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Welcome to '''The [[Encyclopaedia of South African Theatre, Film, Media and Performance]]''' ([[ESAT]])
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<big>'''''[[ESAT]]''''': '''''[[The Encyclopaedia of South African Theatre, Film, Media and Performance]] '''''</big>
  
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= What is ESAT? =
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An [[Open access|open-access]], online record of theatre, film, media and performance in South Africa — its history, forms, people and places.
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[[ESAT]] is an online, open access, digital reference work, utilising the Wiki-programme and edited by an editorial team consisting of
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''Founding editor: [[Temple Hauptfleisch]]. A project of the [[University of Stellenbosch]] Drama Department.''
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[[Temple Hauptfleisch]] (founder and project director), [[Freddy Ogterop]] and [[Miriam Terblanche]].  
 
  
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It was originally conceived and founded in 1994, it was opened for public access and use in late 2011 and is the result of a national research programme, involving a large number of voluntary writers, researcher, editors and technical supporters over more than 15 years.
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''Current editors [[Temple Hauptfleisch]] and [[Annel Pieterse]]''
  
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----
  
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''For more specific information on the '''aims, organizational structure and researchers involved''' in the ESAT project, go to [[About ESAT]]''
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''<small>This page last updated on 18 August 2026.</small>''  
  
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''For more specific information on the '''evolution and history''' of the encyclopaedia go to [[Background, origins and history of ESAT]]''
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== Start here ==
  
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''For more specific information on the '''processes and principles''' involved in compiling and editing ESAT, go to [[Basic principles in editing and using ESAT]]''  
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* '''[[The ESAT Entries|Browse all entries]]''' — over 25,500 entries, grouped into sixteen categories.
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* '''Search''' — use the search box at the top right of the page (or press Alt+F) to jump straight to a person, play, venue or company.
  
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''For information on ways in which readers and colleagues may '''contribute to or comment on  ESAT''', go to: [[Updating ESAT]]''
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''The encyclopaedia holds over 25,500 full entries. Since its launch in 2011 the main page has been viewed over 2.5 million times, and all its articles over 140 million times.''
  
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=How to use ESAT=
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== What's New? ==
  
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While [[ESAT]] uses the [[Wiki]] programme, which makes provision for a very useful '''''search''''' function, the database has avoided contemporary multi-screen web-design, and has been constructed rather more traditionally, like a printed encyclopaedia, with an '''index''' to the various entries (called '''[[The ESAT Entries]]'''). The entries in the index have been grouped in '''fifteen''' distinct categories, each one managed and edited by one of the research editors.
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'''August 2026'''
  
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== Important notes for everyone using '''ESAT''' ==
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'''''Staff news:''''' On 17 August, 2026, [[ESAT]] contributor Dr [[Annel Pieterse Roux]] joined the management team as co-project-leader and co-editor of the encyclopaedia. 
  
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===The focus is on pre-21st century people and events ===
 
  
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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]][http://www.litnet.co.za/], [[Artslink]][http://www.artlink.co.za/], [[ESAACH]][http://esaach.org.za/index.php?title=Main_Page] and [[Wikipedia]][http://www.wikipedia.org/], '''as well as''' [[ESAT]] itself.
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'''''New entries:  
  
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===  It is work in progress ===
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'''Namaqualand on stage, the radio drama of Lee Doubell, and the 1970s touring repertoire'''''
  
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The  main idea has been to make the '''information''' in the database  available to all users as soon as possible, therefore 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'', and often 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 .)  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.) 
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More than fifty new entries have been added since mid-July, alongside substantial expansions to several existing articles. The period's work falls into three large clusters — a contemporary [[Afrikaans]] playwright documented with her full oeuvre, a body of Afrikaans radio drama, and the reconstruction of a 1970s touring company — with further additions in dance history, cinema history and screen biography.
  
