Doctoral Degrees (Drama)

Permanent URI for this collection

https://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/599

Browse

Now showing 1 - 8 of 8

After the megamusical : exploring the intimate form
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2017-03) Gerber, Andre Kruger; Du Preez, Petrus; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Drama.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The megamusical has become one of the most popular performance forms, with productions such as The Phantom of the Opera (1986) and The Lion King (1997) running profitably for decades. In South Africa, where productions of megamusicals are tremendously popular, the form itself is increasingly unsustainable within an economic framework where ticket prices and production costs are often at odds. This dissertation investigates another form of musical theatre – the intimate musical – as a more sustainable model for creating musical theatre in South Africa. The study defines the intimate musical within certain limited fiscal, performative and aesthetic (visual and aural) frameworks, noting the use of a limited cast and orchestra size, imaginative staging techniques and focused narrative qualities as distinguishing features. This dissertation assesses and outlines the aesthetic principles of both the megamusical and the intimate musical and subsequently proposes that the intimate musical is a more sustainable model in which to resourcefully present imaginative productions with an alternative thematic and aesthetic scope. The study concludes with the creation and discussion of a new Afrikaans intimate musical, Fees, (Festival) that incorporates the aesthetic features of the intimate musical.
A critical inquiry into the evolution of socio-political performances in traditional Nigeria Yoruba Alarinjo and contemporary itinerant theatre through a review of selected works of Hubert Ogunde, Wole Soyinka, Ola Rotimi and Femi Osofisan
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2018-12) Bakare, Babatunde Allen; Du Preez, Petrus; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Drama.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study examines the evolution of socio-political theatre and drama performances in Nigeria. The first part consists of the introduction, theory and historical contexts, while the second part discusses the contribution of selected literary dramatists to this evolution of social-political theatre and drama performance in Nigeria. The study specifically focuses on Yoruba Traditional Alarinjo (Travelling) Theatre, contemporary itinerant theatre and selected works of Hubert Ogunde, Wole Soyinka, Ola Rotimi and Femi Osofisan. The theoretical framework of the study is based on three concepts: the Theatrical Event expounded by Wilmar Sauter; Theatre and Festivals as Poly-Systems by Temple Hauptfleisch; and Vicki Ann Cremona’s concept of Festivalising Process. Relevant historical developments are reviewed and analysed in the study. The developments are points of reference to various forms of Yoruba theatre and drama. In addition, the study examines social-political evolutions, especially those that relate to and are useful for the analysis of the inherent evolution of theatre and drama in the Yoruba tradition Alarinjo, the contemporary theatre and the selected works of Nigerian literary dramatists. It further examines Yoruba Traditional Alarinjo (Travelling) Theatrical and dramatic performances and investigates the critical roles of the egungun (masquerades), masques, oral literature and other Yoruba cultural and traditional properties in the performances. This study concludes that the types of performance modes, styles, methods and techniques which were used during the different stages of the evolution of socio-political theatre and drama in Nigeria, are rooted in the vast Yoruba cultural and traditional forms of performing arts. These include forms such as masquerading, oral poetry, folklore or folktale, music, dance, chants, incantation and acrobatic display among others. The study recognises the contribution of the Western culture of entertainment which partly influenced the evolution of socio-political theatre and drama performances of the Yoruba contemporary itinerant theatre. Lastly, this study analyses and reveals the influence of Western education on the mentioned Nigerian Literary Dramatists’ theatre and drama.
'n Ondersoek na kinderteater as 'n moontlike tersiere toneelspelonderrigmeganisme
