South African Theatre and The Island

Flashcards about South African Theatre and The Island

Workshop Theatre

A form of theatre that starts with a group of performers exploring a topic they are passionate about, often political, social, or environmental issues, to teach the audience.

Collective Workshop Theatre

Workshop theatre done by actors as a group without a director, often more improvised and effective as informal theatre.

Directorial Workshop Theatre

Workshop theatre that utilizes a director to assist the actors with their ideas and the writing of a formal script.

Non-naturalistic

A characteristic of Workshop Theatre, departing from realism.

Musical

A characteristic of Workshop Theatre, incorporating music.

Physical

A characteristic of Workshop Theatre, emphasizing physical performance.

Little use of props

A characteristic of Workshop Theatre, often extending the tangible and creating effects larger than life.

Ironic comic vision of society

A characteristic of Workshop Theatre, presenting society with irony and comedy.

Episodic structure

A characteristic of Workshop Theatre, using an episodic structure.

Documents personal, political, cultural and national history

A characteristic of Workshop Theatre, documenting various histories.

Group written

A characteristic of Workshop Theatre, plays are often group written.

Various performance forms

A characteristic of Workshop Theatre, exploring different performance forms and genres.

Collective subject

A characteristic of Workshop Theatre, plays often address a collective subject.

Ensemble work

A characteristic of Workshop Theatre, involves ensemble work.

Grotesque parody

A characteristic of Workshop Theatre, can contain grotesque parody.

Text not easily divorced from performance

A characteristic of Workshop Theatre, text is closely tied to performance.

Structure draws on oral traditional art forms

A characteristic of Workshop Theatre, drawing structure from oral traditions.

Didactic

An intention of Workshop Theatre, to be didactic or instructive.

Open-ended plays

An intention of Workshop Theatre, plays allow the audience to judge for themselves.

Develop awareness

An intention of Workshop Theatre, to develop awareness of social issues.

Prejudice, pride, harmony between people

Some intentions of Workshop Theatre, to address prejudice, pride and to promote harmony.

Voiced thoughts and feelings

An intention of Workshop Theatre, to give voice to thoughts and feelings.

No formal set or staging

A staging element of Workshop Theatre, there is no formal set or staging.

Performable in any venue

A staging element of Workshop Theatre, can be performed in any venue.

Needs to be accessible to all people

A staging element of Workshop Theatre, it needs to be accessible to all people.

Skilled, versatile performers

A staging element of Workshop Theatre, requires skilled and versatile performers.

Close intimate actor/audience relationship

A staging element of Workshop Theatre, fosters a close actor/audience relationship.

Authentic theatre productions

Workshop theatre was a practical and workable tool to create authentic theatre productions that could mirror an accurate image of South African life.

Manoeuvre around censorship

Workshop theatre could manoeuvre around censorship because there was often no script, and therefore no evidence.

The Island Plot

Cellmates John and Winston are incarcerated in a prison on an un-named island. The men become close very quickly and share stories of their lives with each other. They rehearse for a performance of Sophocles' plan Antigone. John learns that his appeal against his sentence was successful. Performance time comes; John, playing Creon, sentences Winston, in character as Antigone, to be walled into a cave because she has defied him.

John

One of the play's two protagonists. He was sentenced to serve ten years on the island as punishment for belonging to an organization banned by the South African government. His sentence is commuted from ten years to three because of time served and will be released soon.

Winston

Made a huge stand against the regime when he burned his passbook in front of the police. When news of John's release comes, he begins to question why he became involved in the first place.

Prison Governor

Gives John the news that he is to be released in three months, associates a largely negative character with something positive.

Hodoshe

A symbolic character who is never seen, means carrion fly, and is a symbol of the brutality of the regime indicated by the sound of the piercing prison whistle.

Apartheid

The key theme in the play The Island, is of racial segregation specifically related to the apartheid system in South Africa. The system brutally segregated its citizens by colour and gave varying rights according to their ethnicity.

Political Oppression

A theme in the play The Island, John and Winston do not have freedom of speech and the regime is oppressive and kills or incarcerates anyone who is in opposition of their government and its policies.

Conscience and Guilt

A theme in the play The Island, John and Winston both know that the system of apartheid is wrong and both feel that they can no longer stand by without trying to change it, and challenge the status quo.

Shared Experience and Brotherhood

A theme in the play The Island, John and Winston were not acquainted before their imprisonment, but at the end of the play they have a brotherhood that is almost unbreakable.

Existentialism

Considered question of quality of existence, not reason for existence. Each individual is responsible for making himself what he is, since his being defined by his choices and actions, and that unless a man acts only after choosing consciously and freely he cannot truly be said “to exist”.

The Island

An allegory of Robben Island, South Africa's most infamous penal colony.

John, playing Creon, sentences Antigone, played by Winston

An allegory of their own situations. This is allegorical of what has happened to the two men; both are non-violent offenders but have been given very long sentences for what are essentially crimes of conscience, just like Antigone's.

Hodoshe: Symbol

A symbol of the oppressive South African regime and its evil system of apartheid and is represented by a loud prison whistle.

Winston Burning His Passbook: Symbol

A symbol of his intention to threaten the status quo of the country and also symbolizes disrespect of the regime.

Memories: Motif

The power of memories is a constant motif in the play. When the men first meet as cellmates they get to know each other by exchanging memories of their childhoods, and their lives before incarceration.