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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.  So 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 comment on or contribute to  the encyclopaedia as a whole, please go to the section ''[[Updating ESAT]]'' below and let us have your input.'''
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The largest single body of new material documents [[Dianne du Toit Albertze]] (19**-), a playwright, novelist, actress, director and arts journalist whose [[Afrikaans]] work draws on her native [[Namaqualand]] and on trans and queer material. Eight of her works now have entries: ''[[Bottelnek breek bek|bottelnek breek bek]]'', which she adapted from her own novel of the same title; ''[[Klip Kween]]'', about a young transgender woman who returns to her birthplace; ''[[Huis van sand]]'', set in a caravan park outside Springbok; ''[[Kaap]]'', which engages the sound, colour and colonial history of Cape Town; the one-performer tragicomedy ''[[Katrina Kakkerlak]]''; the twenty-minute one-woman drama ''[[Die meermin-kompleks]]''; ''[[Kommapunt]]'', a devised piece on depression assembled from poems and prose; and ''[[’n Kraai song]]''. The cluster is anchored by a substantial new contextual entry on [[Namaqualand]] — the Afrikaans '''Namakwaland''', historically also '''Little Namaqualand''' or '''Klein-Namakwaland''', as distinguished from Great Namaqualand north of the Orange River — the longest addition of the period, and a rare instance of a geographical entry created to serve a body of dramatic work.
  
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== Accessing the database of entries ==
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[[ESAT]]'s coverage of [[Afrikaans]] [[radio drama]] has been significantly strengthened following the death of the writer [[Lee Doubell]] (1958*-2026). Six of his radio works now have entries: the serials ''[[Tien Dae]]'' and ''[[Sestig Dae]]'', and the dramas ''[[Krag]]'', ''[[Koue Kaiings]]'', ''[[Sou die Sterre Luister]]'' and ''[[Wild en Woeker]]''.
  
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To access database material on the relevant category, the reader has two options:
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A third cluster reconstructs [[Theatre Roundabout]] through its people and its repertoire. Nine plays from the company's mid-1970s touring seasons have been added, most of them by [[Brian Darnley]] — ''[[When the World Was Very Young]]'', ''[[The Lost Laugh]]'', ''[[The Music Makers]]'', ''[[Grinappy]]'', ''[[The Carton of Oon]]'', ''[[The 1820 Settlers]]'', ''[[STOP!]]'' and ''[[Oodles]]'' — together with ''[[The Baron Returns]]'' by [[Roger Holt]]. Company members [[Lea Hodgekinson]], [[Ann Larson]], [[Julius Exter]], [[Walter Tamsen]], [[David Chambers]], [[Stephen Scott]] and [[Christopher Voysey]] have been documented for the first time.
  
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=== To use the '''Search''' function ===
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Further [[Afrikaans]] stage work has been added: ''[[Diva]]'', the solo cabaret-theatre piece written and performed by [[Amanda Strydom]]; ''[[Oupa en Ouma]]'' by [[Leon Kruger]], on a couple married more than forty years; ''[[Seks in die suburbs]]'' by [[Francois Toerien]]; ''[[Die dinges is 'n watsem – Jan Spies kom tot verhaal]]'' by [[Johan Engelbrecht]]; the Afrikaans ''[[Dinsdae by Morrie]]'', from the play by Jeffrey Hatcher and Mitch Albom; and ''[[Duiwelsbrood]]'' by [[Annelie Botes]], staged in 2026 by [[ATKV-tak PEAAT]] at the [[Isithatha Theatre]]. The singer, director, producer and arts manager [[Niël Rademan]] (19**-), who works across cabaret, art song, folk music and music theatre, has also been documented.
  
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Go to the '''''Search''''' block at the top right of this page (or type: Alt+F) and type in the search word/phrase.
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South African dance history gains an institutional lineage: [[Joburg Ballet]], formed by the 2012 merger of [[South African Ballet Theatre]] and [[Mzansi Productions]] (2006-2012), the latter founded by [[Dirk Badenhorst]], who now has his own entry; and the [[South African Academy of Drama and Ballet]], formerly affiliated to the [[University of Natal]].
  