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2020-12) Van der Merwe, Schalk Willem; Du Preez, Petrus; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Drama.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study investigates the current actor-training approach for students in South Africa and how this training is presented at tertiary level. The starting point for the study is the Drama Department, Stellenbosch University. Various approaches to actor-training elements are initially compared to international trends. The term integration was further investigated to create a working definition for the study. Subsequently, the successful level of integration of various actor-training elements is investigated. As an approach to this investigation, the Stanislavski system is examined in the light of the exaggerated acting style and conventions of children's theatre. Following this, various research activities were executed. Art-based research is used as a paradigm for these research activities and the relationship between Research Led Practice and Practice Led Research is applied. Self-reflective data was collected and artistically presented as exegesis in the thesis. Research activity 1 has delineated the term children's theatre, including the conventions and style of the theatrical form, so that it can be explored in practice. The Stanislavski system in Research Activity 2 was researched and tested through the theoretical framework applied within practice. Various components of the system as an approach to actor-training are emphasized. From Research Activity 2, two actor-training models are created (in Research Activities 3 and 4, respectively) to test an approach to the successful integration of actor-training elements within an exaggerated acting style. The research and methodological approach has led to the application of the theories being highlighted, in that it identifies, addresses and improves the successful level of integration during acting. Although the Stanislavski system has been used as an approach, other approaches can also be used. Children's theatre as an exaggerated acting style can also be replaced with other exaggerated acting styles, such as the farce.
Reclaiming cultural space through performance : the intercultural activities of the Ghana Dance Ensemble (1964-2013)
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2018-12) Rashida, Resario; Du Preez, Petrus; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Drama.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This dissertation examines the intercultural practices of the Ghana Dance Ensemble (GDE) from 1964 to 2014. Intercultural performance, often defined as an intentional artistic encounter between diverse cultural sensibilities, has become important in the increasingly globalising world. In recent decades, intercultural performance has attracted a wealth of scholarship and theoretical attempts, as theorists investigate the nature and purpose of such encounters. Such scholarship on intercultural performances has largely come from the Western world as a result of the pioneering work in ‘conscious cultural exchange’ by practitioners like Antonin Artaud, Peter Brook, Ariane Mnouchkine and others in the twentieth century and into the 21st century. While critical interculturalism has concentrated on the need for a more nuanced and balanced view of intercultural theatre practice and scholarship, it appears to have neglected intercultural practices between cultures within a nation. By investigating the intercultural activities of the Ghana Dance Ensemble, I set out to address the gap with a micro-concentration in this study. I argue that, since the diverse ethnic groups within Ghana have distinct cultural traditions and languages, interactions between these cultures at the level of performance, qualify for discussion as intercultural performance rather than Rustom Bharucha’s ‘intracultural’ performance. In order to understand the nature of the intercultural activities of the Ghana Dance Ensemble, I define the inter-ethnic performance activities of the group within the nation as micro-intercultural performance, and the international exchanges and performance activities as macro-intercultural performance. This view of inter-ethnic performance as intercultural performance at the micro-level suggests that parallels exist between discourses on intercultural practice at the macro-level, and inter-ethnic performance within the nation. Matrixing postcolonial theory and intercultural performance theory, this qualitative single-case study adopts an interpretivist paradigm to examine both the micro- and macro-intercultural performance activities of the GDE. Through discourse analysis, I examine the historical conditions that led to the formation of the GDE and how macro-intercultural issues of power relations, ethics of representation and cultural hegemony find resonances at the micro-level due to ethnic differences. Furthermore, the GDE’s position as a postcolonial product cannot be overlooked when discussing its external relations; exchanges and festival participation, with imperialistic cultures that have a tendency of ‘othering’ foreign cultures. The ethnic diversity of the GDE and its multi-ethnic repertoire of dances, and musical and vocal styles, present a utopian view of the nation as a perfect example of the concept of unity in diversity. However, the reality of ethnic difference, as experienced and performed by the members of the GDE, fractures this utopian view of the company and the nation at large. In its fifty years’ existence the GDE, with its micro-intercultural performance practices, has succeeded in bringing diverse indigenous cultural traditions of Ghana to Ghanaians for mutual appreciation, even as the members work through their own internal ethnic differences. The study also reveals that, while the GDE exercises its own form of agency in macro-intercultural encounters, the company is not shielded from the hegemonic constructs with which its European partners approach the exchange. That notwithstanding, there seems to be a meeting ground between the GDE’s focus on authenticity and that of international festival organisers. While the GDE by design promotes authentic Ghanaian cultural traditions, festival organisers ride on such authentic traditions to promote their events. This study contributes to scholarship on intercultural performance by concentrating on micro-level encounters and drawing parallels between encounters at the macroand micro-levels. It concludes that micro-level intercultural performance may hold the key to addressing ethical issues in macrolevel intercultural performance discourse.
