Fatima Dike

DIKE, Fatima Royline (“Fats”). (13 September 1948-) Actress, stage manager, storyteller and playwright. Born in Langa, Cape Town. Went to school at Rustenberg High in Cape Town. Started work in a bookshop in Langa belonging to her brother-in-law. Her friend Sue Clark introduced her to poetry as an art form and she began writing. In 1972 she met Brian Astbury and joined the newly formed Space Theatre, working as assistant stage manager and stage manager on Die Laaste Middagmaal, Fallen Angels, It’s My Weekend, Too, L’amante Anglaise, Luv, The Mind Mirror and My Family came over with the Normans.

As actress did Glass House, Four Twins (by Copi) and Lysistrata S.A. for them.

Encouraged by Rob Amato she now ventured into playwriting and produced The Sacrifice of Kreli (performed Space Theatre, 1976, published 1978) and was made resident playwright at the Space. Her other plays were The First South African (performed Space, 1977, published 1978), The Crafty Tortoise, a children’s play (performed Space Theatre, 1978), Glasshouse (performed Space, 1979, published 1999*?).

Attended the Iowa Writer’s Workshop and some time in self-imposed exile in New York (1979-83). On her return she first rejoined the bookshop, before Nomhle Nkonyeni drew her back to theatre. She now wrote So What’s New? (performed Market Theatre, 1991, published 1996), Street Walking and Company Valet Service (performed Baxter Theatre,??* 2000), The Return (performed Artscape, 2008).

A new version of The Sacrifice of Kreli was written for and produced by New Africa Theatre in 2001, with whom she works in Cape Town as lecturer and director. In 2005 participated in The Storytelling Festival at The Baxter Theatre Centre (in association with Sibikwa Community Theatre Project).

DIKE, Fatima. (19*-) Actress, playwright and director. ** She wrote the play The Sacrifice of Kreli which was staged at The Market Theatre in 1976. (See Astbury, 1979; Schwartz, 1988; ArtsLink 2008; Tucker, 1997) Fatima Dike has played a vital role in the South African theatre scene since the days of the Space Theatre in the 1970s. Her first published play was The Sacrifice of Kreli (1978). In 2009 The Return had a successful run at the Grahamstown Festival, and the Black Theatre Festival in North Carolina, where Dike also received a Life-Long Achievement Award. Co founder with Roy Sargeant of the Siyasanga South African Theatre Company in 2006. **

Sources

The Cape Times 30 July 1998.

Mail and Guardian 29 November 2001.

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