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=== To use the '''[[The ESAT Entries|Index]]''' ===
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Venue and cinema history is represented by two East London (now KuGompo City) houses — the [[20th Century Cinema Theatre]] in Fleet Street, which seated 800 on a single air-conditioned floor, and the [[Springbok Cinema]], established before the Second World War by the Layden brothers — while [[Apollo Theatre]] now disambiguates venues in Germiston and Victoria West. New personality entries include the singer-songwriter [[Jonathan Butler]] (1961-), born in Athlone; the singer [[Ronald Joyce]] (?-2013), known initially as [[Little Ronnie Joyce]] and also raised in Athlone; the actress, director and teacher [[Gladys Lazarus]]; and the costumier, stage and publicity manager and performer [[Michael de Beer]] (1951-). On the screen side, ''[[Lied in My Hart]]'', the Afrikaans musical film by [[Ivan Hall]] also known as ''[[Song in My Heart]]'', has been documented.
  
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Go to the '''''[[The ESAT Entries|Index]]''''' (below) and click on the appropriate link in the list of 15 categories of entries, then follow instructions on the landing page.
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Among expansions, the Makhanda material has been substantially reworked. The entry on [[Andrew Buckland]] has been enlarged across its actor, playwright, solo performer and director sections, with linked updates to ''[[The Well Being]]'', ''[[Feedback]]'', the [[Rhodes University Drama Department]] and the [[Ubom! Eastern Cape Drama Company]]. [[Anton Calitz]] has been expanded and his cabaret ''[[Dead Slugs and Strawberries]]'' added. ''[[My Plaas se Naam is Vergenoeg]]'' has been considerably enlarged, with a corresponding update to [[Vergenoeg]]. Finally, the [[Andre Huguenet Memorial Lecture]], started by the [[Port Elizabeth Shakespearean Festival]], now has an entry listing its guest lecturers.
  
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''For more detailed information on using the website, '''go to [[Guide to using ESAT]]''' (by clicking on the phrase).''
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'''July 2026 — New entries: contemporary performance-makers and the Woordfees drama archive'''
  
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''If you want to know more about the project before using the website, read the section entitled '''[[About ESAT]]''' (click on the link) and/or go to the entry on the '''[[Encyclopaedia of South African Theatre, Film, Media and Performance]]'''.''
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More than 70 new entries have been added to ESAT over recent weeks, with a strong focus on contemporary South African performance.
  
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= '''[[The ESAT Entries|Index]] to [[ESAT]] entries''' =
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A group of entries documents the Johannesburg live-arts world of [[Jefferson Tshabalala|Jefferson Tshabalala ("J. Bobs")]] — his production house [[Kiri Pink Nob|Kiri Pink Nob Arts]] and his works ''[[Khongolose Khommanding Khommissars]]'', ''[[Ekasi Lam]]'' and the game-show series ''[[J.Bobs Live]]'' — alongside the collaborative duo [[Theatre Duo]] ([[Billy Langa]] and [[Mahlatsi Mokgonyana]]) and the award-winning Afrikaans production house [[Polony]]. The poet-performer [[Kgafela oa Magogodi]] has also been documented for the first time.
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The  [[ESAT]] entries have been grouped in '''fifteen''' categories in this [[The ESAT Entries|index]], each category managed and edited by one of the research editors. To access database material on the relevant category, click on the appropriate link below.  
 
  
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New play and company entries include the dark comedy ''[[Amper, Vrystaat]]'' by [[Nico Scheepers]], the one-man music-theatre piece ''[[Ek is nie Danie]]'' by [[Danie Marais]], the Cape Town company [[Spark in the Dark]], and a run of Afrikaans works and translations such as ''[[Skeer op Richmond]]'' ([[Saartjie Botha]]), ''[[Bullets over Bishop Lavis]]'' ([[Christo Davids]] and [[Jody Abrahams]]), ''[[Skop]]'', ''[[Grieta kry geleerdheid]]'', ''[['n Lewe in die Teater]]'' and ''[[Voor ek vergeet]]''.
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#[[South African Theatre/Overview|South African Theatre and Performance/Overview]]  
 
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#[[South African Film/Overview]]  
 
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#[[South African Media/Overview]]
 
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#[[The South African Context/General Terminology and Thematic Entries]]  
 
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#[[South African Theatre/Terminology and Thematic Entries]]
 
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#[[South African Film /Terminology and Thematic Entries]]
 
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#[[South African Media/Terminology and Thematic Entries]]
 
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#[[South African Personalities]]
 
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#[[South African Venues, Companies, Societies, etc ]]
 
