Community Theatre
Contents
Community Theatre as a generic term and concept
Community Theatre in South Africa
Community theatre became a widely used term in South Africa in the period 1980-2010, but one which has never been satisfactorily defined (see Community Theatre above).
In South Africa the term is used in a range of meaning stretching from something approximating the older concept of Amateur Theatre (i.e. local theatre lovers who do plays for a hobby) to socio-politically committed organisations (often NGOs) intent on involving and conscientizing the particular community in social and political change. This range exists not only in the vocabulary of the critics and scholars, but in that of the practitioners themselves.
Under the new legislation and practices following on the 1996 White Paper on Arts Culture and Heritage, the latter definition of a community theatre as one which has an educational and social obligations within particular communities (and thus has access to earmarked funding for these purposes), has gained credence and is argued strongly by a number of practitioners and critics. (Cf Loren Kruger, 1999). However, much of the argument seems to be negative, divisive and oppositional, tending to define it by attacking the shortcomings of amateur, professional, art, serious, and other forms of theatre, rather than indicating in what way community theatre is a distinctive form in itself (if there is indeed a single defineable entity one might designate "community theatre").
Given the shape of the theatrical system from the 1990s onward, with its base in non-conventional venues, eclectic performance forms and festival circuit, such nitpicking appears a little gratuitous, and for the general public the distinctions are far less clear and make little difference to what they go to see and support.
Nevertheless, a * EXPAND
See also
Amateur Theatre in South Africa
Community Theatre for Development Trust
South African National Community Theatre Association
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