Serious play : exploring the ethical tensions of license and limits in drama, theatre and performance education
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2015-12) Prigge, Lanon Carl; Du Preez, Petrus; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Drama.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Broad global trends evidence the need for improving ethics in a variety of disciplines. The general education codes do not address the unique culture specific to teaching and learning drama, theatre and performance in tertiary institutions in South Africa. Interrogating ethics could be met with resistance and upset the status quo in education and industry. Imposing ethical frameworks from the outside-in may fail to account for the specific culture they are designed to serve. This study observes that ‘outside-in’ refers to interference from the greater systems of education (social and institutional), as well as any mandated prescriptions or strongly divergent value positions arising from within an individual educator’s own context. This study therefore explores how educators might begin the process of negotiating ethics within their personal pedagogy by assuming personal accountability. This foregrounds the value of a process and practice of ethical self enquiry over the general identification and analysis of ethical considerations. It explores personal preparatory process work ahead of anticipated negotiation of ethical value positions and concerns in group dialogue. Because narrative is central to drama and theatre and performance, this study explores and reflects on personal narrative-oriented enquiry as a means to conscientising personal ethical value positions (and evolving a ‘personal ethos’). The emphasis resides on raising personal consciousness by exploring personal resources in answer to the discussion of ethics. By personal resources is indicated: selfmotivated effort (autonomous moral agency), conscious and unconscious (tacit) historical experience and knowledge, as well as the creative talents, practices and techniques unique to their artistry and pedagogy. Also explored and reflected upon is how a raising of personal consciousness in this manner might furthermore contribute to a raising of collective consciousness. The study is presented as an autoethnographic enquiry, or Performed Narrative, that describes, examines, demonstrates and performs a process and practice of ethical self enquiry as an evocation to fellow educators. This study finds that the quest for identity and self-knowledge are shared by the three strands this Performed Narrative draws together, namely: performance, education and ethics. It proposes that if the quest for self-knowledge can somehow be foregrounded in performance and its education as an inherently ethical endeavour, it may be possible for ethical self enquiry - as a form of autonomous moral agency – to become desirable as integral to drama, theatre and performance education versus being an imposition from the outside. It suggests that this might result in a ‘paradigm shift’ that addresses ethical concerns at the level of causes rather than effects.
We never talk about our work in this way : a practice-led exploration of the experiences of applied drama and theatre practitioners working in Gauteng and the Western Cape
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2023-12) Qhobela, Lireko Pearl; Gobodo-Madikizela, Pumla; Du Preez, Petrus; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Drama.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Toegepaste drama en teater word dikwels gebruik as 'n benadering om beraadslagings oor kwessies van sosiale transformasie te fasiliteer. Dit gaan ook daaroor om te getuig van die lyding van ander, om ruimte te skep vir die andersdenkende stemme van die onderdruktes, om gemeenskappe te ondersteun om sin te maak van hul ervarings en om aksie vir sosiale geregtigheid te inspireer. Hiermee saam kom baie voorbereiding aan die kant van die praktisyn. Ten spyte van die hoeveelheid geestelike en emosionele arbeidspraktisyns wat in die voorbereiding vir intervensies belê, beklemtoon pogings om praktyk te verbeter dikwels die metodes, tegnieke en impak op gemeenskappe. Hierdie proefskrif ondersoek die ervarings van praktisyns wat in verskeie gemeenskapsomgewings werksaam is, hoofsaaklik in die Gauteng en die Wes-Kaap provinsies. Daar word ook na vorige ervarings van werk wat in Mpumalanga onderneem is verwys. Eerder as om op gemeenskappe as primêre ontvangers van die gevolge van toegepaste drama en teater te fokus, poog die studie om praktisyns se interpretasie van hul werk binne verskeie kontekste in Suid-Afrika te verstaan. Idees van plek en ruimte vorm dus deel van die ondersoek. Hierdie studie is geensins 'n poging om 'n volledige voorstelling van praktisyn-ervarings in die land te verskaf nie, maar hoop nietemin om hoe hul ervarings elemente van hul praktyk inlig, te belig, soos die uitvoering van intervensies, onderwerpareas waarop uitgebrei moet word en grade van ondersteuning wat in die werk nodig is.