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#[[South_African_Films]]
 
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#[[South_African_Theatre/Plays|South African Stage Plays]]
 
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#[[South_African_Radio/Plays|South African Radio Plays and Serials]]
 
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#[[South_African_Television/Plays|South African Television Plays and Series]]
 
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#[[ESAT Chronology|A Chronology of South African Theatre, Film, Media and Performance]]
 
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#[[ESAT Bibliography|A Bibliography of South African South African Theatre, Film, Media and Performance]]
 
  
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On the festival side, the [[Sanlam Dramafees]] — the former sponsor-branded name of the [[Woordfees|US Woordfees]] drama programme in Stellenbosch, used in the early 2010s and later renamed the Toneelfees — now has an entry, together with the first production write-ups from the 2010 festival: ''[[Maskermaan]]'' by [[Cecilia du Toit]], ''[[Suurgat II]]'' by [[Leon Kruger]], ''[[Daan de Wet hou sy oog op die bal]]'' by [[Gaerin Hauptfleisch]], and ''[['n Koeksister vir Zuma]]'', [[Pieter-Dirk Uys]]'s satirical solo turn as [[Evita Bezuidenhout]]. A new overview entry on [[South African sketch comedy]] traces the form's local history.
  
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New reference and screen-history entries include the documentary filmmaker [[Michael Duffett]] (1956–2021) and the film ''[[The Gods Must Be Crazy]]'' (1980); the bilingual essay collection ''[[Die Breytie-Boek/The Breytie Book]]'', dedicated to [[P.P.B. Breytenbach]]; the cabaret ''[[Die Siel van Eugene Marais]]'' by [[Amanda Bothma]]; and J.M. Barrie's classic ''[[Peter Pan; or, The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up]]''.
 +
Browse all new additions via [[Special:NewPages|recent additions]] or explore the full encyclopaedia at [[The ESAT Entries]].
  
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== Updating ESAT ==
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'''June 2026 — New entries: people, plays, companies and venues'''
  
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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.
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Fifty new entries have been added to ESAT this month, spanning four centuries of South African theatre history.
  
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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]])  
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Among the new personality entries, [[Pieter Madibuseng Odendaal]] is a bilingual Afrikaans and English poet, playwright and educator whose multilingual drama ''[[Droomwerk]]'' won the 2021 [[ATKV-Woordveertjie]] and was nominated for the [[Hertzog Prize]]. [[Adrian van Wyk]], who has also performed as "Diff", is a Cape Town–based performance poet, filmmaker and cultural historian, documented here for the first time. Two historical figures have also been added: [[Vivienne Adley]], a Durban-born singer and actress who performed widely in the mid-twentieth century; and [[Thomas Barrow-Dowling]] (1861–1926), a British-born organist and choirmaster who made a significant contribution to musical life in South Africa.
  
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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.  
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On the plays side, ''[[The Scarlet Pimpernel]]'', the 1903 adventure drama by Baroness Orczy, and ''[[The Prisoner of Zenda]]'', Edward Rose's 1895 adaptation of Anthony Hope's novel, both have new entries documenting their South African performance histories. New SA work is represented by ''[[What the Water Remembers]]'', a collaboratively created multilingual spoken-word production, and ''[[Droomwerk]]'', noted above.
  
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=== Submitting contributions to [[ESAT]] ===
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Two companies have been added. [[Wela Kapela Productions]], founded in 2018 by [[Amanda Bothma]], is a contemporary touring production company. At the other end of the timeline, [[Morgan and Wheatman's English Pantomime Company]] was a British touring company that brought pantomime to South African audiences in the late nineteenth century. The [[Carlton Theatre]] in Johannesburg, which opened in September 1912 in the same block as the original Carlton Hotel, has also been documented for the first time as a venue entry.
  
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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.
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Browse all new additions via [[Special:NewPages|recent additions]] or explore the full encyclopaedia at [[The ESAT Entries]].
  
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=== The [[ESAT]] address ===
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'''May 2026 — New contributors'''
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: Volunteers [[Martin Botha]], [[Riaan Oppelt]], [[Annel Pieterse]] and [[Kevin Turner]] have joined the editorial team. See [[Contributing to ESAT]] to find out how to help.
  
