Bachaki Theatre
Bachaki Theatre is a theatre group founded in 1987 by Thulani Sifeni, Jake Chika, Muntu wa Bachaki (pseudonym of Angifi Dladla) and Mavuso Mavuso.
Contents
History
The birth of the Bachaki Theatre (Bachaki meaning “visitors” or “travellers”) goes back to 1987 when a group of artists from various townships such as Soweto, Atteridgeville and Vosloorus, after thirteen months of research, workshops and writing, presented their first production, Top Down.
The success of Top Down gave Bachaki Theatre a very good reputation and the possibility and willingness to organise regular theatre workshops with the youth (students and unemployed) in Pimville (Soweto), but the Bachaki still had no funds, no accommodation and no rehearsal space. So the creation of Golden Gloves was a real challenge for the group who decided to work and rehearse under the trees near the Orlando Power Station (Soweto).
The plays created by the Bachaki are connected with socio-political themes typical of South African society. The stories have been conceived to show the consequences of a specific political system on the people of the country and their fight to oppose it.
Productions
The first production was Top Down (1988), followed among others by Thulani Mtshali’s Golden Gloves (1991), Devil’s Den (1995)?* and Weemen (National Arts Festival, 1996).
Sources
Coray-Dapretto 1996.
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 Unpublished PhD thesis.
Lorenza Coray-Dapretto. From the People to the People: South African Fringe Theatre. https://www.unige.ch/math/folks/coray/lorenza/PDF/fringe.pdf
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