Muthal Naidoo

Muthal Naidoo (1935-). Dramatist, director and teacher.

Biography

She studied drama at the University of Durban-Westville and in 1963 became a founding member of the short lived Durban Academy of Theatre Arts (DATA (sometimes referred to as the Durban Theatre Association) in Durban. Other members included Devi Bughwan, Pauline Morel, Fatima Meer, Ronnie Govender, Kessie Govender and Welcome Msomi. She also taught at the M.L. Sultan Technical College. Then she left DATA on 1964, to co-found the Shah Theatre Academy with Ronnie Govender.

As a result of her work as director she was then awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to study in the United States of America. She secured a joint appointment in the Black Studies Department and Performing Arts Area at Washington University in St Louis where she lectured and produced plays by African and African-American playwrights. In this time she completed a PhD in Theatre and Drama with Indiana University (1972).

She returned to South Africa in August 1976 to work with the Shah Theatre Academy once more and in 1981 formed her own company, the Work-in-Progress Theatre Company (WIP), and in 1983 became the Head of the Department of Drama at the Giyani College of Education. While in the Transvaal she was also involved in the organisation of the Laudium One-Act Play Festival.

She is the author of a number of published works, ranging from poetry, plays and stories, to autobiographical and academic articles and monographs.