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'''''The Editor: ESAT, Department of Drama, University of Stellenbosch, Private Bag X1, MATIELAND 7602, South Africa.'''''
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'''May 2025 — The ESAT archive finds a home'''
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: ESAT's growing collection of programmes, posters, photographs and texts is now held in the [[Performing Arts Research Collection]] (PARC), established in 2025 at the [[Africa Open Institute]], [[University of Stellenbosch]], with the help of Prof [[Stephanus Muller]]. [[Esther Marie Pauw]] was appointed as its first administrator.
  
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'''E-mail address: satj@sun.ac.za'''  
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'''March 2025 — ESAT recognised at the [[Fleur du Cap]] Theatre Awards'''
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: At the 60th [[Fleur du Cap Theatre Awards]], founding editor [[Temple Hauptfleisch]] received the Lifetime Achievement Award for his career documenting South African theatre and for establishing ESAT.
  
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'''Fax number: (+ 27) 21 882 9141'''
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== About the encyclopaedia ==
  
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''[[ESAT]]'' documents the evolution, history and forms of theatre, film, media and performance in South Africa, and originated from historical research undertaken by the [[Centre for South African Theatre Research]] at the [[Human Sciences Research Council]] between 1979 and 1987 and continued at the [[University of Stellenbosch]] from 1988 to 2010. The website finally opened to the public online in 2011.
  
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=== The [[ESAT Templates]] ===
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An open access project, it is edited by a team of research editors and written by contributors around the world. Though using the [[Wiki]] programme for the website, it has, from the start, deliberately been conceived and structured like a printed encyclopaedia, with an index of entries grouped into sixteen categories to facilitate its role as a basic research tool.
  
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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:
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Please note that [[ESAT]] was founded in 2010 with its main focus then conceived to be on pre-21st-century theatre, film, media and performance. However, we are very aware that we are now well into the 21st century and that [[ESAT]] will always remain a work in progress. So, though the encyclopaedia will always be incomplete and subject to occasional error, it is the aim of the contyributors to keep it as up to date and relevant as we can make it, with the help of our readers.
  
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#[[Film ESAT Template]]
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For the full history and aims of the project, and list of editors, see '''[[About ESAT]]'''.
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#[[Personalities ESAT Template]]
 
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#[[Radio Plays & series ESAT Template]]
 
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#[[Stage Plays ESAT Template]]
 
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#[[Themes and definitions ESAT Template]]
 
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#[[TV Drama & series ESAT Template]]
 
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#[[Venues, Companies, Institutions etc ESAT Template]]
 
  
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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.
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== Finding your way around ==
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; Search
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: Type a name, title or keyword into the search box (top right, or Alt+F) and press Enter.
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; Browse the index
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: Go to [[The ESAT Entries]] for the full list of sixteen categories, each managed by a research editor.
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; Follow the links
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: Links shown in red mark entries not yet written. Click one, then choose "What links here" under Tools to find related mentions elsewhere in the encyclopaedia.
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'''Good to know:''' ESAT focuses on [[The main focus is on pre-21st-century theatre, film, media and performance|pre-21st-century performance]], is [[It is work in progress and thus subject to error on occasion|a work in progress]], follows a [[Policy regarding offensive language and terminology|policy on historical and offensive terminology]], and [[ESAT is not an archival facility|is not itself an archival facility]].
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== Contributing to ESAT ==
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ESAT is always growing, and all researchers, artists and interested readers are welcome to help expand, correct and update it. To find out how, see '''[[Contributing to ESAT]]'''.
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== Copyright and referencing ==
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ESAT is an [[Open access|open-access]] publication. Although its content is [[Copyright|copyrighted]] to ESAT and the [[University of Stellenbosch]], it may be freely used for academic and artistic purposes, provided the use is clearly referenced and attributed to the ''Encyclopaedia of South African Theatre, Film, Media and Performance'' (ESAT), including the URL of the entry used.
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== Contact the editors ==
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'''Postal''': The Editors: [[ESAT]], Department of Drama, [[University of Stellenbosch]], Private Bag X1, Matieland 7602, South Africa.
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'''E-mail''': satj@sun.ac.za ([[Temple Hauptfleisch]]) or annelp@sun.ac.za ([[Annel Pieterse Roux]])
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'''Fax''': +27 21 882 9141

Latest revision as of 08:46, 30 August 2026


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

An open-access, online record of theatre, film, media and performance in South Africa — its history, forms, people and places.