Within between : an investigation on intermediality in the Malawian and South African theatre context
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2017-03) Makhumula, Catherine Mayesero; Du Preez, Petrus; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Drama.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study explores the state of African theatre in the age of new media and digital technology. Through the engagement with current literature, the researcher found that the concept of intermediality provided suitable theoretical and methodological tools for this investigation. Intermediality in this study is defined as the interrelations between media. The study therefore, investigated the interrelations between theatre and other media through the performance analysis of four theatrical performances from festivals in Malawi and South Africa in 2014, in order to unearth how intermediality manifests in these contexts. Specifically, the study investigated the nature of interaction between theatre and other media, how intermediality shapes the conceptualisation of theatre and theatrical presence, and how the creative team creates a mise en scène that incorporates other media. The study formulated a model for the analysis of intermediality theatre. This model was drawn from a variety of semiotic and phenomenological theoretical and methodological frameworks. The resulting model was used in the analysis of the four cases in the study. This model has the capacity to be used for the analysis of other cases of theatrical intermediality. The cases in this study present compelling evidence that theatre practice in these contexts is far more experimental in transcending the boundaries between theatre and other media, in contrast with the picture painted by African theatre scholarship. Of the four performances, two performances incorporated digital and electronic media (and puppetry). One performance resulted from the appropriation of music, while another evoked the experience of other media through its own media-specific means. The study found that the cases reconfigured conventional conceptualisations of and expectations from theatre in their attempts to augment how the audiences experienced theatrical presence, time and space. The study also found that the creation of mise en scène that incorporates other media restructured traditional theatre roles, because it involved working with more than one system of aesthetic conventions, principles of structure, and stylistic procedures, often requiring the collaboration of skills from other media. The study argues that the field of theatre studies in these contexts can no longer afford to be rigid while theatre practice experiments with other media, continually changing how theatre is created, conceptualised and experienced. The four cases should be considered as a starting point in understanding how intermediality manifests in the theatrical performances in the Malawian and South African contexts.
Writing the border : avoiding restorative nostalgia by using social media discourses to create a Borderdrama
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2019-12) Albertyn, Maria Adriana; Albertyn, Marina; Du Preez, Petrus; Kruger, M. S.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Drama.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: A number of plays have been staged about the South African Border War. Some of these plays have been uncritical in their representation of the war and have promoted a kind of restorative nostalgia that glosses over the SADF’s share in a shameful past. In staging the Border War, the playwright has to portray perpetrator trauma in a way that engages the audience to critically examine the past. This study uses the arts-based research framework to create a play that reflects the research done on Border War veterans. The study firstly identifies thematic material in South African plays about the Border War in an overview of the lineage of practice. It then examines social media discourses on the Border war to generate thematic material for the creation of a new play. The drama that was created from this research, is called Bloed en Bodem. Reviews from the performance of this drama at two national arts festivals are primarily used to assess the play as an example of research-led practice. The study’s primary conclusion is that complexity and binary voices can be an antidote to restorative nostalgia. By including voices that both contradict and expose the veteran’s views of the past, the master narrative of conscription is destablized and opportunities for responsible meaning-making emerge.

Browse

Browsing Doctoral Degrees (Drama) by browse.metadata.advisor "Du Preez, Petrus"

Results Per Page

Sort Options