Benjamin Leshoai

Benjamin Letholoa Leshoai (1920-). Journalist, novelist, playwright.

Also known as Bob Leshoai.

Biography

Born in Bloemfontein and educated at University of Fort Hare and the University of Illinois, Leshoai left South Africa to teach in Zambia and Tanzania, and later became Professor of Literature at the University of Bophuthatswana.

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

He wrote a number of plays, some of which were published, others banned. His one-act play Revolution (1972) for example was one of the first to advocate violence as a viable course of action for blacks, although his other one-act plays are concerned more with social themes.

Plays:

The Wake (one-act play, 1964)

The Weather Forecast (one-act play, 1971)

The Rendezvous (one-act play, 1972)

The Rightful Chief (one-act play)

Revolution (one-act play, 1972)

Morati of Bataung (full-length play, written for AMDA, 19**)

Lines Draw Monsters (full-length play, written 1965, first performed by FUBA drama students under the direction of Sisho Maphisa at the Market Theatre in 1982).

A collection of his plays was published in 1971 under the title The Wrath of the Ancestors and Other Plays (Nairobi: East Africa Publishing House).

Sources

(See Gosher, 1988)

Various entries in the NELM catalogue.

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