Founding editor: Temple Hauptfleisch. A project of the University of Stellenbosch Drama Department.

Current editors Temple Hauptfleisch and Annel Pieterse

This page last updated on 18 August 2026.

Start here

  • Browse all entries — over 25,500 entries, grouped into sixteen categories.
  • Search — use the search box at the top right of the page (or press Alt+F) to jump straight to a person, play, venue or company.

The encyclopaedia holds over 25,500 full entries. Since its launch in 2011 the main page has been viewed over 2.5 million times, and all its articles over 140 million times.

What's New?

August 2026

Staff news: On 17 August, 2026, ESAT contributor Dr Annel Pieterse Roux joined the management team as co-project-leader and co-editor of the encyclopaedia.


New entries:

Namaqualand on stage, the radio drama of Lee Doubell, and the 1970s touring repertoire

More than fifty new entries have been added since mid-July, alongside substantial expansions to several existing articles. The period's work falls into three large clusters — a contemporary Afrikaans playwright documented with her full oeuvre, a body of Afrikaans radio drama, and the reconstruction of a 1970s touring company — with further additions in dance history, cinema history and screen biography.

The largest single body of new material documents Dianne du Toit Albertze (19**-), a playwright, novelist, actress, director and arts journalist whose Afrikaans work draws on her native Namaqualand and on trans and queer material. Eight of her works now have entries: bottelnek breek bek, which she adapted from her own novel of the same title; Klip Kween, about a young transgender woman who returns to her birthplace; Huis van sand, set in a caravan park outside Springbok; Kaap, which engages the sound, colour and colonial history of Cape Town; the one-performer tragicomedy Katrina Kakkerlak; the twenty-minute one-woman drama Die meermin-kompleks; Kommapunt, a devised piece on depression assembled from poems and prose; and ’n Kraai song. The cluster is anchored by a substantial new contextual entry on Namaqualand — the Afrikaans Namakwaland, historically also Little Namaqualand or Klein-Namakwaland, as distinguished from Great Namaqualand north of the Orange River — the longest addition of the period, and a rare instance of a geographical entry created to serve a body of dramatic work.

ESAT's coverage of Afrikaans radio drama has been significantly strengthened following the death of the writer Lee Doubell (1958*-2026). Six of his radio works now have entries: the serials Tien Dae and Sestig Dae, and the dramas Krag, Koue Kaiings, Sou die Sterre Luister and Wild en Woeker.

A third cluster reconstructs Theatre Roundabout through its people and its repertoire. Nine plays from the company's mid-1970s touring seasons have been added, most of them by Brian Darnley — When the World Was Very Young, The Lost Laugh, The Music Makers, Grinappy, The Carton of Oon, The 1820 Settlers, STOP! and Oodles — together with The Baron Returns by Roger Holt. Company members Lea Hodgekinson, Ann Larson, Julius Exter, Walter Tamsen, David Chambers, Stephen Scott and Christopher Voysey have been documented for the first time.

Further Afrikaans stage work has been added: Diva, the solo cabaret-theatre piece written and performed by Amanda Strydom; Oupa en Ouma by Leon Kruger, on a couple married more than forty years; Seks in die suburbs by Francois Toerien; Die dinges is 'n watsem – Jan Spies kom tot verhaal by Johan Engelbrecht; the Afrikaans Dinsdae by Morrie, from the play by Jeffrey Hatcher and Mitch Albom; and Duiwelsbrood by Annelie Botes, staged in 2026 by ATKV-tak PEAAT at the Isithatha Theatre. The singer, director, producer and arts manager Niël Rademan (19**-), who works across cabaret, art song, folk music and music theatre, has also been documented.

South African dance history gains an institutional lineage: Joburg Ballet, formed by the 2012 merger of South African Ballet Theatre and Mzansi Productions (2006-2012), the latter founded by Dirk Badenhorst, who now has his own entry; and the South African Academy of Drama and Ballet, formerly affiliated to the University of Natal.

