South African Theatre History

San Hunter-Gatherers (6000 BCE)

• Earliest inhabitants of Southern Africa.
• Egalitarian lifestyle.
• Known for hunting techniques and art.
• Rituals: Trance dancing, heightened consciousness, rock paintings.
• Storytelling: Enactment of the hunt.

Iron Age Communities (300 CE)

• Settled village life.
• Production of metal tools, pottery, crafts.
• Performance forms: Rituals, festivals, celebrations (dance, song, music, costumes).
• Praise poetry and storytelling.

Dutch East Indian Company (1652)

• Colonization begins.
• No public entertainment/printing press due to Calvinistic beliefs.

Early Afrikaans Theatre (1900s)

• Patriotic pieces about the Anglo-Boer War.
• One-act farces by debating societies.
• Afrikaans recognized as official language (1925).
• Touring companies for rural populations.

Apartheid Era (1950s-1960s)

• Laws enacted: Mixed Marriages Act, Immorality Amendment Act, Group Areas Act, Bantu Education Act, Pass Laws, Native Resettlement Act.
• Sharpeville Massacre.

Black Consciousness (1970s)

• Reaffirmation of black identity.
• Response to Steve Biko's death and Soweto protests.
• Experimental plays, workshopped plays, African myth/legend/culture.

First Democratic Elections (1994)

• Political protests and resistance theatre become less relevant.
• Theatre for Reconciliation emerges.
• Physical theatre gains popularity.