Black South African Women: An Anthology of Plays

Overview

This is the first anthology to focus exclusively on the lives of Black South African women. This collection represents the work of both female and male writers, including national and international award-winning playwrights. The collection includes six full-length and four one-act plays, as well as interviews with the writers, who candidly discuss the theatrical and political situation in the new South Africa. Written before and after apartheid, the plays present varying approaches and theatrical styles from solo...

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Overview

This is the first anthology to focus exclusively on the lives of Black South African women. This collection represents the work of both female and male writers, including national and international award-winning playwrights. The collection includes six full-length and four one-act plays, as well as interviews with the writers, who candidly discuss the theatrical and political situation in the new South Africa. Written before and after apartheid, the plays present varying approaches and theatrical styles from solo performances to collective creations.
The plays dramatise issues as diverse as:

• women's rights

• displacement from home

• violence against women

• the struggle to keep families together

• racial identity

• education in the old and new South Africa

• and health care.

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Editorial Reviews

Library Journal
This is the first anthology of plays to focus on the lives of contemporary black South African women. Editor Perkins (theater, Univ. of Illinois) has collected ten works ranging from protest plays of the 1980s to plays about the challenges for blacks, "coloreds," and Indians in the "new" South Africa of the 1990s. Biographical information and interviews with each playwright are included. Several of them are self-taught, and despite their achievements they struggle to have their plays widely accepted at home. These seven women and three men playwrights write primarily in English but also use Zulu, Afrikaans, and Sotho; translations should have been included for these sections. Despite this drawback, and a daunting hardcover price, this is a great addition to international theater.--J. Sara Paulk, Coastal Plain Regional Lib., Tifton, GA
Booknews
Fills a gap in showcasing plays by black South Africans, by featuring six full-length and four one-act plays by six women and four men writing on "Weemen" (as per one title): Conning, Dike, Magona, Mahomed, Maponya, Mhlophe, Mtshali, Naidoo, Ndlovu, and Noninzi Williams. "Black" refers to people of mixed race and Indians who identified with apartheid-era blacks, as well as native Africans. Play entries are preceded by: author photo, biographical/ artistic statement, interview comments, and production history. The editor provides context on traditional African narrative forms and the role of women as storytellers. No index. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknew.com)
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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780415182430
  • Publisher: Taylor & Francis
  • Publication date: 1/28/1999
  • Pages: 192
  • Product dimensions: 7.00 (w) x 9.60 (h) x 0.80 (d)

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements
Introduction 1
1 A Coloured Place 6
2 So What's New? 23
3 House-Hunting Unlike Soweto 47
4 Cheaper Than Roses 54
5 Umongikazi/The Nurse 65
6 Have You Seen Zandile? 80
7 Weemen 102
8 Flight from the Mahabarath 113
9 Sheila's Day 142
10 Kwa-Landlady 159
Bibliography 177
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