Venue and cinema history is represented by two East London (now KuGompo City) houses — the 20th Century Cinema Theatre in Fleet Street, which seated 800 on a single air-conditioned floor, and the Springbok Cinema, established before the Second World War by the Layden brothers — while Apollo Theatre now disambiguates venues in Germiston and Victoria West. New personality entries include the singer-songwriter Jonathan Butler (1961-), born in Athlone; the singer Ronald Joyce (?-2013), known initially as Little Ronnie Joyce and also raised in Athlone; the actress, director and teacher Gladys Lazarus; and the costumier, stage and publicity manager and performer Michael de Beer (1951-). On the screen side, Lied in My Hart, the Afrikaans musical film by Ivan Hall also known as Song in My Heart, has been documented.

Among expansions, the Makhanda material has been substantially reworked. The entry on Andrew Buckland has been enlarged across its actor, playwright, solo performer and director sections, with linked updates to The Well Being, Feedback, the Rhodes University Drama Department and the Ubom! Eastern Cape Drama Company. Anton Calitz has been expanded and his cabaret Dead Slugs and Strawberries added. My Plaas se Naam is Vergenoeg has been considerably enlarged, with a corresponding update to Vergenoeg. Finally, the Andre Huguenet Memorial Lecture, started by the Port Elizabeth Shakespearean Festival, now has an entry listing its guest lecturers.

July 2026 — New entries: contemporary performance-makers and the Woordfees drama archive

More than 70 new entries have been added to ESAT over recent weeks, with a strong focus on contemporary South African performance.

A group of entries documents the Johannesburg live-arts world of Jefferson Tshabalala ("J. Bobs") — his production house Kiri Pink Nob Arts and his works Khongolose Khommanding Khommissars, Ekasi Lam and the game-show series J.Bobs Live — alongside the collaborative duo Theatre Duo (Billy Langa and Mahlatsi Mokgonyana) and the award-winning Afrikaans production house Polony. The poet-performer Kgafela oa Magogodi has also been documented for the first time.

New play and company entries include the dark comedy Amper, Vrystaat by Nico Scheepers, the one-man music-theatre piece Ek is nie Danie by Danie Marais, the Cape Town company Spark in the Dark, and a run of Afrikaans works and translations such as Skeer op Richmond (Saartjie Botha), Bullets over Bishop Lavis (Christo Davids and Jody Abrahams), Skop, Grieta kry geleerdheid, 'n Lewe in die Teater and Voor ek vergeet.

On the festival side, the Sanlam Dramafees — the former sponsor-branded name of the US Woordfees drama programme in Stellenbosch, used in the early 2010s and later renamed the Toneelfees — now has an entry, together with the first production write-ups from the 2010 festival: Maskermaan by Cecilia du Toit, Suurgat II by Leon Kruger, Daan de Wet hou sy oog op die bal by Gaerin Hauptfleisch, and 'n Koeksister vir Zuma, Pieter-Dirk Uys's satirical solo turn as Evita Bezuidenhout. A new overview entry on South African sketch comedy traces the form's local history.

New reference and screen-history entries include the documentary filmmaker Michael Duffett (1956–2021) and the film The Gods Must Be Crazy (1980); the bilingual essay collection Die Breytie-Boek/The Breytie Book, dedicated to P.P.B. Breytenbach; the cabaret Die Siel van Eugene Marais by Amanda Bothma; and J.M. Barrie's classic Peter Pan; or, The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up. Browse all new additions via recent additions or explore the full encyclopaedia at The ESAT Entries.

June 2026 — New entries: people, plays, companies and venues

Fifty new entries have been added to ESAT this month, spanning four centuries of South African theatre history.

Among the new personality entries, Pieter Madibuseng Odendaal is a bilingual Afrikaans and English poet, playwright and educator whose multilingual drama Droomwerk won the 2021 ATKV-Woordveertjie and was nominated for the Hertzog Prize. Adrian van Wyk, who has also performed as "Diff", is a Cape Town–based performance poet, filmmaker and cultural historian, documented here for the first time. Two historical figures have also been added: Vivienne Adley, a Durban-born singer and actress who performed widely in the mid-twentieth century; and Thomas Barrow-Dowling (1861–1926), a British-born organist and choirmaster who made a significant contribution to musical life in South Africa.

