The Methuen Drama Guide to Contemporary South African Theatre

The Methuen Drama Guide to Contemporary South African Theatre is a publication edited by Martin Middeke, Peter Paul Schnierer and Greg Homan and published in London by Bloomsbury, 2015. The 20 essays in the book are by a range of critics and writers.

Following on a contextualising Introduction by the editors, the essays fall into two broadly defined groups.

The first group consists of a miscelaneous set of six studies looking at a range of alternative forms and themes.

These are "The Pioneers", "Contemporary Collaborators I: Kentridge/Taylor/Handspring", "Contemporary Collaborators II: Magnet Theatre", Physical Theatre, "Popular Community Theatre" and "The Theatre Makers in One-Person Format".

The second set of essays deal with 13 individual playwright/theatre makers, plus a few upcoming writers.

The writers discussed are: Athol Fugard, Reza de Wet, Paul Slabolepszy, Zakes Mda, Lara Foot, Mike van Graan, Craig Higginson, Mpulelo Grootboom, Brett Bailey, Pieter-Dirk Uys, Fatima Dike, and Yaël Farber. The section is then rounded off by a accomplished roundup of "Emerging Playwrights and Significant Plays" and an interview with the theatre manager and playwright Aubrey Sekhabi.