre, PACT and PACT Youth Theatre

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