On the plays side, The Scarlet Pimpernel, the 1903 adventure drama by Baroness Orczy, and The Prisoner of Zenda, Edward Rose's 1895 adaptation of Anthony Hope's novel, both have new entries documenting their South African performance histories. New SA work is represented by What the Water Remembers, a collaboratively created multilingual spoken-word production, and Droomwerk, noted above.

Two companies have been added. Wela Kapela Productions, founded in 2018 by Amanda Bothma, is a contemporary touring production company. At the other end of the timeline, Morgan and Wheatman's English Pantomime Company was a British touring company that brought pantomime to South African audiences in the late nineteenth century. The Carlton Theatre in Johannesburg, which opened in September 1912 in the same block as the original Carlton Hotel, has also been documented for the first time as a venue entry.

Browse all new additions via recent additions or explore the full encyclopaedia at The ESAT Entries.

May 2026 — New contributors

Volunteers Martin Botha, Riaan Oppelt, Annel Pieterse and Kevin Turner have joined the editorial team. See Contributing to ESAT to find out how to help.

May 2025 — The ESAT archive finds a home

ESAT's growing collection of programmes, posters, photographs and texts is now held in the Performing Arts Research Collection (PARC), established in 2025 at the Africa Open Institute, University of Stellenbosch, with the help of Prof Stephanus Muller. Esther Marie Pauw was appointed as its first administrator.

March 2025 — ESAT recognised at the Fleur du Cap Theatre Awards

At the 60th Fleur du Cap Theatre Awards, founding editor Temple Hauptfleisch received the Lifetime Achievement Award for his career documenting South African theatre and for establishing ESAT.

About the encyclopaedia

ESAT documents the evolution, history and forms of theatre, film, media and performance in South Africa, and originated from historical research undertaken by the Centre for South African Theatre Research at the Human Sciences Research Council between 1979 and 1987 and continued at the University of Stellenbosch from 1988 to 2010. The website finally opened to the public online in 2011.

An open access project, it is edited by a team of research editors and written by contributors around the world. Though using the Wiki programme for the website, it has, from the start, deliberately been conceived and structured like a printed encyclopaedia, with an index of entries grouped into sixteen categories to facilitate its role as a basic research tool.

Please note that ESAT was founded in 2010 with its main focus then conceived to be on pre-21st-century theatre, film, media and performance. However, we are very aware that we are now well into the 21st century and that ESAT will always remain a work in progress. So, though the encyclopaedia will always be incomplete and subject to occasional error, it is the aim of the contyributors to keep it as up to date and relevant as we can make it, with the help of our readers.

For the full history and aims of the project, and list of editors, see About ESAT.

Finding your way around

Search
Type a name, title or keyword into the search box (top right, or Alt+F) and press Enter.
Browse the index
Go to The ESAT Entries for the full list of sixteen categories, each managed by a research editor.
Follow the links
Links shown in red mark entries not yet written. Click one, then choose "What links here" under Tools to find related mentions elsewhere in the encyclopaedia.

Good to know: ESAT focuses on pre-21st-century performance, is a work in progress, follows a policy on historical and offensive terminology, and is not itself an archival facility.

Contributing to ESAT

ESAT is always growing, and all researchers, artists and interested readers are welcome to help expand, correct and update it. To find out how, see Contributing to ESAT.

Copyright and referencing

ESAT is an open-access publication. Although its content is copyrighted to ESAT and the University of Stellenbosch, it may be freely used for academic and artistic purposes, provided the use is clearly referenced and attributed to the Encyclopaedia of South African Theatre, Film, Media and Performance (ESAT), including the URL of the entry used.

Contact the editors

Postal: The Editors: ESAT, Department of Drama, University of Stellenbosch, Private Bag X1, Matieland 7602, South Africa.

E-mail: satj@sun.ac.za (Temple Hauptfleisch) or annelp@sun.ac.za (Annel Pieterse Roux)

Fax: +27 21 882 9141

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